Indiana University Human Research Protection Program
INDIANA UNIVERSITY STUDY INFORMATION SHEET
Evaluation Study of Project EPIC at IUPUI (Focus Group/Interview)
Study Protocol #: 12952
WHY IS THIS RESEARCH BEING DONE?
The purpose of the evaluation study is to assess the effectiveness and impact of the intervention strategies adopted by Project EPIC to empower leadership to address issues involving equity, diversity, and inclusion in order to improve the departmental/institutional climate and increase the representation of women and faculty of color in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) departments at IUPUI. Overall, the evaluation study will help to obtain information needed to accomplish the broad goal of promoting an inclusive department or campus climate.
For project evaluation purposes, you are invited to participate in an interview/focus group process. The invitation to participate in the evaluation study is extended to full-time faculty and staff from STEM disciplines involved with IUPUI’s Project EPIC. Primarily, the interview/focus group activity gives you a forum to provide your feedback to assist project investigators and evaluators to assess the usefulness, effectiveness, and impact of the intervention strategies utilized by Project EPIC to improve department/institutional climate and to increase representation of women faculty and faculty of color in STEM academic departments at IUPUI.
The research is part of “Project EPIC at IUPUI”, which is being conducted by the following team of five IUPUI faculty members who will serve as the Principal Investigator or Co-Principal Investigators: Dr. Kathy E. Johnson, Executive Vice Chancellor and Chief Academic Officer (Principal Investigator); and four Co-Principal Investigators -- Dr. Pratibha Varma-Nelson, Founding Executive Director, STEM Education Innovation & Research Institute; Dr. Margaret Stockdale, Professor & Chair, Department of Psychology; Dr. Gina Gibau, Associate Vice Chancellor for Faculty Diversity & Inclusion; and Dr. Evava Pietri, Assistant Professor of Psychology, Applied Social and Organizational Psychology. Project EPIC is funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF ADVANCE Program Award #1936096).
This evaluation study (including a component involving an interview/focus group with study participants), is coordinated and conducted through the IUPUI Office of Institutional Research and Decision Support under the direction of the internal evaluator, Howard Mzumara, PhD (Director of Evaluation and Psychometric Services), at ude[dot]iupui[at]aramuzmh or 317-278- 2214.
WHAT WILL HAPPEN DURING THE STUDY?
If you agree to be in the evaluation study, you will participate an interview or focus group to provide your feedback to specific questions that will help project investigators and evaluators to assess progress with project implementation as well as the usefulness, effectiveness, and impact of the intervention strategies utilized to meet the goals of Project EPIC at IUPUI. The interview or focus group process to obtain participants’ feedback for impact analysis purposes is conducted annually during the fall term of 2021 to fall term of 2022 (i.e., the fourth quarter of each year of the three-year grant period). The interview meeting takes about 30 minutes, and the focus group session takes about 45 minutes to complete. For the evaluation study, we anticipate that you will be among a representative sample pool of about 40-50 STEM Leaders invited to participate in an interview or focus group process that will address specific interventions or components incorporated in Project EPIC.
WHAT ARE THE RISKS OF TAKING PART IN THE STUDY?
The risks of participating in this evaluation study are being uncomfortable in answering sensitive questions in an interview/focus group session or loss of confidentiality if you inadvertently “self-disclose your identity” when providing your responses to specific questions. Essentially, the interview/focus group asks questions regarding the usefulness, effectiveness, and impact of the respective intervention strategies that investigators adopted to meet the goals and objectives of Project EPIC. All efforts will be made to keep your feedback strictly confidential (see Information protection and confidentiality measures described below).
Should completing this interview/focus group arouse uncomfortable feelings or emotions we encourage you to contact: The IU Employee Assistance Program, 888-234-8327 (for faculty and staff at IUPUI).
WHAT ARE THE POTENTIAL BENEFITS OF TAKING PART IN THE STUDY?
There is no direct benefit to participation in this research/evaluation study. However, the benefits of participation will be to establish strong, reliable, and effective interventions for achieving an inclusive climate in every STEM-related academic department on the IUPUI campus (IUSM is excluded from this study). Specifically, the feedback obtained from study participants (when analyzed and reported in aggregate form) will be used to corroborate existing evidence of best practices that can facilitate further development and implementation of effective interventions that academic leaders can use to enhance continuous improvement of department/institutional climate.
WILL I BE PAID TO PARTICIPATE?
There is no payment for participation.
HOW WILL MY INFORMATION BE PROTECTED?
Efforts will be made to keep your personal information confidential. To protect your identity, a pseudonym or “dummy code” is used to replace your full name in data files. First name and email are only used for sending initial email invites/reminders. Other information including school, department, gender, race/ethnicity will be protected by a secure online server. All this information is kept on password protected computers with data encryption enabled. Your identity will be held in confidence in reports in which the study may be published and in secure servers or databases (i.e., IU-supplied Microsoft OneDrive, password-protected data files on the IRDS/UITS server) in which results may be stored. No audio or video recording of interviews or focus groups will be made (to protect anonymity of study participants and to maintain confidentiality of the information they provide).
In addition, we will not make any report available in which participants’ identities could be determined. This includes statistical reports that could identify a group with five or fewer members (e.g., African American Female Faculty in the School of Science).
We cannot guarantee absolute confidentiality. Your personal information may be disclosed if required by law. Your identity will be held in confidence in reports in which the study may be published and databases in which results may be stored. Participation in this evaluation study is voluntary and maintains confidentiality and anonymity as your individual responses will not be identifiable.
Organizations that may inspect and/or copy your evaluation records for quality assurance and data analysis include groups such as the study investigator and his/her research associates, the Indiana University Institutional Review Board or its designees], and (as allowed by law) state or federal agencies, specifically the Office for Human Research Protections (OHRP) who may need to access your evaluation records.
WHO SHOULD I CALL WITH QUESTIONS OR PROBLEMS?
For questions about the study, contact the internal evaluator, Howard Mzumara, PhD (Director of Evaluation and Psychometric Services), at ude[dot]iupui[at]aramuzmh or 317-278- 2214.
For questions about your rights as a research participant or to discuss problems, complaints or concerns about a research study, or to obtain information, or offer input, contact the IU Human Subjects Office at (812) 856-4242 or by email at ude[dot]ui[at]bri.
CAN I WITHDRAW FROM THE STUDY?
Taking part in this program evaluation study is voluntary. You may choose not to take part or may leave the study at any time. Leaving the study will not result in any penalty or loss of benefits to which you are entitled. Your decision whether or not to participate in this study will not affect your current or future relations with IUPUI. If you desire not to participate or to withdraw from the evaluation study, do not give your consent (on the informed consent statement form). If you withdraw from the research/evaluation study, you will no longer be asked to participate in further evaluation activities for Project EPIC.