The Office of the Vice President for Research (OVPR), working with Information Technology Services, the Human Subjects Office (HSO) and the Office of Strategic Communication, has implemented upgrades to research recruitment messages for the new calendar year.
These upgrades include a new look and feel for email messages, improved functionality for the audience, and best practices for researchers who are recruiting subjects via email.
The changes align with the new University of Iowa mass email policy, which took effect January 13. The new policy preserves emails as an important tool for recruiting potential research subjects and ensures that the messages are accessible, concise, consistent, and coordinated.
Research mass emails now appear in a standardized black-and-gold IOWA email template, aligning the look and feel with other internal messages. Clear links to unsubscribe from future research emails will be also embedded in each message. This change is in response to feedback provided via a 2023 communications preferences survey to faculty, staff, and students.
Moreover, beginning in February, the research emails will also include a consistent tool for potential subjects to reach out to the study team. A button labeled “I’m interested in participating,” will redirect the reader to an email address, survey link, or other URL provided by the research team.
In addition, the HSO and OVPR have also released new guidance on best practices for crafting a compelling research recruitment message. Tips include how to craft a clear and concise subject line and categorize information consistently across messages. The resources, as well as instructions for submitting a mass email request, are available on the HSO website.
The Office of the Vice President for Research urges researchers to use mass email judiciously so as not to overburden our campus audiences, particularly students, with a high volume of email. OVPR will continue to review requests in workflow to ensure that they are directed to the most relevant university classifications (e.g. faculty, staff, students, or retirees) based on study eligibility criteria.
Please reach out to irb@uiowa.edu with questions.