NSF Survey of Outreach Attendees

NSF SURVEY OF OUTREACH ATTENDEES

Dear Colleague,

You are receiving this request for feedback because you are listed as a participant at a past NSF outreach event. In addition to many smaller, discipline specific outreach activities, NSF’s outreach events include Regional Grants Conferences, organized by the Office of Budget, Finance, and Award Management; and NSF Days, organized by the Office of Legislative and Public Affairs. NSF is in the process of evaluating the effectiveness of its outreach activities. As a part of this evaluation, we are asking previous attendees to comment on the extent to which we are meeting the goals set for our outreach. Please help us evaluate our performance by responding to the following survey. Your participation in this survey is voluntary.

Please note:

• There will be no individually identifiable information collected in this survey; the confidentiality of all respondents will be maintained.

• This survey contains both structured and open-ended questions; it should take about 15 – 30 minutes of your time to complete, depending on your responses to open-ended questions.

• This survey will be open through April xx, 2011.

• When you complete the survey, please click the "SUBMIT" button at the end.

• Please click the button “NEXT” to proceed to the survey.

If you have any technical or general questions about the survey, please contact us at [email protected] or 703-292-8002.

Sincerely,

Fae L. Korsmo, PhD Mica Green, PhD
Senior Advisor AAAS Science & Technology Policy Fellow
Office of the Director Office of the Director

National Science Foundation National Science Foundation

Pursuant to 5 CFR 1320.5(b), an agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to an information collection unless it displays a valid OMB control number. The OMB control number for this collection is 3145-0157. Public reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 15-30 minutes per response, including the time for reviewing instructions. Send comments regarding this burden estimate and any other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing this burden, to: Reports Clearance Officer, Facilities and Operations Branch, Division of Administrative Services, National Science Foundation, Arlington, VA 22230.

General Information

Which of the following best describes your current position?

	Graduate Student
	Postdoctoral Research
	Research Scientist
	Assistant Professor
	Associate Professor
	Professor
	Grant/Award Administration
	Grant Writing Support
	Other: ________________________

What research area would you consider your work to fall into?

	Biological Sciences
	Computer and Information Science
	Education and Human Resources Development
	Engineering
	Geological Sciences
	Mathematics
	Physical Sciences
	Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences
	Other/Interdisciplinary: ________________________

How many years of experience to you have doing research in this area?

	< 5 years
	5 – 10 years
	10 – 15 years
	15 – 20 years
	> 20 years

Have you ever applied for an NSF grant? (Yes / No)

Have you ever been awarded an NSF grant? (Yes / No)

What type of NSF outreach activity did you most recently attend? (Choose only one response)

	Regional Grants Conference: Providence, Rhode Island – Spring 2008
	Regional Grants Conference: Omaha, Nebraska – Fall 2008
	Regional Grants Conference: Tempe, Arizona – Spring 2009
	Regional Grants Conference: Jackson, Mississippi – Fall 2009
	Regional Grants Conference: Cleveland, Ohio – Spring 2010
	Regional Grants Conference: Salt Lake City, Utah – Fall 2010
	NSF Day: University of Texas, El Paso – January, 2008
	NSF Day: University of Nevada, Las Vegas – February , 2008
	NSF Day: San Jose State University – March, 2008
	NSF Day: Michigan Tech – April, 2008
	NSF Day: Dartmouth College – September, 2008
	NSF Day: University of Alabama, Huntsville – October, 2008
	NSF Day: Cal Poly Pomona – November, 2008
	NSF Day: Maui Community College – December, 2008
	NSF Day: Honolulu Community College – December, 2008
	NSF Day: Hawaii NSF Day – December, 2008
	NSF Day: Binghamton University – January, 2009
	NSF Day: Kent State University – February, 2009
	NSF Day: University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee – March, 2009
	NSF Day: Michigan State University – April, 2009
	NSF Day: University of Vermont September, 2009
	NSF Day: University of Iowa – October, 2009
	NSF Day: Southeast Missouri State University – October, 2009
	NSF Day: University of California, Santa Cruz – November, 2009
	NSF Day: Middle Tennessee State University – December, 2009
	NSF Day: Fort Valley State University – February, 2010
	NSF Day: Florida Institute of Technology – March, 2010
	NSF Day: Northern Arizona University – April, 2010
	NSF Day: Boise State University – April, 2010
	NSF Day: University of Toledo – September, 2010
	NSF Day: University of Kansas – October, 2010
	NSF Day: Princeton University – November, 2010
	NSF Day: Louisiana Tech University – November, 2010
	NSF Day: Kentucky State University – December, 2010
	NSF Day: University of San Diego – January, 2011
	NSF Day: Texas State University-San Marcos – February, 2011
	Other: ________________________

How have you heard about NSF outreach activities in the past? (Please check all that apply)

	NSF Events Calendar
	FastLane Advisory
	NSF Update Email
	Other: ________________________

Do you believe your attendance at an NSF outreach event had a direct impact on your ability to receive NSF funding? (Definitely / Somewhat / Not at All)

Why or why not: ____________________

Understanding NSF as an Organization

Outreach events include directorate-specific presentations introducing funding opportunities available on a discipline-specific level and providing participants with greater knowledge on how to get program-specific questions answered. Cross-directorate programs such as CAREER, EPSCoR, and International Science and Engineering are also introduced as additional avenues to funding.

• Did your attendance at an NSF outreach event (please select all that apply):

	Provide you with a demonstration of NSF’s structure in such a way as to help you find programs and initiatives relevant to your research area.
	Lead you to find a new program of which you were not previously aware. If so, which one? ________________
	Lead you to apply for a grant in a program area of which you were not previously aware.
	Build comfort with contacting program officers with questions and/or concerns.

• How valuable do you feel your understanding of directorate-specific programs and cross-cutting initiatives is to your ability to obtain NSF funding? (Very / Somewhat / Not at All)

• Additional comments regarding these or other items related to understanding NSF:

Understanding what makes a good proposal

Many outreach events include sessions on proposal preparation guidelines and best practices for proposal writing to assist participants with improving their proposal writing skills and, ultimately, their success with achieving funding.

• Did your attendance at an NSF outreach event (please select all that apply):

	Provide you with a useful overview of NSF’s proposal preparation guidelines.
	Provide you with meaningful guidance on preparing a proposal. If so, which guidance was most helpful?
	In some way change your proposal writing strategies. If so, how?

• Have you experienced (more/same level/less) success in obtaining NSF funding after attending an outreach event?

• Additional comments regarding these or other items related to understanding what makes a good proposal:

Understanding of the merit review process

Presentations discussing NSF’s merit review process are used during outreach events to give participants a better idea about the considerations made during the review and funding decision making processes.

• Did your attendance at an NSF outreach event (please select all that apply):

	Provide you with a useful overview of NSF’s merit review process.
	Provide you with meaningful guidance on how to respond to merit review criteria in a proposal.
	Change the way your address the merit review criteria in a proposal. If so, how? ________________________

• Additional comments regarding these or other items related to understanding NSF’s merit review process:

Understanding award management

To improve participants’ understanding of NSF award management requirements, some outreach events include presentations on requirements for managing and administering NSF funds. The overarching goal of these sessions is to communicate information that is important for providing proper stewardship of federal funds.

• Did your attendance at an NSF outreach event (please select all that apply):

	Provide you with meaningful guidance on an institution’s responsibilities for managing NSF funds.
	Provide you with meaningful guidance on allowable expenditures on an NSF award.
	Provide you with meaningful guidance on NSF reporting requirements.

• Additional comments regarding these or other items related to understanding award management:

Other

• NSF is dedicated to continuously improving its outreach efforts. After attending an outreach event and reflecting on the information presented, what do you feel should have been covered that was not?

• NSF sometimes uses webinars to communicate information. Do you believe webinars would be (just as, more, or less) effective as the outreach event you attended?

Comments on the use of webinars in place of in-person outreach:

• Are there other means of communicating the information presented at outreach events that you would find more effective or accessible?

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