Guardrails and Boundaries: Protecting Librarians on the Tenure-Track

TITLE OF STUDY
Guardrails and Boundaries: Protecting Librarians on the Tenure-track

PRINCIPLE INVESTIGATOR
Alison Downey
Christopher Center for Library and Information Resources
219-464-6183
alison.downey@valpo.edu

PURPOSE OF STUDY
You are being asked to take part in a research study related to understanding personal boundaries and institutional policies (guardrails) in place to help librarians be successful in the attainment of tenure. Before you decide to participate in this study, it is important that you understand why the research is being done and what it will involve. Please read the following information carefully.

The purpose of this study seeks to understand the types of written policies and informal practices that support tenure-track academic librarians during their tenure journey, especially in changes to work environment and support systems.

STUDY PROCEDURES AND STEPS
If you choose to participate in this study, you will be asked to fill out a brief survey with questions about your experience on the tenure-track, any personal boundaries you practiced, and your thoughts regarding institutional policies (guardrails) that may have existed, or that you feel should have existed. You will also be asked several general information questions about your institution. If you are over eighteen (18) years old and in a tenure-track faculty position or attained tenure in the last five (5) years at a post-secondary institution in the United States, you are eligible to participate in this research study. The questionnaire is expected to take you approximately twenty (20) minutes to complete.

RISKS AND DISCOMFORTS
Your participation in the study should not involve any substantial or noticeable risks. There is currently no foreseeable cause of distress related to this study.

BENEFITS
Participation is voluntary. There will be no direct benefit to you for participating in this study. However we hope that the information obtained from this study can be used to learn more about potential policies that can assist tenure-track librarians in successful attainment of tenure.

CONFIDENTIALITY
The researchers will remove all participant identifiers (e.g., email) and will assign each participant a random number identifier before it is entered into the dataset. Any reports or publications based on this research will use only group data and will not identify you or any individual as being of this project. Group-level data may be provided in online data sharing networks such as Open Source Framework and will not be linked to individual participants. Data will be collected via Survey Monkey and then imported into a password protected SPSS file. Original data in Survey Monkey will be deleted once imported into SPSS.

FUTURE USE OF YOUR DATA
Your data will be kept confidential as described above. Your data will be used by the Principal Investigator and research team members or collaborators who are involved with this study. De-identified data from this study may be shared with the research community at large to advance science and health. We will remove or code any personal information that could identify you before files are shared with other researchers to ensure that, by current scientific standards and known methods, no one will be able to identify you from the information we share. Despite these measures, we cannot guarantee the anonymity of your personal data.


If you do not agree with this use of your data, you may voluntarily withdraw from the study at any time.

CONTACT INFORMATION
If you have questions at any time about this study, or you experience adverse effects as a result of participating in this study, you may contact the researcher whose contact information is provided on the top of the page. If you have questions regarding your rights as a research participant, or if problems arise that you do not feel you can discuss with the principal investigator, please contact the Valparaiso University Institutional Review Board at valpoirb@valpo.edu or 219-464-5798.

VOLUNTARY PARTICIPATION
Your participation in this study is voluntary. It is up to you to decide whether to participate in this study. If you decide to take part in this study, you will be asked to sign a consent form. After you sign the consent form, you are still free to withdraw at any time and without giving a reason. Withdrawing from this study will not affect your relationship with the researcher, if any. If you withdraw from the study before data collection is completed, your data will be returned to you or destroyed. You may decline to answer any or all questions and you may terminate your involvement at any time if you choose.