Institutional Site Visit Sample Interviews: Full and Associate Professors

II. Departmental Faculty Protocol

Questions for relevant departmental faculty members (e.g., graduate program coordinating officials, department chairs, and faculty who have worked with GRFP Fellows):

1. What is your overall impression of the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP)? How does it compare, in reputation, with other fellowship programs? What does it mean to faculty members that a student is a GRFP Fellow?

2. How does a GRFP Fellowship influence the admissions decisions of your department? How does receiving a GRFP Fellowship influence faculty members’ willingness to work with a prospective student?

3. How do the experiences of Fellows differ from those of other students in the program? Probe for:

   • whether Fellows are fully integrated into the program or if their source of funding isolates them;

   • whether the GRFP funding provides greater autonomy/flexibility since it is not tied to an advisor or lab;

   • whether program guidelines affect Fellows’ service to the department in terms of TAing/RAing?

4. Compared to the other students in your department, do Fellows differ in the length of time they need to finish? What are the career goals of your GRFP Fellows, and do they differ from those of the other students in your department? Compared to other students, to what extent are the Fellows developing the personal and professional skills necessary for success in their chosen field after graduating?

5. How do Fellows benefit from their GRFP Fellowship? How does your department benefit from hosting GRFP Fellows?

6. To what extent do Fellows contribute to the research activity of the department? Are the educational and research experiences of Fellows similar to those of other students? How has this changed over the past few years? Do Fellows have different opportunities or make different choices compared to other students? If there are differences, what are they?

7. How would your department be affected if GRFP funding were to disappear? Does the GRFP figure into the financial planning of the department?

8. How could the GRFP be improved? What changes to the program might benefit the Fellows and the department?