In 1998, the University of South Florida (USF) College of Public Health (COPH) established its own internal student research program to promote and facilitate student involvement in research and practice. This article describes the 10-year history of this program and plans for future improvements.
The COPH's primary goal of developing the student research program was to encourage students to become more actively engaged in the key research activities of grant writing and presentations at professional conferences as part of their academic training experience and their development as future public health professionals. Therefore, the COPH's rationale for dedicating resources to this new program was to provide the students with a combination of financial incentives, opportunities to earn recognition, and user-friendly administrative processes that would enable them to gain experience in these key research endeavors. The program was based on the following three key concepts:
Financial incentives work: The opportunity to earn internal mini-grants will motivate students to write grant applications to support their research projects and their participation in professional conferences.
Recognition is rewarding: The opportunity to earn recognition and awards will represent an additional motivating factor for COPH students to participate in research conferences and competitions.
User-friendly approaches are appealing: The opportunity to receive personalized assistance and advice from a program coordinator/advocate will motivate students to use the COPH's student research resources.
THE COPH'S STUDENT RESEARCH PROGRAM
Financial incentives
The financial incentives component of the COPH's student research program is represented by the actual monetary awards or mini-grants that the COPH provides to its students. The COPH's first internal mini-grant program is the Student Research Scholarship (SRS), which provides funding at a level of up to $500 for degree-seeking COPH students for their master's-level special project or thesis and up to $1,000 for their doctoral-level dissertation. This award is designed for degree-seeking COPH students who lack sufficient or full funding through a faculty mentor, the university, an outside employer, a field placement site, or an external funding agency to complete their projects.
As outlined on the SRS website (http://health.usf.edu/publichealth/officeresearch/srsawards.html), the primary SRS eligibility guidelines are that only degree-seeking COPH students who have completed all academic requirements for initiating their special project, thesis, or dissertation may apply for the SRS. Students must be registered for their special project, thesis, or dissertation for the semester(s) during which they propose conducting their research. Moreover, the secondary eligibility guideline is that they can apply for the SRS as long as they are not fully funded for their research. SRS funds may be used to cover expenses that are reasonable and directly related to the student's research (e.g., data collection and related travel, phone calls, survey printing and mailing, purchase of software packages, and laboratory supplies).
The purpose of the SRS mini-grant is to inspire COPH students to expand the scope and depth of their research and practice projects, with the awareness that they may indeed be eligible to earn supplemental funding if they meet SRS eligibility requirements and prepare well-written applications. It is also important to note that even if an eligible student does not receive the competitive SRS award, this does not preclude the student from completing his/her work. Because the special project/thesis/dissertation is a requirement for graduation from the COPH's master of public health/master of science in public health/doctoral programs, respectively, those students who are not fully funded and who do not receive the SRS awards are still expected to complete their research and practice projects.
To help COPH students gain experience in the traditional grant-writing process, the SRS grant application (which can be downloaded from the aforementioned SRS website) is modeled after the standard National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant application. Accordingly, the sections of the SRS application include: a summary (with abstract, anticipated benefits, and key words); budget and budget justification; research plan (including specific aims, background and significance, preliminary studies, research design, and methods); human subjects/vertebrate animals or biohazards applications/approvals as necessary; references; and NIH biosketches. An interdisciplinary committee of COPH faculty and staff reviews the SRS applications according to the standard NIH criteria (significance, approach, innovation, investigator's training, and scientific environment), as well as additional criteria established by the COPH, including appropriateness of the budget and completeness of the application.
The committee makes its final decisions regarding which SRS applications will be recommended for funding according to the number of applications with acceptable scores and the availability of funds. The actual monetary award is contingent upon the student showing proof of approval from the appropriate University Research Integrity & Compliance Program, including the Institutional Review Board (IRB), Institutional Animal Care & Use Committee (IACUC), and Institutional BioSafety Committee (IBC), as appropriate. This system allows students to apply for the award while their IRB, IACUC, or IBC applications may be under review. The process serves as a safeguard to ensure that the students' research projects are not funded until they are officially approved by the appropriate university board/committee. The SRS funds can be designated toward only one specific research project per degree program. As such, a student could conceivably earn one SRS for his/her master's-level special project or thesis, and then another SRS for his/her doctoral dissertation.
The COPH also supports a second internal mini-grant program, named the Student Honorary Award for Research and Practice (SHARP), which provides financial assistance to COPH students who have met the primary eligibility guidelines of being invited to present their research or practice at a state, regional, national, or international professional meeting or conference. The secondary eligibility guideline for SHARP is that the student may not already be receiving full funding to present at the conference. This grant is structured as a travel award, and students must complete the same forms as do faculty to justify travel expenses. The SHARP website (http://health.usf.edu/publichealth/officeresearch/sharp.html) delineates the eligibility guidelines, and the downloadable application form lists the specific procedures that students must complete to earn their awards. This award is designed for degree-seeking COPH students who lack sufficient funding through the university, an outside employer, a field placement site, or an external funding agency to travel to and present their research at a conference. The purpose of this second mini-grant is to motivate COPH students to submit abstracts to professional conferences, with the understanding that they may be eligible to earn funding to support their travel and presentation expenditures, providing that they meet all SHARP eligibility requirements and submit quality applications.
Qualified COPH students can receive one SHARP award of up to $500 for each academic year in which they are enrolled in the COPH's master's-level or doctoral-level programs. Similar to the SRS awards, if an eligible student does not receive the SHARP, this will not preclude the student from completing his/her scholarly goal of presenting research or practice at a conference. Typically, the student who applies for and does not receive a SHARP will simply pay for a greater portion of the travel costs out of pocket, as the student has already committed to the conference and the benefits and prestige of presenting far outweigh the drawbacks of withdrawing from the event.
It is important to emphasize that both the SRS and SHARP mini-grants are not restricted to those COPH students who lack total funding for their research or travel. These awards are also available to students who may have partial, yet insufficient support. Thus, COPH students are also encouraged to apply for the SRS and SHARP mini-grants to supplement whatever existing resources they may already have secured or applied for, so that they can further enhance their graduate education through these research projects and conference presentations. These mini-grants encourage students to think as future public health professionals—skillfully and creatively piecing together smaller grants and budgets. The trends in SRS and SHARP awards are outlined in the next section. In addition to the obvious financial rewards, these two internal grant programs also benefit COPH students by providing them with the actual experience of grant writing. Students are also highly encouraged to state the receipt of these awards on their resumes.
Recognition and awards
Another key component of the COPH's student research program is represented by the incentives offered to students to participate in research conferences and competitions, whereby they can earn recognition and awards. One example is the annual USF Health Research Day held each February, which serves as a free, on-campus platform for students from the Colleges of Public Health, Medicine, and Nursing and the School of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Sciences to present their research and practice to a multidisciplinary audience of faculty, staff, and students in a formal research poster symposium setting. COPH students are judged by an interdisciplinary team of COPH faculty, in accordance with the standard presentation criteria of: hypothesis/clinical problem, novelty of project, research methods, evaluation methods, results, conclusions, overall poster presentation, and responses to questions. Efforts are made to distribute the awards to students in the COPH's five different academic departments, and student winners earn small cash awards and certificates from the USF Health Office of Research. The COPH has often used USF Health Research Day for selecting the top student posters for submission to the annual National Delta Omega Student Poster competition (http://www.deltaomega.org/2009StudentPosterSessionCall.pdf), which serves as an additional incentive for student participation. However, in 2009, the COPH's Delta Omega posters nominees were chosen during a special COPH student research poster competition to celebrate National Public Health Week and the COPH's 25th anniversary. The COPH will reevaluate the option of using USF Health Research Day as its regular venue for selecting COPH student nominees for this national student research competition in 2010 and beyond. (See also http://usf.edu/publichealth/officeresearch/researchdays.html.)
Another incentive for the COPH students who participate in the multidisciplinary USF Health Research Day event is that their posters will then be exhibited in the COPH building, in preparation for National Public Health Week. In addition to USF Health Research Day, COPH students are encouraged to participate in other local, regional, and national conferences and competitions. The COPH Student Grants Coordinator has developed a variety of user-friendly systems for informing students about these opportunities, as described in the next section.
User-friendly administrative procedures
A third component of the COPH's student research program is represented by its user-friendly administrative procedures. In addition to dedicating a mean annual budget of $10,000 to fund the awards, the COPH also provides partial salary support for the COPH Student Grants Program Coordinator. The coordinator has been responsible for administering the COPH's student research program since its development in 1998 and, thus, has significant buy-in to the program. The coordinator serves as an advocate and a source of information for student research opportunities available to COPH students. The coordinator informs the COPH students about a wide range of opportunities for them to present their research and obtain funding within the COPH, the university, and other sources through a variety of communication channels. These opportunities are listed on a comprehensive student funding website (http://health.usf.edu/publichealth/officeresearch/fundingopps.html). Additionally, the coordinator maintains displays and bulletin boards at the COPH and provides timely updates to students in meetings of the COPH student organizations and monthly e-mail newsletters and announcements in the COPH's Monday Letter. (The Monday Letter is the COPH's weekly electronic publication that highlights COPH events and faculty, students, and staff accomplishments.)
Each year, the coordinator reviews any questions and concerns from students about the SHARP and SRS application processes and revises the guidelines and forms to make them clearer. In addition, the coordinator serves as an unbiased link to the faculty review teams and works with faculty to streamline and improve the application process. Finally, the coordinator is very accessible to COPH students and encourages them to initiate contact by e-mail, telephone, or in person for individualized advice and assistance with the COPH's internal mini-grants or to identify external sources of funding to support their research.
RESULTS
This section includes a combination of (1) qualitative data, based upon selected comments from the COPH students, faculty, and staff, and (2) quantitative data, based on records maintained by the COPH Student Grants Program Coordinator.
Qualitative data
During the past decade, a number of students, staff, and faculty have shared their impressions of the COPH student research program. The quotes in Figure 1 include: a sampling of e-mails that have been sent to the COPH Student Grants Program Coordinator on a random, unsolicited basis; responses to an invitation from the coordinator to contribute comments for a poster presentation pertaining to the COPH student research program; and excerpts from students' SRS and SHARP follow-up reports.
Figure 1.
Impressions of the USF COPH student research program: qualitative input from COPH students, faculty, and staff
USF = University of South Florida
COPH = College of Public Health
SHARP = Student Honorary Award for Research and Practice
Quantitative data
Between spring 1999 and spring 2008, 72 COPH students applied for the SRS, and 52 students (23 master's-level and 29 doctoral-level students) were approved for funding, representing a 72% success rate (Figure 2).
Figure 2.
The University of South Florida College of Public Health student research scholarships, 1999–2008
SP = spring
New efforts are underway to accurately document the total number of COPH students who represent the pool of all eligible students for SRS awards each year, as per the guidelines outlined previously in this article. These new data will enable the Student Grants Program Coordinator to then calculate the percentage of eligible students who choose to apply for the SRS award and who also then receive funding.
It is also helpful to describe the positive impact of these student research projects, which have not only contributed to the students' academic and professional development, but also to the public's health. A brief listing of some of these projects and student comments in their final SRS reports shows the engagement and collaborative effects of these projects.
Extrapulmonary Tuberculosis in HIV-Positive and HIV-Negative Children in Haiti: A Hospital-Based Investigation (master of science in public health thesis).
This student in the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics collaborated with researchers in USF's College of Medicine, Department of Latin American and Caribbean Studies, COPH Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, and Department of Community and Family Health (DCFH), as well as a hospital in Haiti to conduct her research. She wrote: “This study has implications for hospital-based pediatric tuberculosis diagnosis and epidemiology in resource-poor countries.” Moreover, this student started an orphanage in her homeland of Haiti to provide care to human immunodeficiency virus-positive/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome orphans, and continues to work with her USF and Haitian colleagues on this ambitious and valuable project.
The Getting Ready to Learn Program: An Impact Report (master of science in public health thesis).
This student in DCFH evaluated an early intervention program designed to improve the developmental skills and learning capacity of Native American children in the Northwest Arctic region of Alaska. She wrote: “The qualitative information collected in this study supports the idea that the Getting Ready to Learn (GRTL) program had a positive impact on its participating children, caregivers, and community. Overall, the GRTL program has established a strong foundation by gaining the trust of parents and the community, and changing the way they think about the development of their young children.”
Bacteriophage for the Elimination of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) Colonization and Infection (doctoral dissertation).
This student in the Department of Global Health wrote: “The long-term goal of this study is the development of a bacteriophage-containing ointment for the control of MRSA nasal carriage. In addition, the concept of bacteriophage therapy may open a new horizon in controlling infections such as those caused by MRSA.”
The Role of Pharmacists and Emergency Contraception: An Assessment of Pharmacy School Curricula in the U.S. and the Knowledge, Attitudes, and Dispensing Practices of Florida Pharmacists (doctoral dissertation).
This DCFH doctoral student wrote: “The mixed-methods study design strengthened this study in that it allowed for the most complete analysis of this issue. The quantitative elements captured important statistics, and the qualitative findings enriched the data by giving voice to the numbers. The study would not have been as powerful without the focus group qualitative data. That is, the finding that pharmacy students are not truly acquiring information on emergency contraception in their pharmacy school classes would not have come to light.”
Additional quantitative data
At the completion of the 2007–2008 academic year, 143 COPH students applied for SHARP and 132 students were funded, representing a 92% success rate (Figure 3). During the past decade, the majority of COPH students who presented at conferences have also applied for SHARP.
Figure 3.
The University of South Florida College of Public Health student honorary awards for research and practice, 1999–2008
New efforts are underway to accurately document the total number of COPH students who participate in oral and poster presentations at professional conferences each year and who, therefore, represent the pool of eligible students for SHARP, as per the guidelines outlined previously in this article. This new information will then enable the Student Grants Program Coordinator to calculate the percentage of these eligible students who choose to apply for SHARP, and who also then receive funding.
Delta Omega.
During the past decade, seven COPH students have been invited to present their research at the National Delta Omega Student Poster session at the annual meeting of the American Public Health Association, thus earning additional recognition and cash awards.
USF Health Research Day.
Between 1999 and 2008, 144 research posters have been presented at USF Health Research Day by COPH students. The mean number of posters presented by COPH students on an annual basis has been 12, with the maximum number of posters (n=28) presented in 2008. A new interdisciplinary occupational health and safety poster section was established for USF Health Research Day 2008, which served as an impetus for COPH students in the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health training programs to participate in this signature research event.
DISCUSSION
Since the inception of the student research program in 1998, the COPH has committed a mean of $10,000 per year as part of the recurring COPH state-appropriated budget to support its two main mini-grant opportunities for COPH students, in addition to a part-time salary for a coordinator to administer the student research program, which is funded annually from the college's cash reserves. The COPH's dedication to this program is impressive in light of the periodic funding cutbacks within Florida's public university system. The decision to appropriate funds to support the student research program was made collectively by the COPH's leadership team, including the dean, associate deans, and department chairs. This decision, reviewed and approved annually as part of the resource allocation model, shows that the college's leadership views the support of student research as far more than just a financial undertaking, and signifies to its students that the COPH has a vested interest in their professional development.
A combination of informal comments from students, faculty, and staff, coupled with the actual numbers of students who have received the COPH's mini-grants and participated in internal and external research conferences and competitions, indicates that the COPH student research program's three key features—financial awards, opportunities for recognition, and user-friendly administration structure—have indeed had a positive and synergistic effect on motivating students to become actively engaged in research. The qualitative data show that students value the mini-awards. As one student noted, “The SHARP and SRS awards have helped me to expand my presentation abilities at conferences and to support my independent research.” Both of these skills represent valuable components of students' training as future public health professionals. Likewise, the quantitative results show that 86% of students who have applied for these two awards have received funding.
As with any academic program, there is room for improvement and, as such, the COPH has implemented several modifications during the past decade. Examples of new strategies related to enhancing student research at the COPH include:
There will be a more formal evaluation process of the SHARP and SRS awards, including determining the number of students who receive these awards in relation to those students who are eligible. This will help assess the program's reach. Moreover, the program's impact will be better realized by asking students to describe their experiences in more detail. Prior to fall 2008, all SRS awardees had been expected to submit a brief progress report each September and a final report prior to graduation, while those awarded a SHARP were only required to submit proof of participation in their post-conference reports, along with all travel documentation. Beginning in the 2008–2009 academic year, SRS recipients are now also expected to complete a brief exit survey and answer open-ended questions pertaining to their impressions of the SRS application and award process; SHARP recipients are asked to also include a paragraph in their post-conference reports pertaining to how their attendance at the conference will be beneficial to their careers, as well as their impressions of the SHARP process. These additional qualitative comments will be carefully reviewed each summer by the coordinator, as well as the SHARP and SRS review teams, prior to further refining the guidelines for each mini-grant for the following academic year.
The coordinator will assist the COPH's Associate Dean of Research and restructured faculty Research Innovation & Creativity for Health (RICHes) research group in developing workshops to guide doctoral students through the detailed process of applying for the numerous doctoral dissertation grants as listed on the website (http://health.usf.edu/publichealth/officeresearch/fundingopps.html). Ideally, these workshops will encourage more doctoral students to apply for external sources of funding. The coordinator will also work with the COPH Office of Research, faculty, and staff to gather quantitative data pertaining to the number of applications submitted by COPH students and the students' success rates in securing external funding. The coordinator will work closely with the RICHes research group to assist students in successfully translating their research projects and posters into scholarly publications.
In the fall of 2008, the COPH Student Grants Program Coordinator developed a new research resource center, with books and notebooks related to grant writing. To date, students seem to be particularly interested in reviewing examples of previously funded SRS and SHARP awards. The coordinator is gathering feedback on this new initiative by asking students to contribute their suggestions on a notepad adjacent to the resource center. Moreover, in 2009, the coordinator added a new section of free online grant-writing resources to the aforementioned COPH student research website. She will continue to promote both of these new physical and virtual student research resource areas to students and faculty, while also seeking their recommendations for any new additions or improvements.
CONCLUSIONS
A more in-depth evaluation of the COPH's student research program is being initiated in 2009 by inviting students to offer suggestions for specific program improvements, as well as implementing new procedures for monitoring eligibility numbers and success rates of students' applications for both internal and external grants and competitions. These new assessment strategies will be used in conjunction with the COPH's existing systems to track students' SRS and SHARP awards and student participation in research symposia and professional conferences.
In sum, the COPH plans to use numerous qualitative and quantitative measures to further evaluate and enhance its student research program. This comprehensive evaluation approach, combined with the COPH's existing student research program concepts of financial incentives, opportunities for recognition/awards, and user-friendly administrative procedures, can help the COPH ensure that its long-term commitment to and investment in student research will have an increasingly positive impact on current and prospective students.