Funding Secured.
Risks Controlled.
Audits Passed.
RACCS helps universities, academic medical centers, and nonprofits win external funding, stay compliant, and pass audits without surprises.
Who We Work With
R1 and R2 research universities managing complex federal portfolios · Academic medical centers balancing clinical trials and sponsored research · Hospital research institutes operating alongside a health system · Nonprofit research organizations building compliance infrastructure as they grow
Select Outcomes
Results delivered by our founder in prior institutional leadership roles.
30%
Faster proposal review at a top-20 research university
$20M
Questioned costs cleared in a federal audit, with no repayment
78% → 99%
Timely effort certification compliance
Core Services
Compliance Heatmap™
A rapid two-week diagnostic that identifies high-risk gaps across Uniform Guidance compliance, effort reporting, subrecipient monitoring, cost transfers, and closeout.
Deliverable: A color-coded risk heatmap with prioritized findings and a remediation roadmap.
Audit-Ready in 90 Days™
Intensive remediation and controls enhancement to prepare your institution for a sponsor, OIG, or federal single audit.
Deliverable: Corrected policies and procedures, documented controls, a mock-audit report, and an audit-response playbook.
SPA Performance Lift™
Process redesign for pre-award through closeout, delivering measurable efficiency gains in sponsored programs administration.
Deliverable: Current- and future-state workflows, staffing and role recommendations, and performance metrics to track the lift.
Executive Compliance Retainers
Ongoing advisory support with quarterly mock audits and defined response times for compliance questions as they arise.
Deliverable: Quarterly risk briefings for leadership and on-call guidance for your research administration team.
Custom Training & Certification
In-person or virtual programs in effort management, audit preparedness, and advanced compliance topics, tailored to your institution’s policies.
Deliverable: Curriculum, materials, and a RACCS certificate of completion for each participant.
AI-Powered Proposal Pre-Review Tool
Available to RACCS clients. Automated compliance checks for proposals, budgets, and attachments before submission, built on the RACCS universal review standards and sponsor playbooks. The tool reconciles the budget line by line and returns a readiness score with findings ranked by severity.
Why Institutions Choose Us
Senior-level research administration experience, applied directly to your portfolio, with no junior staff in between.
Proven Track Record: Led sponsored programs portfolios of $375M in awards at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln and supported $3.6B in proposals at Northwestern University.
Audit-Ready Approach: Hands-on experience guiding institutions through sponsor, OIG, and state audits, including engagements closed without findings or repayment.
Rapid ROI: Clients typically see measurable reductions in compliance errors within 60 days.
Scalable Solutions: From single-department fixes to institution-wide process redesign.
How an Engagement Works
1. Scoping call. A 30-minute conversation to understand your portfolio, pressure points, and timeline. No cost, no obligation.
2. Proposal. A fixed-scope statement of work with deliverables, schedule, and pricing.
3. Fieldwork. Document review, interviews, and testing, led personally by Dr. Mombou, with regular status updates.
4. Results and handoff. Findings, prioritized recommendations, and the templates and tools your team needs to sustain them.
About the Founder
Sam Mombou, PhD, MBA, CRA, is the founder of RACCS – Research Administration Compliance Consulting Services. With extensive leadership experience in sponsored programs administration—including directing a $375M portfolio at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln and supporting a $3.6B proposal portfolio at Northwestern University—Dr. Mombou brings deep expertise in compliance, audit readiness, and operational transformation.
He is a Certified Research Administrator (CRA) fluent in Uniform Guidance, CAS, and FAR, with a proven record of guiding institutions through federal audits, streamlining award closeouts, and designing sustainable compliance frameworks. Dr. Mombou is also an active member of SRAI and NCURA, contributing thought leadership on the future of research compliance and administration.
Through RACCS, he partners with universities, medical centers, and research organizations to reduce audit risk, safeguard funding, and build systems that empower faculty and staff to focus on advancing research.
Credentials: PhD, Higher Education · MBA, Management · Certified Research Administrator (CRA) · Member, Society of Research Administrators International (SRAI) and National Council of University Research Administrators (NCURA)