AOR Protocol

Protocol for Authorized Organizational Representatives (AORs)

Introduction
Thank you so much for taking the time to speak with us today. My name is Allison Smith, and I am part
of a team conducting research for the National Science Foundation’s (NSF’s) Office of Equity and Civil
Rights (OECR) on the policies that NSF has developed to promote safe and harassment-free research and
education environments. I am also joined by my colleague, ____________, who will be taking notes
during our conversation.
As part of this research, we are conducting interviews with representatives at NSF awardee
organizations across the United States. Given your current role on an active NSF award, we are very
interested in learning about your perspectives on NSF’s anti-harassment policies and their
implementation, as well as any opportunities or challenges they have presented within your
organization. We would also appreciate you sharing any recommendations you may have related to
these policies.
We will be audio-recording the conversation today to ensure that we capture your exact words and that
our final report reflects all participants’ views as accurately as possible. We will not share this recording
or our notes from this interview with NSF or anyone outside of the immediate project team, and both
the recording and our notes will be deleted once the project is completed.
After we complete all of the interviews, we will analyze the data collected to identify major findings and
recommendations. To ensure confidentiality, none of the findings or recommendations reported to NSF
will be connected with the names of specific interview participants or their organizations.
This interview is completely voluntary, and you may skip any question or stop participating at any point.
The interview should take no more than an hour to complete, and the OMB clearance number is 3145XXXX. Before we begin, do you have any questions for us?
If you are ready to start, we will begin recording now. Thank you again for agreeing to participate in this
research.
Background Questions
1. How long have you worked for your organization?
2. How would you describe your responsibilities?
3. Are there others in your organization who share these responsibilities? [Probe for how the office
of sponsored projects is organized, whether it covers both pre- and post-award activity, how
responsibilities are divided, and whether individuals work together or independently.]
4. How many awards is your office responsible for? [Probe for how many different agencies fund
these awards and how many awards are funded by NSF.]
5. In addition to your role on these awards, do you serve in other roles in your organization?

a. If so, what are these roles? [Probe for what percentage of time is dedicated to being an
AOR and whether participants feel they have enough time to dedicate to their AOR
responsibilities.]
Questions Related to Communication and Knowledge of the T&C/Conference & Travel Policies
1. How did you learn about the NSF term and condition related to sexual harassment, other forms
of harassment, or sexual assault? [Probe for whether they recall receiving emails or other
communications from NSF regarding the T&C and whether the rollout of the T&C was the same
as or different from the rollout of other new NSF policies.]
2. If you were asked to summarize the NSF term and condition related to sexual harassment, other
forms of harassment, or sexual assault in a sentence or two, how would you?
3. Have you been to the section on the NSF website focused on the term and condition? [Show the
T&C webpage on the screen and give the participant time to look at it.] What additional
information, if any, you would like about these requirements? [Probe for comments on the
website, what, if any, additional information they would like, and how it could most effectively
be disseminated.]
4. How did you learn about the policy requiring that NSF-funded conferences have a policy or code
of conduct related to sexual harassment, other forms of harassment, or sexual assault? [Probe
for whether they recall receiving emails or other communications from NSF regarding the
conference policy and whether the rollout was the same as or different from the rollout of other
new NSF policies.]
5. [Show the conference policy on the screen and give the participant time to read it. Mention that
the policy also applies to conferences that awardees attend using NSF travel awards.] What
additional information, if any, would you like about the conference policy? [Probe for what, if
any, additional information they would like, and how it could most effectively be disseminated.]
6. If you had questions about either the term and condition or conference policy, whom would you
ask? [Probe for whether they would ask someone in the same campus office, a different campus
office, at NSF, etc.]
7. Have you communicated with other members of the campus community about the NSF term
and condition or conference policy?
a. If so, with whom? [Probe for whether they have spoken with the organization’s Title IX
Coordinator or the PIs on NSF awards about the T&C or conference policy and in what
context.]
Questions Related to Implementation of the T&C/Conference & Travel Policies
T&C
1. Could you take me step by step through the process that would be followed at your organization
to make a notification under the NSF term and condition? [Probe for which offices at the
organization would coordinate, how and when the AOR would be notified of the concerns, how

2.

3.

4.

5.

the determination would be made that NSF should be notified, and how long the process might
take.]
Has your organization ever had to make a notification under the NSF term and condition? [If the
response is “yes,” probe for any details the participant feels comfortable sharing.]
a. If so, has your organization also had to notify any other federal agencies regarding the
same issue(s)?
i. If so, which agencies? [Probe for whether the agencies included the National
Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) or the National Institutes of
Health (NIH).]
Has your organization had to institute any procedural or organizational changes in order to
ensure compliance with the NSF term and condition related to sexual harassment, other forms
of harassment, or sexual assault?
a. If so, what changes have been instituted?
b. If so, how are these changes working? [If the participant mentions challenges, probe for
the nature of these challenges and how they might be addressed.]
In addition to providing links to a variety of information, the NSF term and condition webpage
includes a link to the webform to be used when notifying NSF regarding a PI’s placement on
administrative leave or a finding of harassment. [Show the webform on screen.] Do you find this
form to be user-friendly?
a. If not, why not? [Probe for any concerns about privacy, the security of the website, etc.]
b. If not, what changes to the form would you suggest? [Probe for any recommended
changes to the webform, reporting mechanism, etc.]
Are there any changes or revisions you would recommend making to the NSF term and
condition more generally?
a. If so, what changes and why?

Conference & Travel Policies
1. Has your organization received a conference award from NSF in the past three years?
a. If so, can you tell me about the policy/code of conduct and reporting mechanism that
were established for one of the conferences? [Probe for details on policy/code of
conduct, how it was disseminated, and the mechanism for reporting violations.]
b. If not, can you tell me how the NSF requirements would likely be met? [Probe for details
on how the policy/code of conduct would be developed, whether it could be modeled
after one the organization already has established, how the policy/code of conduct
would be disseminated, and what mechanism would likely be established for reporting
violations.]
2. Have any of the NSF-funded awards you’ve worked on in the past three years supported travel
to a conference?
3. Does the NSF travel policy make it more challenging for awardees to travel to a conference using
NSF funding?

a. If so, why? [Probe for difficulties related to ensuring that other conferences have
policies/codes of conduct and reporting mechanisms, etc.]
b. If so, how could these challenges be addressed?
4. Are there any changes or revisions you would recommend making to the NSF anti-harassment
conference or conference travel policy?
a. If so, what changes and why?
Questions Related to Perceptions of the T&C/Conference & Travel Policies
1. Do any of the other federal agencies that fund your organization have a term and condition
related to sexual harassment, other forms of harassment, and sexual assault?
a. If so, which agencies?
b. If so, are these agencies’ requirements different from NSF’s?
i. If so, how? [Probe for any differences in the requirements of the NASA T&C , NIH
T&C, and/or other agencies’ T&Cs and whether any of these agencies have more
stringent requirements.]
2. Do any of the other federal agencies that fund your organization have a policy requiring that the
conferences they fund have a policy or code of conduct related to sexual harassment, other
forms of harassment, or sexual assault?
a. If so, which agencies?
b. If so, are these agencies’ requirements different from NSF’s?
i. If so, how? [Probe for whether any of these agencies have more stringent
conference policies.]
3. Do you think that all agencies that fund your organization should have a term and condition,
conference policy, and conference travel policy similar to NSF’s?
a. If so, why?
b. If not, why not?
4. Do you have any concerns – or have others in your organization expressed any concerns – about
the NSF term and condition, conference policy, or conference travel policy?
a. If so, what is the nature of these concerns?
5. Do you think these types of policies help to prevent and address sexual harassment, other forms
of harassment, and sexual assault in your organization? Why or why not?
a. If so, are there particular aspects of the policies that make them effective?
b. If not, what do you think could be done to make these policies more effective?
6. Are there other ways that government funding agencies could help to prevent and address
sexual harassment, other forms of harassment, and sexual assault in your organization?
a. If so, how?
b. If not, why not?

General Questions
1. What would you say are the most challenging aspects of your job? [Probe for whether meeting
certain types of agency requirements is considered challenging.]
2. How could these challenges be addressed?
3. If NSF asked you for advice on how they could improve the experience of working with NSF,
what advice would you give? [Probe for recommendations regarding changes in policies,
communications, training, intra-agency coordination, etc.]
4. Are there any other questions you feel we should have asked or any additional comments you
would like to provide?
Conclusion
We appreciate all of the valuable information you’ve provided during this interview and, again, want to
assure you that neither your name nor that of your organization will be connected with any of the
findings or recommendations that will be presented to NSF. If you have any questions, concerns, or
would like to provide additional information in the future, please feel free to reach out to me at
[email protected] or (202) 868-2151 at any time. Thank you again.