The university-connected research foundation is a separately incorporated unit that serves as a legal entity for administering sponsored research and related programs for a parent university. Fifty-seven organizations presently operating in this manner have been identified, and this study is a characterization and analysis of these organizations as subsystems in the universities they serve. The foundations are characterized as to their legal status, corporate structure, administrative organization, and the functions they perform and the services they provide. Concerns such as the university setting, the institutional mission, the foundation/university and foundation/sponsor interfaces, and other factors that might determine the viability and operational effectiveness of foundations are also examined. (Author/MSE)