1. 1 2006 Faculty Well-Being Survey: Contracts and Grants Research and Graduate Studies Retreat Presentation March 1, 2007 Nancy Whelchel, PhD Assistant Director for Survey Research University Planning and Analysis http://www2.acs.ncsu.edu/UPA/survey/faculty/

2. 2 Overview Survey background Awareness of grant/contract activities College and university pre- & post- award support Overhead/indirect costs Challenges to grant/contract related activities Things to think about?

3. 3 Survey Population & Response Rate On campus tenure/non-tenure track faculty/lecturers (including dept heads, music, PE, FYC) FTE.75 AY04-05 & AY05-06 Final population = 1,625 (No sampling) 69.7% response rate –No significant differences in response rates among subgroups

4. 4 Contracts/Grants questions

5. 5 Contracts/Grants question What are the biggest challenges you face related to grant/contract-related activities at NC State? (open-end)

6. 6 Awareness of grant/contract- related activities… 25% or more said they had ‘insufficient experience’ to answer the questions about contracts/grants support Awareness is higher for: –Pre-award support (compared to post- award) –College-level support (compared to university-level)

7. 7 Awareness of grant/contract- related activities… Two-thirds or more said they had ‘insufficient experience’ to answer the questions about indirect costs

8. 8

9. 9 (Un)Awareness pre-award support from college By college –Most unaware (by far): COM (58%), CHASS (53%), Design (46%) –Least unaware COE (7%), COT (7%) By tenure status –Non-tenured less aware than tenured (also by gender and race/ethnicity)

10. 10

11. 11 Satisfaction with pre- and post- award support 60% - 69% ‘satisfied’ or ‘very satisfied’ with pre- & post-award support from college and university Slightly more positive about –Pre-award support (compared to post- award) –College-level support (compared to university-level)

12. 12

13. 13 Satisfaction with support for research activities Faculty generally give lower ratings to support for research activities compared to other aspects of working at NC State.

14. 14

15. 15 Pre-award support from college Most likely to be “very satisfied” –CED (60%) –PAMS (29%) –CNR (25%)

16. 16

17. 17 Post-award support from college Most likely to be ‘very satisfied’ –CED (36%) –COT (20%)

18. 18

19. 19 Comparisons of ratings for college pre- & post-award support, by college More positive about pre-award than post-award (largest ‘gap’) –CHASS –Design More positive about post-award than pre-award (largest ‘gap’) –CVM –PAMS

20. 20

21. 21 Pre-award support from the university Most likely to be ‘very satisfied’ or ‘satisfied’ –By college PAMS (74%), CED (74%), CNR (72%), CALS (68%), COE (64%) –By years at NC State >25 years (71%), < 7 years (69%) –By race/ethnicity Hispanic (75%), Asian (66%), White (63%)

22. 22

23. 23

24. 24

25. 25 Post-award support from the university Most likely to be ‘very satisfied’ or ‘satisfied’ –By college COM (85%) –By years at NC State >25 years (69%), < 7 years (65%) –By race/ethnicity Hispanic (75%), Asian (66%), White (59%)

26. 26

27. 27

28. 28

29. 29 Comparisons of ratings for university pre- & post-award support, by college More positive about pre-award than post-award (largest ‘gap’) –CED –PAMS More positive about post-award than pre-award (largest ‘gap’) –COM –Design

30. 30

31. 31 (Dis)Satisfaction with Indirect Costs About two-thirds or more dissatisfied with indirect costs Most dissatisfied with PI control over allocation (38% ‘very dissatisfied,’ 35% ‘dissatisfied’)

32. 32

33. 33 Highest Dissatisfaction with Indirect Costs (by college) Allocation to PI –COE (77%), PAMS (72%) Allocation to department –PAMS (78%), COE (75%) PI control over allocation –COE (85%), PAMS (76%), etc.

34. 34

35. 35

36. 36

37. 37 Open-end comments: Biggest challenges to grant/contract-related activities 521 respondents Up to 3 coded comments each 14 general categories –Support-- Accounting –Administration-- Obtaining funding –Workload-- Personal –Recognition/rewards-- Tech transfer, IP –Legal issues-- Funding agency –Political issues-- IRB –Miscellaneous/Other –Positive comments!

38. 38 Open-end comments: Biggest challenges to grant/contract-related activities Most problematic –Support –Budgeting/Accounting

39. 39

40. 40 Administrative Support

41. 41

42. 42

43. 43

44. 44 Accounting System/Budgeting

45. 45

46. 46

47. 47

48. 48 Administration/Bureaucracy

49. 49

50. 50

51. 51

52. 52 Obtaining Funding

53. 53

54. 54

55. 55

56. 56 Workload/Time

57. 57

58. 58

59. 59 Personal Issues/Concerns

60. 60

61. 61

62. 62 Closing Open-Ends: Comments Related to Contracts and Grants “Most positive aspect of being a member of the faculty at NC State” (N=869) –5 comments “Most serious problems or concerns that you have in working at NC State” (N=873) –35 comments Most significant changes that should be made at NC State to improve/enhance the quality of your work life.” (N=818) –32 comments

63. 63 Summary: Things to Think About? Increase awareness/familiarity with services Provide/enhance support staff –Increase number of staff (both pre- and post-award) –Limit turnover –Improve training –Have ‘can-do’ attitude Improve accounting/budgeting –Complexity –Delays Help faculty to understand indirect costs (e.g., where the money goes and why)