BBSI Interview Guide for Principal Investigators

PI Interview Protocol

BBSI INTERVIEW GUIDE

FOR PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATORS

Overall Study Questions

• What kinds of coursework and hands-on research experiences do undergraduates in BBSI have?

• What kinds of undergraduate research experiences in BBSIs best serve the needs and interests of different kinds of students?

• Do BBSIs lead to higher levels of STEM participation by undergraduate students in general, and by minorities, women, and persons with disabilities in particular?

• What are the impacts of BBSI program features that are not common in other undergraduate research participation programs (e.g. REU): having formal coursework and research seminar, having students return for the second year, and having graduate students participate?

Note that we are NOT evaluating any individual BBSIs and that interviews are confidential.

1. BBSI site overview

1. What academic departments at your institution are involved in your BBSI program? What is your BBSI’s academic focus (bioinformatics, bioengineering, etc.)?

2. What is the relationship with your BBSI partner institutions, if any, and the home institutions of your BBSI students?

3. How do you recruit faculty mentors?

4. How do you recruit students? What kinds of students do you look for? What are the selection criteria? What is the general quality of the student applicants?

5. How many of the students in your BBSI program are targeted minorities (African American, Latino, or Native American), women, or individuals with disabilities?

2. BBSI program features and their impacts

1. How effective is the mechanism that allows students to return for the second year? Do you utilize this feature? Why or why not?

2. What are the impacts of having formal coursework or a research seminar in addition to hands-on research experience?

3. What are the impacts of having graduate students participate in the BBSI?

3. BBSI effects on participants

1. What kinds of students has your BBSI program helped the most? Do different kinds of experiences work better for some kinds of students than others? Are there any differences between students who return for the second year and those who do not? Have you found any difference between the experience of undergraduate and graduate student?

2. What effects, if any, has running the BBSI program had on your career, or what effects do you think it might have on your career in the future?

3. What effects has the BBSI program had on the faculty mentors?

4. What effects has the BBSI program had on the department and institution?

4. BBSI program operation

1. Does your BBSI program allow participation of self-funded or non-BBSI funded students? What other sources do non-BBSI funded students get funding from?

2. What would you have done if you had not received the BBSI grant?

3. What were/are your motivations for running the BBSI program? Why did you apply for the BBSI grant?

4. What challenges have you experienced with the BBSI program?

5. Have there been any special challenges and/or special benefits due to the participation of multiple departments/disciplines in your BBSI program?

6. Do you have any plans to implement the cyber-infrastructure that NSF and NIH recommend?

5. Other comments

1. On the list of BBSI students you provided to us, are the students’ email addresses the ones from the time of their BBSI participation, or have the email addresses been updated since that time?

2. Did you conduct an exit survey of student participants? If so, would you mind sharing your questionnaire with us?

3. Do you have any suggestions for improving the BBSI program?