Project Planning

The Evaluation and Statistics Hub encompasses aspects of design, data collection, and analysis as well as assistance with manuscript editing and submission. Specific support options include: 

• Expert Consultation

• Sample size & power calculations

• Statistical analysis planning

• Qualitative analysis

• Quantitative analysis 

• Study Design

• Survey development

• Survey distribution

• REDCap development and programming

To request support, please submit a consult request in the research portal and a staff member will contact you within 48 hours.

To start the hiring process, complete this request. A HR representative will be in touch with next steps.

Check out our research staff onboarding template. Make a copy and tailor it to suit your needs!

The default is to hire someone as an employee and certain caveats must be met for the position to be considered an independent contractor. Use this Job Aid to help decide whether your external partner is considered an employee or an independent contractor, and consult with both HR and Finance before a decision is made.

Completed example forms for a consultant role:

1. SOW

2. PSIS

Most standard purchases for supplies ought to be run through UMarket. 

Learn more about how to acccess and use Umarket here.

For other purchases, contact your Administrative Associates or the Finance Team for support in using mechanisms such as Purchase Orders, UMN Purchasing credit cards, or other means. 

When using institutional funds to pay an external service provider, you must follow specific UMN contracting guidelines depending on the total cost and the provider's terms & conditions. 

• Policy Threshold: Paying an external service provider over $3,000 using institutional funds generally falls under the UMN professional services policy. 

• Standard Agreements: If the provider accepts UMN terms & conditions, minimal coordination is needed and you can process the payment via a Quick Contract for Professional Service. 

• Custom Agreements: If the provider edits/redlines UMN terms & conditions or submits their own, the Office of General Counsel (OGC) must review the agreement.

• Authorization: Individual staff and faculty are not authorized to sign contracts on behalf of the University or any departments.

• Timeline: Please plan ahead, as the OGC legal review process takes 2 to 3 months. 

See the earlier HR section on this page for information about consultancy vs employment relationships. That information may be relevant when contemplating a professional service contract. 

Software purchases are particularly tricky! All employees are encouraged to keep to the list of UMN IT Health Sciences Technology(HST)-supported software before any new software licensing is attempted. See the following links and information: 

• Software Licensing and Review Language from OGC*

• UMN OIT Software page, with list of supported software**

• UMN Health Sciences Technology : Technology help and requesting services

• Contract Process Flow Chart

• Contract Routing Form

• Steps for procuring computer hardware

*All software applications, including "Software as a Service" (SaaS) online services are subject to UMN Information Security review. New software licensing agreements will also be subject to review by the UMN Office of General Counsel (OGC). Note that review for a new contract can take as much as 2-3 months - plan accordingly! 

**Software list linked is not exhaustive, and any new software license purchase will trigger a new contract review. 

See the adjacent section on general software purchasing, which also applies to qualitative software! 

Many of our researchers use NVivo, which is licensed annually by UMN OIT for fixed terms starting mid-summer each year. Costs vary each year per license. Note that NVivo's cloud service is not approved for use by UMN users. 

The University has also secured a broad-level agreement with the makers of Dedoose, another popular qualitative analysis software suite. The full range of features are approved for Dedoose users. If you are interested in requesting a license, complete the UMN Dedoose License Request form.

Please reach out to administrative support ASAP if you expect your project will need transcription services.

Transcription services for health-related entails a Business Associate Agreement (BAA) between the UMN and the vendor. The DFMCH has a signed BAA with Transperfect, a transcription and translation company, meaning it has passed the Vendor Risk Assessment and is HIPAA compliant. 

Decide how to pay research participants for their time:  Participant Payment Options

Paying Human Participants and Maintaining Confidentiality

More about ClinCard

Plan for a process to reconcile gift cards: DFMCH Guidance and Example Logs