Research and Scholarship Workshops and Consultations

By Ben Delp (‘05), JMU Research & Scholarship

JMU Faculty,

Are you pursuing new ideas to advance your research, scholarship, and creative activities next spring and summer?  Do you have questions about how the Office of Research and Scholarship (R&S) can assist your research projects?

R&S will be open and available during the 2021 Winter Session to field your questions and offer helpful advice for navigating research support services offered at JMU.  Please read on for a menu of opportunities to connect online with R&S staff and partners from across Academic Affairs during the first two weeks of January.

We’d also like to remind faculty that nominations for the Provost Award for Excellence in Research and Scholarship are due on Friday, January 15, 2021.

Best wishes for a safe, joyful, and rejuvenating winter break!

Anthony Tongen
Vice Provost for Research & Scholarship

Workshops

After COVID-19 – An open forum to share your research and scholarship questions, concerns, needs and opportunities:

Wednesday, January 6, 2021 from 10:00 to 11:00 a.m., or
Thursday, January 14, 2021 from 4:00 to 5:00 p.m.

• How will the COVID-19 pandemic alter the research, scholarship, and creative endeavors landscape?  What can we do now in order to prepare for a post-COVID-19 academic environment?  Join Vice Provost for Research and Scholarship Anthony Tongen, Associate Vice Provost for Research and Innovation Keith Holland, and Director of Research Development and Promotion Ben Delp to share any questions, concerns, needs, and/or opportunities that may affect your scholarship agenda in a post-COVID-19 world.  While the pandemic is expected to be with us for much of (if not all of) 2021, the more we think about how academic life might be different in the post-COVID-19 period, the better positioned we will be to meet those challenges and thrive.
• Register for one of two sessions  – by January 4th for the 6-Jan session, and by January 12th for the 14-Jan session. Please specify which session date you would like to attend upon registration.

Connect with the Office of Sponsored Programs to talk external funding

Tuesday, January 12, 2021 at 11:00 a.m.

• Join the OSP Director, Associate Director and Assistant Director to answer all of your questions about finding funding opportunities, applying for external funding and managing awards.
• Topics will include: identification of appropriate funding for your project, budget development, interpreting guidelines, making expenditures, effort reporting, project close-out and more!
• Register by January 6th receive the virtual meeting link.

Have questions about the Institutional Review Board (IRB)?

Tuesday, January 5, 2021 at 2:00 p.m., or
Tuesday, January 12, 2021 at 2:00 p.m.

• Are you trying to make heads or tails of our revised institutional policy 1104?  Do you have an upcoming project and you aren’t sure if you need to submit an IRB protocol?  Have questions about our electronic Research Administration system, eRA?  Do you have a class full of students who are new to research and are working on their first IRB protocol submissions?
• If you have these questions or others regarding the IRB, please stop by our Zoom meeting room on January 5th or 12th between 2:00 and 3:00 p.m. so that we can help you and your students navigate the IRB process.  We will meet with faculty individually in an office hours format.
• January 5th Zoom meeting hosted by Dr. Taimi Castle, IRB Chair, and Cindy Morgan, IRB Coordinator
• January 12th Zoom meeting hosted by Dr. Lindsey Harvell-Bowman, IRB Vice Chair, and Cindy Morgan, IRB Coordinator
• Click register (below) to receive the virtual meeting link.

Let’s Talk Research

Monday, January 11, 2021 at 10:00 a.m.

• Join the Office of Research Integrity for a morning break for casual conversation and games, where you’ll find an opportunity to connect with office staff and other faculty in the JMU community to discuss research, scholarship, and creative endeavors.  Feel free to bring any compliance questions focusing on IRB, IACUC, research conflicts of interest, export controls, or lab safety.
• Please register by January 6th to receive the virtual meeting link.

Qualitative Research 101

Thursday, January 7, 2021 from 1:30 to 4:30 p.m.

• You are invited to participate in a 3-hour presentation “Qualitative Research 101”.  This session is designed to provide both a general philosophical orientation to designing and conducting qualitative research as well as providing an overview to the different methods, as well as mixed methodology.  Qualitative research and methods can be a powerful tool in many situations, including when there are gaps in the literature as well as when existing models are applied in new situations.  It is of particular use for the scholarship of teaching and learning as well as assessing the implementation of programs in the academy and the community.  Rigorous qualitative research contributes to the development of new theory as well as to make transformative change in communities.
• This workshop will be divided into two sections, each about an hour and one half.  There will be a 15 minute break in between the two sessions.  There should be ample time for participants to discuss their ideas and gain feedback from other participants in developing a qualitative research project.
• Learning objectives for the first half of the session include:
  • Introduce and discuss why we are interested in qualitative research
  • Building a lens for qualitative research
  • Understanding the difference between qualitative research DESIGN vs. using qualitative methods in a traditional design
  • Identifying and developing RIGOR in qualitative research
  • Basic features of qualitative research (theory, literature review, data collection, sampling, data analysis and presentation of results
  • Creation of potential qualitative research questions
• Learning objectives for the second half of the session include: 
  • Consider the epistemological considerations of diverse qualitative designs
  • Review matching research methods and questions
  • Explore the diverse ways of mixed methods designs that include qualitative methods
  • Identify challenges in conducting qualitative research
• The presenter is Dr. Lisa McGuire, who has published multiple articles using qualitative methods and worked with numerous doctoral students who have utilized qualitative/mixed methodology in their dissertation research.
• Please register (and send questions) by January 6th to receive the Zoom link.  While the workshop is tentatively scheduled for Thursday, January 7th from 1:30 to 4:30 p.m., other dates/times could be considered.

Quantitative Research Workshop

• The JMU Statistical Consulting Center would like to invite you to participate in a virtual interactive workshop to review some of the major tools used in quantitative research. The purpose of the workshop is to assist faculty complete their research studies and prepare for publication.  This will be the first session in a series of workshops focusing on univariate dependent variables, and will include the following elements of Univariate Analysis:
  • Preparing your data
  • Significance in general
  • Inference about the means of many populations (parametric and non-parametric, univariate and multivariate)
  • Linear regression
• We will start from the early steps of designing an experiment and formulating the right hypothesis to drawing the conclusion about the means of several populations. The process involves selecting, collecting, and preparing the data; selecting the right statistical procedure; and checking the model assumptions along with selecting the appropriate test. In particular, the first part will be focused on ANOVA models. Then the second will be focused on regression (linear, and if time allows logistic as well).  The software that will be used is R and no prior knowledge of R is required (also, the main procedures will be shown in SPSS as well).  Carefully prepared diverse examples will be provided.
• The workshop will be virtual and interactive, and will consist of two 3-hour sessions over the course of two days.  Faculty should be prepared to attend at least one day.
• Questions about the workshop?  Interested faculty should contact Dr. Hasan Hamdan.

Writing powerful recommendation letters for fellowships and graduate schools

Tuesday, January 5, 2021 from 1:00 to 2:00 p.m.

• Connect with Meredith Malburne-Wade, Director of Fellowship Advising, to discuss tips and tricks for writing powerful letters of recommendation for students applying for competitive fellowships and awards or graduate school.
• Register by by January 4th at 10:00 a.m., to receive the virtual meeting link.

Research & Scholarship Consultations

The following R&S units are available for faculty to schedule virtual consultations from January 4-January 15, 2021.  While these meetings can also take place throughout the academic year and summer with any R&S unit, we thought a brief consultation during the first two weeks of January might provide some welcome encouragement, guidance, and connection as you prepare for the spring semester ahead.

Center for International Stabilization and Recovery (CISR)

• Are you curious about what JMU’s Center for International Stabilization and Recovery does and how you might be able to partner with us on an international project?  Did you know CISR can be a cost-effective resource to your department for certain services? Our team of professionals have experience in writing and editing, graphic design, social media coordination, event management, web maintenance, grant writing, and project management.
• For nearly 25 years, CISR has partnered with faculty from all of JMU’s colleges to implement research and field projects, and conduct training on campus and around the world, from Bosnia to Vietnam and many countries in between. A few examples of our collaborations include faculty from the management department to train senior managers of landmine clearance programs, from the chemistry and geology departments to investigate the effects of aging on explosive ordnance, from geography to develop GIS tools to improve surveys and mapping of landmine/UXO-contaminated land, from psychology and health sciences to create mine risk education programs, and from political science to conduct cost-benefit analyses of landmine action programs. We are interested in exploring connections with faculty from these and other departments. Many possible grant-funded project opportunities exist.
• CISR also publishes The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction and the US government’s annual report To Walk the Earth in Safety, and hosts a major website and information repository that serve the humanitarian mine action community. Our publications professionals can help you with publishing annual reports, developing social media materials and strategy, designing logos, and freshening up your website and promotional materials.
• Click contact (below) to schedule a meeting during Winter Term, and please include date and meeting time preferences.

Office of Sponsored Programs

• Schedule a consultation with Director of Sponsored Programs Tamara Hatch to discuss your questions related to pursuing and managing external funding, from identification of suitable funding opportunities to budget development to subrecipient management, expenditure monitoring and close out.
• Click contact (below) to schedule a meeting during Winter Term, and please include date and meeting time preferences.

Office of Technology Innovation & Economic Development

• Schedule a consultation with Director of Technology Innovation & Economic Development Mary Lou Bourne to learn about business plan development, connecting with the regional entrepreneurial ecosystem, and/or maximizing an innovation’s benefit to society while also protecting your intellectual property.
• Click contact (below) to schedule a meeting during Winter Term, and please include date and meeting time preferences.

Virginia Clean Cities

• Did you know that JMU hosts a center on campus that works to secure funding and assist localities install alternative fuel vehicle infrastructure like charging stations, to plan for reduced emissions in transportation, set policies for our future, and work to resolve economic challenges of oil dependence?  Transportation is the nation’s largest greenhouse gas emissions sector. If you have ideas for advancing your clean transportation energy research through a partnership with Virginia Clean Cities, schedule a consultation to brainstorm with Director Alleyn Harned
• Click the button (below) to schedule a meeting directly with Alleyn Harned during the Winter Term.

Sessions Offered by R&S Partners

Center for Faculty Innovation – “Critically Informed BIPOC Faculty Mentoring: Advocates, Networks, and Communities of Support”

Wednesday, January 13, 2021 from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.

• Examine a critically informed approach to mentoring, across the career lifespan, faculty who are Black, Indigenous, and other Persons of Color (BIPOC). Facilitated by Dr. Buffie Longmire-Avital, Elon University.  The CFI is excited to offer this half-day intensive program as its online January Institute 2021.
• Register by Tuesday, January 12th at 11:00 a.m. to receive the Zoom link.

JMU Libraries – “Migrating from Qualtrics to QuestionPro”

Friday, January 15, 2021 from 1:00 – 2:30 p.m.

• Learn how to migrate existing Qualtrics surveys and response data into your new QuestionPro account. Training will cover a brief orientation to QuestionPro, exporting existing surveys and corresponding data from Qualtrics, importing questions and data, and setting new logic in QuestionPro. Training focuses on supporting users with existing Qualtrics surveys that will need to be migrated to our latest survey platform, QuestionPro.
• Limited availability, register soon!

Institute for Stewardship of the Natural World

• Schedule a consultation with the Institute for Stewardship of the Natural World team to learn about incorporating JMU's sustainability tools and resources in any discipline. Individual consultations and detailed materials are available to support use of Science On a Sphere, the East Campus Hillside, the Environmental Stewardship Tour, the Sustainable Development Goals, and more for in-person or online instruction.
• Click "contact" (below) to schedule a meeting during Winter Term. Please include date and time preferences.

Student Opportunity

National Collegiate Research Conference

January 21-24, 2021

• NCRC is a large-scale, multidisciplinary conference held annually at Harvard University, where accomplished undergraduate students from across the United States and internationally convene each year to share their research in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences.  The core vision behind our conference is to provide student researchers with the opportunity to hear from the world’s leading authorities in academia, policy, and industry, as well as to foster important exchanges and dialogue between students. Last year, after being selected through a competitive application process, over 200 participants from nearly 75 universities across America and abroad attended our conference. Through NCRC, we hope to expand the perspective of undergraduate researchers through offering exposure to diverse fields and to facilitate the discourse on collaboration, leadership, and social impact in research that we believe will be invaluable in future pursuits.
• The conference will operate through a virtual platform and there is no application fee.
• The application deadline is December 21st.