Dear Online Portal Participant:
We invite you to participate in our research study. This study is being conducted by Dr. Deborah Ward, a faculty member at Rutgers University. The goal of the study is to evaluate the effectiveness of the online portal in expanding access to workforce training and skills development in high-growth/high-demand industries and occupations. Your participation in this study is voluntary. You may refuse to answer any questions with which you are not comfortable, and you may withdraw from the study at any time without penalty. There are no risks or harms associated with your participation. You will not be compensated for your participation, but your participation will assist in advancing research on alternative education programs.
If you agree to participate in this study, we will ask you to fill out an initial survey that will take approximately 20 minutes to complete, to respond to monthly communication via email or phone regarding your progress in the program, and to participate in an exit interview that will take approximately 45 minutes. The interviews will be audio taped.
This study is confidential. Although there will be a documented linkage between your identity and your responses in the survey, email communications, and exit interviews, the information will be kept strictly confidential. The research team and select school administrators are the only parties that will be allowed to see the data, except as may be required by law. If a report of this study is published, or the results are presented at a professional conference, only group results will be stated, unless you have agreed otherwise. All data collected will be securely stored in a locked cabinet. Only researchers conducting this study will have access to it.
If you have any questions about the research study, you can contact Dr. Mary Gatta at 732-932-4614 or by email at gatta@rci.rutgers.edu. If you have any questions about your rights as a research subject, you may contact the IRB Administrator at Rutgers University at Rutgers University Institutional Review Board for the Protection of Human Subjects, Office of Research and Sponsored Programs, 3 Rutgers Plaza, New Brunswick, NJ 08901-8559, Tel: 732-932-0150 ext. 2104, Email: humansubjects@orsp.rutgers.edu