Institutional Administrator Survey

Appendix G. Institutional Administrator Survey

Guidelines for Reviewers

Note, because of the complicated skip patterns that will be programmed, the reviewer version of the survey, by necessity, requires that there be embedded among the questions notes documenting skip patterns, alternate wording of questions, and information about which respondents will receive a particular question. These programming notes appear in a small, blue, sans-serif font. Some questions also contain placeholders for text that varies depending on existing information (e.g., the start and end dates of a grant period) or a respondent’s answer to an earlier item. These placeholders appear as [BROWN CAPITALIZED TEXT] inside brackets.

The online survey will automatically incorporate skip patterns and present the appropriate text for placeholders and question wording to the respondent. Also note that boldface type is used for emphasis, Surveys will employ a variety of response structures and will be programmed to use radio buttons, checkboxes, text boxes, and drop down boxes. Examples of each are shown below.

Radio Buttons – Allow only one answer to a question. Click circle to select option. To change answer, click another button.

Are you currently employed?

	Yes
	No

Checkboxes – Allow multiple answers to a question. Click a box to select a response. Click a checked box to remove the choice.

Which of the following degrees you have completed? Check all that apply.

☐ Doctoral degree

☒ Master’s degree

☐ Post-baccalaureate certificate

☒ Bachelor's degree

Text boxes – Allows respondent to write answer to question within a box. The number inside brackets (i.e., the “2500” in [textbox, 2500]) indicates how many characters the respondent can enter into the textbox.

What is your job title and what do you do in your job? [textbox, 2500]

     

Drop down – Allows respondent to select one answer from a list of specified list of options. Respondents click on box, and then scroll to select option.

In what month and year did you complete your graduate degree?

Month: [Drop box]

Year: [Drop box]

Placeholders

PIRE _PROJECT_NAME: The title of the PI’s or co-PI’s project funded by PIRE or the comparison program.

LEAD_PI_NAME: The name of the lead Principal Investigator of the PIRE project. Lead PIs are asked to provide respondent names in the PI Survey (See Module F of Appendix B).

AWARD_START_DATE: Date when the PIRE/COMPARISON award period began, according to NSF records.

URL TO AWARD ABSTRACT: Hypertext link to the award abstract posted on nsf.gov

International Collaboration in Science and Engineering: A Survey of U.S. Institutional Administrators in International Affairs or Study Abroad

Abt Associates Inc. is conducting this survey on behalf of the National Science Foundation (NSF) to learn about NSF’s Partnerships for International Research and Education (PIRE) program. This survey asks about your role as an institutional administrator familiar with the NSF award, “[PIRE_PROJECT_NAME]” received by [LEAD_PI_NAME] at your institution. You can view a description of this award by clicking <URL TO AWARD ABSTRACT>. Your name and email address were provided to us by the Principal Investigator of the award or was obtained through a search of your institution’s website.

For the survey to be useful, we need administrators who are familiar with PIRE and your institution’s policies and practices in international affairs and/or study abroad to participate. Without your opinions we cannot fully understand how NSF’s PIRE program is influenced by the policies and practices regarding international research and educational opportunities at U.S. institutions.

Participation is voluntary. We will not reveal to NSF whether or not you or your institution has participated in the survey, and participation is not a requirement of the PIRE award. We will protect your privacy to the extent permissible by law by separating the responses you provide from your name, contact information and other identifiers (e.g., your computer’s IP address, your institution’s name). Your survey results will be summarized along with the responses of other administrative officials in aggregate statistical form only. We will give NSF data from survey respondents only after we have removed personally identifiable information about you or your institution. None of the questions are of a sensitive nature, but you are free to skip any question you prefer not to answer.

Questions? See the Frequently Asked Questions page <FAQs>; or contact the study director, Carter Epstein of Abt Associates Inc. (toll-free: 1-800-XXX-XXX; email: [email protected]) or contact John Tsapogas at NSF, ([email protected]). For questions about participating in this research study, contact Abt’s Institutional Review Board (XXX-XXX-XXXX; email: [email protected]). This study’s IRB approval number is #XXXX.

OMB Clearance Number: xxxx-xxxx

Expiration Date: xx/xx/xxxx

Estimates of Burden for the Collection of Information. According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, no persons are required to respond to a collection of information unless it displays a valid OMB control number. The valid OMB control number for this collection is xxxx-xxxx. The time required to complete this information collection is estimated to average 15 minutes per response, including the time to review instructions, search existing data resources, gather the data needed, and complete and review the information collected.

[CONTINUE]

If PIRE award is no longer active: were you

If PIRE award is active: are you

1. In [AWARD_START_YEAR], [Lead_PI_Name], a faculty member in your institution, received an award from the National Science Foundation’s (NSF’s) Partnerships for International Research and Education (PIRE) program as Principal Investigator.

How familiar [were you/are you] with this PIRE award? You can view a summary of this award here <URL TO AWARD ABSTRACT>

 Very familiar

 Somewhat familiar

 I have heard about this award but I am not very familiar with it

 I have never heard of this award

If 1= Very familiar, somewhat familiar, continue with survey

If 1= not very familiar or have never heard of it, EXIT survey

If PIRE award is no longer active: Did the…

If PIRE award is active: Has the…

2. Has the PIRE award resulted/Did the PIRE award result in any changes in policies or practices related to undergraduate or graduate education in the sciences, technology, engineering or mathematics (STEM) fields?

• Yes

• No

If yes:

2a. Please describe these changes.

[textbox, 3000]

3. For undergraduate or graduate students in the sciences, technology, engineering, or mathematics fields (STEM) at your institution, are there policies or practices that either facilitate or hinder participation in research or education abroad?

	Policies/ practices that facilitate participation	Policies/ practices that hinder participation	Policies/ practices neither facilitate nor hinder participation	Not applicable
Undergraduate majors in sciences, technology, engineering or mathematics				
Graduate students in sciences, technology, engineering or mathematics				

If policies that facilitate or hinder marked (either row):

3a. Please describe these policies or practices and how they facilitate or hinder student participation in research or education abroad.

[textbox, 5000]

4. Has your institution encountered any challenges related to PIRE activities in other countries that have affected faculty or students?

• Yes

• No

If yes:

4a. What were these challenges and how has your institution responded?

[textbox, 3000]

5. In what ways has your institution facilitated or supported international research or education initiatives? Check all that apply.

• We have provided faculty planning international research/education collaborations with seed money

• We have provided faculty writing grant proposals with assistance developing the international components of a proposal

• We have assisted students with arrangements for research/education abroad

• We have assisted faculty with arrangements for international research/education abroad

• We have helped participants in international activities coordinate with a partner institution in one or more countries outside the U.S.

• We have an existing exchange program with one or more countries outside the U.S.

• We have a campus in a country outside the U.S.

• Other. Please describe:

[textbox, 2,500]

6. How does PIRE fit within your institution’s broader goals for international outreach, research and education? What contributions has PIRE made to these goals?

[textbox, 3000]

7. Before [Lead_PI_Name] received the PIRE award in [AWARD_START_YEAR], did your institution have any formal or informal partnerships with institutions in countries where faculty or student participants in PIRE-related research or education were traveling?

• Yes

• No

• Don’t know

If yes:

7a. What is the nature of these partnerships with institutions in other countries? Did these partnerships play any role in PIRE activities?

[textbox, 3000]

8. Has PIRE facilitated your institution’s creation of any new formal or informal partnerships with institutions in other countries?

• Yes

• No

• Don’t know

If yes:

8a. What is the nature of these partnerships?

[textbox, 3000]

Go to Conclusion

CONCLUSION

Thank you! Your responses are very important to the National Science Foundation in understanding the PIRE program. We appreciate the time you have taken to complete the survey.

The survey is now complete. You may close your internet browser or click Exit. <EXIT >

If you would like to send NSF any comments about the survey please contact:

Suzanne Plimpton at NSF (splimpto@nsf.gov) and include the OMB Control No. = xxxx-xxxx

If we have identified the wrong respondent or have erroneous information, display this screen and FLAG this respondent for Abt follow-up (weekly basis)

EXIT SCREEN

Please accept our apology.

The information you supplied suggests that you are not eligible to participate in this study or that we have reached you in error. We regret any inconvenience to you. If you have any questions about this study or you would like to make a comment, please contact one of the following individuals and include the OMB Control No. = xxxx-xxxx:

• Dr. Carter Epstein, Study Director at Abt Associates: 1-800-XXX-XXXX or [email protected]

• John Tsapogas, PIRE Program Evaluation Officer at the National Science Foundation: [email protected]

• Suzanne Plimpton at NSF (splimpto@nsf.gov)

May we have permission to contact you by email in order to clarify your responses here? Answering “yes” does not obligate you to answer any questions.

 1=Yes, you may contact me. My preferred email address is: [textbox 150]

• 0=No, please do not contact me to clarify.

Thank you very much.

Appendix G: Institutional Administrator Survey 1