Attachment 9 E-mail Announcement to PIs

Attachment 9

E-Mail Announcement to PIs

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

_____________________________________________________________________________

National Institutes of Health

6701 Democracy Boulevard, Room 206

Bethesda, MD 20892

Dear [NAME OF PI],

The NIH is conducting an evaluation of the Science Education Partnership Award (SEPA) program. The NIH has contracted with Westat, an independent research firm located in Rockville, Maryland, to conduct the evaluation study. The purpose of the evaluation is to assess the extent to which SEPA projects are fulfilling the mission and goals of the program, how well the program has fulfilled its goal of enhancing and creating partnerships among SEPA projects, and whether the program has encouraged the use of more rigorous evidence-based evaluations.

As part of the evaluation, we will be collecting information from principal investigators (PIs) of current as well as past SEPA projects to share their views and experiences regarding contributions of project partners, the extent to which partnerships are being/have been sustained, issues associated with the evaluation component, and outcomes that have resulted from the SEPA project. Our records show that you are or have been a principal investigator of a SEPA project. As a PI of a SEPA project, we would like to invite you to participate in the evaluation study.

Information will be collected via a web-based survey and telephone or site visit interviews. The federal Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has approved the data collection instruments (OMB No.: xxxx-xxxx, Expiration Date: xx/xx/20xx). The PI Web Survey will open on January 22^nd, 2016. Westat will e-mail you within the next two weeks with detailed information regarding participation in the survey. A select number of SEPA project PIs will be invited to participate in a PI interview that will take place in August/September of 2016. If you are selected for the interview, you will be e-mailed an invitation in July, 2016 for participation.

Participation in the study is voluntary and you decision to respond or not will in no way affect future NIH funding decisions. The information you provide will be kept private to the extent provided by law. Your individual responses to the survey and the telephone interview, or any potentially personal identifying information, will not be shared with NIH staff members. The information collected will be published in aggregate form only and will not identify individuals in any reports or presentations.

If you have any questions, please feel free to either contact me, Tony Beck, (contact information below) or Dr. Jill Feldman at Westat: 240-453-2905 or [email protected].

Thank you in advance for your cooperation.

Best regards,

Tony Beck, Ph.D.

Program Officer, SEPA

Telephone: 301-435-0805

E-mail: [email protected]