a Description of the Program’s research activities, including policies, procedures, and practices that support research and scholarly activities.

All core MPH faculty members have research allocations, ranging from .2 FTE to .4 FTE. As a result, all MPH faculty members have active research agendas. For a detailed description of all faculty research activities, refer to faculty CVs

included in the e-resource file 3.1.a. Since its accreditation in 2008, the MPH full- time faculty have authored 26 scientific manuscripts that were published in peer- reviewed journals. The majority of the publications were studies that used

primary data (n=19). Four of the studies used secondary data and three were tertiary studies that synthesized others’ research results. The majority of studies involved collaboration with other healthcare professionals, including members of the DMU faculty in the other Colleges and Programs. Seven of the twenty-six publications included student participation. In addition to peer-reviewed journal publications the faculty has also reported research results in multiple professional forums.

The Faculty Evaluations Policy (e-resource 3.1.a.2.) guides faculty members and the Program Director in a process of continuous evaluation of faculty members’ performance. Research productivity is addressed via this process. Faculty are given annual feedback on their performance, including on their research

productivity as it relates to promotion and tenure. Under the direction of the PD, all MPH core faculty have revised their research and scholarship goals to ensure alignment with the University’s strategic plan and the Programs goals. The PD facilitates the alignment between University-wide goals and objectives and each faculty’s professional goals and objectives through the annual goal planning and performance appraisal process. MPH core faculty discuss their workload

allocations that include research, teaching and service with the MPH PD. Goals and objectives are agreed upon and benchmarks set annually. The achievement of the goals and objectives are evaluated by the PD on an annual basis. This practice has facilitated the steady progress of core faculty’s participation in research and scholarship activities.

DMU’s Rank Promotion and Tenure Policy (e-resource 1.3.c.1), is designed to reward high quality performance in scholarly activities and promote the culture of discovery among DMU MPH faculty members. The criteria for the award of

Tenure indicate that scholarship productivity is one critical component of a faculty member’s application. Specifically, a faculty member must have a record of high quality performance in scholarly activity, as evidenced by peer-reviewed

publications, grant activity, and student mentorship. The MPH PD works closely with faculty members to ensure their time allocations are sufficient to allow for active research Programs.

The DMU Sabbatical Policy and Procedure (e-resource 3.1.a.1) provides an opportunity for full time faculty members at the rank of Associate professor or higher, beyond their 6th year of service to take a sabbatical professional development reasons. Research and scholarship opportunities fall under the purview of this policy.

The University has also devised additional means through which to encourage faculty participation in research and scholarship activities through the “DMU Distinguished Researcher Award”. MPH faculty member Dr. Reimer received this award in 2014. The Facilities and Administrative Costs Allocation Policy (e-

resource 3.1.a.3) provide departmental incentive by allocating 30% of the indirect costs awarded from external grants to the department to support the educational opportunities in the department. Finally, the Bonus for External Research Grants and Contracts Policy (e-resource 3.1.a.4) provides a financial incentive to

investigators by rewarding a salary bonus to investigators, up to 5% of the indirect cost savings and up to 5% of personnel cost savings.

University Practices

The DMU strategic plan that was adopted in 2013 puts research and scholarship as one of the top priority task areas for the entire institution (e-resource 1.8.a.ii). The research vision statement on the strategic plan document states, “Des Moines University will be a cultivator of distinctive faculty and student researchers who discover and disseminate new knowledge”. This is a clear testimony to the fact that DMU recognizes the important relationship between research and scholarship on the one hand, and teaching and learning on the other. Strengthening the teaching/learning environment does require fostering faculty research and scholarship, and vice versa.

Following the adoption of the strategic plan, the office of Research engaged in an effort to develop an institutional research agenda to serve as a guide for our research investments. The Office of Research, in collaboration with the various departments and Programs, committed to identifying 3-5 research focus areas.

identified as champions of this focus area. This represents a significant prioritization of public health research by the University.

In addition to identifying research focus areas, the University has developed efforts to cultivate grantsmanship, incorporate research into the curricula of University wide Programs, and establish key collaborative research relationships with various local community agencies etc. The Office of Research regularly holds professional development activities to support faculty research. For example, in 2014 the Grant Writers Workshop was held at Des Moines University. MPH faculty members attended this workshop at no cost.

Faculty members at DMU are eligible to apply for research funding from the Iowa Osteopathic Education & Research fund. The Research and Grants committee reviews all internal grant applications. MPH faculty members have been active members of the Research and Grants committee as well as active recipients of funds. Dr. Reimer and Dr. Geletta have each served on the R&G committee, and Dr. Duffy, Reimer, & Geletta have all received research funds. This funding has greatly contributed to faculty productivity by serving as start-up money that would help a research agenda that eventually can result in obtaining external funding support.

The office of Research also supports the Mentored Student Research Program. This Program provides financial support for 45-55 undergraduate and graduate student research assistantships each year. MPH faculty members actively serve as mentors in this Program. Additionally, the Mentored Student Research

Program funds $500 per student for research costs allocated to the mentor to purchase lab supplies that support the students’ projects. In the last 3 years, MPH faculty members have mentored 25 students, totaling approximately $98,500 in financial support from the University.

3.1.b. Description of current research activities undertaken in collaboration