SURVEY ON RESEARCH SUPPORT

RESEARCH SUPPORT SURVEY:
CHALLENGES AND SOLUTIONS FOR
REMOTE AND INSULAR EMERGING RESEARCH INSTITUTIONS
The University of the Virgin Islands (UVI) and partner institutions, the University of Hawai’i-Hilo, University of Alaska-Fairbanks, University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez, and University of Guam, are implementing this survey of researchers and research support staff at remote and insular institutions to gather ideas and propose solutions for remote and insular universities who wish to improve support systems for research, and to promote broadening participation in the STEM workforce.

Your participation in this survey is completely voluntary, and you may discontinue completing the survey at any time without consequence.  Your responses will be confidential, and your individual identities will not be collected. The risk of participating in or completing this survey is deemed to have very low risk.  The benefits of participating in this study are the potential for your responses to improve the research enterprise system at your institution and at other institutions facing similar challenges.     
You may forward this survey to others.
We anticipate the survey may take up to 15-20 minutes to complete, depending upon the detailed nature of your responses. You may request access to all data collected in aggregate after completion of the survey.  Points of contact outside your institution will have access only to summary data and de-identified case examples. All data may be shared in future meetings designed to craft solutions, as well as used in any final reports.  Identified points of contact will have access to these data, as follows:  
Richard Nader, UVI Richard.nader@uvi.edu; Matias Carfaro, UPR-M, matias.cafaro@upr.edu; Rachel T. Leon Guerrero, U Guam rachaeltlg@triton.uog.edu; Bruce Mathews, UH-Hilo bmathews@hawaii.edu; Brenda Konar, UA-F bhkonar@alaska.edu.    
You may direct inquiries to any points of contact. Thank you for your participation.
Thank you for your participation.

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* 1. What is your role at your institution?

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* 2. How would you rate your level of satisfaction at your ability to conduct research at your institution?

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* 3. How would you rate overall your institution's ability to administer research and sponsored projects?

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* 4. What areas related to supporting sponsored projects/research need the most improvement?

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* 5. Are you aware of Researchers avoiding using your institution's grants management and support due to the difficulty of carrying out research administration?

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* 6. The National Science Foundation defines domains of the research enterprise below. In your experience, which of the following domains most impacts the success of your research?  Select the top most impactful in rank order with 1 being most important.

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* 7. For some of the most important domains you selected, can you describe an incident or a case that illustrates your experience (positive or negative) with the university’s ability to meet your needs…. What do you think is the cause of this experience (positive or negative)?

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* 8. Further reflecting on these incidents/cases, what might have been done to prevent it from happening?

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* 9. Many possible solutions are out there: Outsourcing, Training, Exchange, Consortia, Shared Services, Reorganization within the institution, Fundraising, Partnerships with national Research Support or Professional Research Organizations, University-Community Partnerships, or Partnerships with major institutions, etc. Please reflect on how your institution might improve:

·        ATTRACTING AND RETAINING TALENT

·        EFFICIENCIES FOR RESEARCH LOGISTICS

·        INCREASING INDUSTRY, TECH TRANSFER OR CORPORATE PARTNERSHIPS

·        SUPPORT FOR FACULTY, STUDENTS STAFF TO PURSUE FUNDING

·        TRAINING IN PRE-POST AWARD, OR COMLPIANCE

·        BUILDING A MORE DIVERSE STEM WORKFORCE

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* 10. Any concluding thoughts?

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