Email for Partnerships - Comparison projects

VERSION 3: INITIAL NOTIFICATION FROM WESTAT

(For PIs/Staff and Industry Collaborators from Comparison Projects)

Dear [Title] [First Name] [Last Name],
We are requesting your participation in an interview regarding [insert name of project]
—a CISE project funded under [insert name of program].
Westat and RAND, independent research organizations, have been contracted by NSF to
conduct an evaluation of the benefits of NSF-private-industry direct partnerships,
document what makes them effective, and develop recommendations for how they might
be improved. While this evaluation focuses on collaborative efforts between NSF and
private industry, the purpose of this interview is to obtain comparative information about
projects that only received funding and oversight from NSF. The information that you
provide will be used to compare experiences and outcomes for projects that did and did
not participate in NSF-private industry direct partnerships.
The interview should take about 45-60 minutes. Your participation is voluntary but
critical to the success of NSF improvement efforts. Your decision to participate or not to
participate will not adversely affect consideration of your pending or future proposals.
The information you provide will be used for statistical purposes. Your responses will be
kept strictly confidential and are subject to safeguards as provided by the Privacy Act of
1974 (5 U.S.C. § 552a).
More details about the interview and next steps are provided below. Thank you in
advance for your participation, and please let us know if you have any questions.
Sincerely,

Joy Frechtling
Project Director
What is the purpose of the interview and what topics will it cover?
The interview is designed to obtain information on (1) the basic characteristics and
strategies employed by projects that did not participate in an NSF-private industry direct
partnership; (2) whether (and if so, how) projects interacted with private industry
partners; (3) the factors that affected the scope and conduct of the overall project effort;
and (4) projects’ outcomes.

What will happen to the information you provide?
The Westat/ RAND team will summarize the results from the interviews (i.e., across all
projects participating in the study) in a report that will be provided to NSF. While your
responses will be identifiable to Westat and RAND, the report provided to NSF will only
focus on overall results. Westat and RAND will not report any individual responses to
NSF, nor will they release any information about individuals participating in the
interviews to anyone outside their organizations.
What are next steps?
Please provide some dates and times when you would be able to participate in a 45-60
minute interview, and we will send you a meeting invite for a specific date and time.
[Link to Calendly (meeting scheduling tool) or list of specific dates/times of
Westat/RAND availability to be provided here]
Our preference is to conduct the interview using Microsoft Teams, but if you have other
preferences (e.g., Zoom, etc.), you may indicate that in your response.
Thank you in advance for your cooperation, and we look forward to talking with you. In
the meantime, please let us know if you have any questions.