NCSES Generic Clearance Package: HERD COVID-19 Cognitive Interviews and Webinar Poll

Attachment A: Contact Materials
Invitation

To: Primary contact
Cc: others normally included in survey contacts
From: NSF Higher Education R&D Survey
Re: HERD Survey: Tracking Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic on R&D ([[inst_id]])
Dear [[firstname]] [[lastname]]:
Thank you, again, for completing the FY 2019 Higher Education Research and Development (HERD)
Survey. I appreciate your time and efforts.
I am writing today to request your assistance in our attempt to measure the impacts of the COVID-19
pandemic on higher education research and development (R&D). The National Center for Science and
Engineering Statistics within the National Science Foundation is considering adding a few questions on
this topic to the FY 2020 survey. Before we finalize the questionnaire, we would like to get feedback
from current survey respondents about the questions and how impacts of the pandemic on research
activities are being tracked at your instituiton.
If you are willing to help, we would ask you to do two things:
1) Review a draft of the COVID-19 questions and identify the best person(s) at your instituton for
us to interview. Because these are not typical HERD survey questions, you may find that you are
not able to answer these questions on your own. We will send you the questions to review
before the interview, so you have time to discuss them with others at your instituiton.
2) Participate in a 30 minute virtual interview. During the interview, we will ask you, and any
others you would like to invite, about your ability to answer the potential survey questions and
how your institution is tracking the impacts of the pandemic on research activities. We would like
to complete the interviews by [enter date].
If you, or someone else from your instituton, is able to help, please contact Cameron Shanton from our
survey staff at ICF at support@herdsurvey.org or 866-936-9376. If we do not hear from you by [date],
we will contact you again. Cameron will send you the questions to review and follow-up later to
schedule a time for the interview.
Thank you for your help and for your continued participation in the NSF HERD Survey.
Sincerely,
Michael Gibbons
Project Officer, Higher Education R&D Survey
National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics
National Science Foundation

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Invitation Additional Information – Sending Questions to Confirm Participation
To: Person(s) who volunteered to participate
Cc:
From: NSF Higher Education R&D Survey
Re: HERD Survey: COVID-19 Pandemic test questions ([[inst_id]])
Dear [[firstname]] [[lastname]]:
Thank you for agreeing to participate in a brief interview on potential new questions for the FY 2020
Higher Education Research and Development (HERD) Survey about the impacts of the COVID-19
pandemic on R&D activity.
The questions we’ll be discussing during the interview are attached to this email. During the interview,
we’ll ask about your ability to answer the questions and your general understanding of the questions.
We will also ask some questions about how the impacts of the pandemic on research activities are being
tracked at your instituiton.
Please review the questions, discuss with your colleauges, and contact me to schedule a 30minute
follow-up interview. We would like to complete the interviews by [enter date]. You can contact me at
support@herdsurvey.org or 866-936-9376.
If you are not the best person to answer these questions, we ask that you invite that person to the
interview, or ask them to contact me to schedule an interview.
Thank you for your help and for your continued participation in the NSF HERD Survey.
Sincerely,
Cameron Shanton
Data Collection Specialist
Higher Education R&D Survey
ICF

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Invitation – Reminder Phone Call Script

Hello, my name is Cameron Shanton. I’m calling on behalf of the Higher Education Research and
Development (HERD) Survey. We sent you an e-mail on [date] saying that NSF is considering adding
some questions to the FY 2020 survey about the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on research activity.
In the e-mail, we asked if you would be willing to review the questions and provide some feedback
during a 30-minute interview.
Did you recall that e-mail?
[If no]
In the email, we said if you were willing to help we would ask you to do two things. First, we
would ask you to review a draft of the COVID-19 questions and identify the best person or
persons at your instituton for us to interview. Because these are not typical HERD survey
questions, you may find that you are not able to answer these questions on your own. I would
send you the questions to review before the interview, so you have time to discuss them with
others at your instituiton.
Second, we would ask you to participate in a 30-minute interview—a teleconference or video
conference, whichever you prefer. During the interview, we will ask you, and any others you
would like to invite, about your ability to answer the proposed survey questions and how your
institution is currently tracking the impacts of the pandemic on research activities.
We would like to finalize the questions soon, so we can share the final questionnaire with all of the
HERD respondents. So, we would like to complete the interviews by [enter date].
Are you interested and able to participate?
[If yes]
Great! I will send you the questions we’re considering adding once I’m off the phone. Please reply back
to that e-mail with whether you and/or someone else should participate in the interview and send me
your availability before [enter date] and I will schedule an interview. Would you like to participate via
video or teleconference only?
[If no]
Thank you for your time in speaking with me today. We won’t contact you further about this but will let
you know as soon as we can what new questions may appear on the FY 2020 HERD Survey. Thank you
for your continued participation in the NSF HERD Survey.

Message

Hello, my name is Cameron Shanton. I’m calling on behalf of the Higher Education Research and
Development (HERD) Survey. We sent you an e-mail on [date] saying that NSF is considering adding
some questions to the FY 2020 survey about the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on research activity.
In the e-mail, we asked if you would be willing to review the questions and provide some feedback
during a 30-minute interview. Could you please respond to that e-mail or call be back at 866-936-9376
and let me know if you would be willing to help? Thank you for your consideration and for your
continued participation in the NSF HERD Survey.

Invitation – Reminder E-Mail

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To: Primary contact
Cc: others normally included in survey contacts
From: NSF Higher Education R&D Survey
Re: Please reply: Tracking Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic on R&D in the NSF-NCSES HERD Survey
([[inst_id]])
Dear [[firstname]] [[lastname]]:
A few days ago, we sent you an e-mail asking for your assistance. We are considering adding a few
questions to the FY 2020 Higher Education Research and Development (HERD) Survey about the impacts
of the COVID-19 pandemic on R&D activity. We want to be sure we understand the impacts of the
pandemic on the research endeavor and the abilities of universities to track these impacts. We would
greatly appreciate your input on our question development.
If you would like to speak with us about the effects of the pandemic on R&D at your institution, we
would ask you to do two things:
1) Review a draft of the COVID-19 questions and identify the best person(s) at your instituton for
us to interview. Because these are not typical HERD survey questions, you may find that you are
not able to answer these questions on your own. We will send you the questions to review
before the interview, so you have time to discuss them with others at your instituiton.
2) Participate in a 30 minute virtual interview. During the interview, we will ask you, and any
others you would like to invite, about your ability to answer the potential survey questions and
how your institution is tracking the impacts of the pandemic on research activities. We would like
to complete the interviews by [enter date].
If you, or someone else from your instituton, is able to help, please contact Cameron Shanton from our
survey staff at ICF at support@herdsurvey.org or 866-936-9376. If we do not hear from you by [date],
we will contact you again. Cameron will send you the questions to review and follow-up later to
schedule a time for the interview.
Thank you for your help and for your continued participation in the NSF HERD Survey.
Sincerely,
Michael Gibbons
Project Officer, Higher Education R&D Survey
National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics
National Science Foundation

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Confirmation of Interview

To: Person(s) who volunteered to participate
CC: other attendees, including relevant NCSES and ICF staff
From: NSF Higher Education R&D Survey
Re: Confirming interview ([[inst_id]])
Dear [[firstname]] [[lastname]]:
Thank you for agreeing to talk to us about possibly adding questions to measure the effects of the
COVID-19 pandemic on R&D for the FY 2020 Higher Education R&D (HERD) Survey.
The [teleconference/video conference] is scheduled for DayoftheWeek, Month XX, at X:XX AM/PM
(EDT/CDT/MDT/PDT). At that time please [call our conference line at 1-855-423-6338, conference ID is
450349/click on the link below to join the Skype meeting]. Sherri Mamon will be leading the interview. I
would be happy to send you a Microsoft Outlook invitation, if you prefer.
In advance of the interview, we would like to request your agreement with the attached informed
consent. Please either return a signed copy of the attachment or reply to this e-mail stating your
consent.
If you have further questions or need to reschedule, you may reach me by email at
support@HERDsurvey.org or call toll-free at (866) 936-9376.
Thank you very much for your help.
Sincerely,
Cameron Shanton
Data Collection Specialist
Higher Education R&D Survey
ICF

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Reminder of Interview

This will be sent to institutions one business day before their scheduled interview, but only if they
received the first confirmation at least 2 days before the scheduled interview.
To: Person(s) who volunteered to participate
CC: other attendees, including relevant ICF staff
From: NSF Higher Education R&D Survey
Re: Interview Reminder ([[inst_id]])
Dear [[firstname]] [[lastname]]:
This is just a reminder about our interview scheduled for DayoftheWeek, Month XX, at X:XX AM/PM
(EDT/CDT/MDT/WDT). At that time please [call our conference line at 1-855-423-6338, conference ID is
450349/click on the link below to join the Skype meeting].
You do not need to do anything to prepare for this meeting. [add in if informed consent has not yet been
received, However, please return a signed copy of the attached informed consent or reply to this e-mail
that you consent.]
If you have any questions or need to reschedule, you may reach me by email at
support@HERDsurvey.org or call toll-free at (866) 936-9376.
Thank you very much for your help.
Sincerely,
Sherri Mamon
Qualitative Researcher
Higher Education R&D Survey
ICF

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