The SRA Symposium - College of Medicine

Selected members received an email indicating the purpose of the survey and requesting their participation
with instructions. After having the survey available for four weeks, the survey results were
downloaded and a query run against the identification code to determine which codes were non-responders.
A second email requesting participation was issued to the non-responders. This procedure
was repeated twice at two-week internals. After the deadline date, the data was downloaded to
determine the feasibility of educational programming in the field of research administration.
Treating the Data
Review of the data indicated that it required cleaning to create uniform answers for comparison
purposes. Standard mathematical rules were used, for instance if a respondent indicated years in
the profession as 4.3 the cleaned entry listed the answer as four (4). Likewise, state of residence
was made uniform using the standard two-letter identification code. If a response indicated an
international affiliation, this category was separated into Canada and International, since Canada
has similar professional development as the United States. After all the data represented uniform
entries, various statistical calculations were performed.
Certificate Program Development
After analysis of the data, the initial group reconvened to determine the course selection, the
proper format for providing the educational opportunity, the admission requirements, and what
qualifies a person to be an instructor. The proposal incorporated the suggestions from the team
and the institutional representatives.
After the proposal received the executives’ support, it was presented to the Master of Public Administration
faculty for evaluation and determination if it was something that they endorsed for
development. After receiving their unanimous support, the entire department’s faculty reviewed
the tract’s recommendation and also voted unanimously to incorporate the new programming into
the college’s course offering. Since this is an additional certificate program, it required the approval
of both the graduate council and the university’s board of trustees. After review, the proposal
received both approvals.
The Results
Papers
The needs assessment garnered 155 participants or approximately a 30% response rate. Generally,
the respondents were from the United States, had held a mid-level position for five to fifteen
years, and had either a bachelor’s or a master’s degree (see Table 1). The sample data appear to be
reflective of the entire population: the SRA’s total international membership is five percent, and the
international response rate was six percent. Even though it is reflective of the association’s population,
the rate still may pose bias towards a certain type of demographic of the profession.
2005 Symposium Proceedings Book 99