IMPORTANT STUDY INFORMATION
Purpose: The purpose of this research study is to better understand the career paths and goals of volunteer administrators in nonprofit and public organizations. This study will explore this topic using virtual interviews with current and former volunteer administrators.
Description of Study: Volunteer administration is an often overlooked but growing field of practice. Volunteer administrators are the professional staff who help to design, implement, manage, and evaluate volunteer programs at nonprofit and public agencies, advocating for voluntarism as a social and civic benefit, enabling organizations to engage volunteers to achieve strategic objectives, and creating fulfilling volunteer experiences for individuals. Volunteer administrators are also referred to as volunteer managers, volunteer coordinators, volunteer leaders, volunteer directors, etc.
Despite a need for volunteer management capacities in public and nonprofit agencies and the projected growth of employment in this area, career and professional development opportunities for volunteer administrators remain limited. Additionally, there are currently no four-year college degrees and only a few degree options to minor in volunteer administration. The growth in the industry, paired with the economic, social, and civic value of volunteers, belies a need to better understand the people who manage volunteers, especially when there is no traditional career path for volunteer administrators. With this information in mind, this study will explore the career pathways that volunteer administrators have taken to work within the field, including personal and professional factors that characterize these pathways; their participation in formal and informal volunteer administration training, professional development and professional memberships; and their career goals and reflections on the future of the profession.
This study will involve in-depth virtual interviews with current and retired volunteer administrators. Interviews will be video and/or audio recorded by the study team and will be conducted using the videoconferencing application Microsoft Teams. Participants may join the interview using the electronic device and from the location of their choice. During the interview, participants will be asked open-ended questions about their personal and professional journey to becoming a volunteer administrator, including their motivations, educational background and professional training, professional identity, and reflections on the profession as a whole. Participants may choose not to answer a question and will also be able to ask follow-up questions at any time during the interview.
Number of Participants: If you decide to participate in this study, you will be one of approximately 40 people in this research study.
Duration of Participation: You will participate in one virtual interview. The virtual interview is expected to take 45 minutes to 1 hour to complete. You may be contacted by email to clarify or verify something that was said in the interview.
Inclusion / Exclusion Criteria: Participants must be 18 years or older and be a current or former volunteer administrator in order to be eligible to participate in this study. If you are not 18 years old at the time of the study or have never worked as a volunteer administrator, you will not be able to participate.
Possible Risks: There is minimal risk associated with participation in this study, though this study may involve risks to the participant which are currently unforeseeable. Participants will be informed about significant findings that provide additional information about risks or that may influence their decision to continue participation in this research.
Possible Benefits: Participants may not directly benefit from participation in this study, but others may benefit by the application of findings to generate new knowledge and professional implications for volunteer administration, organizational management of public and nonprofit organizations, human resource management, and volunteering.
Alternatives to Participation: Individuals may choose not to participate or they can refer other people from their professional networks who they believe may be eligible and interested in participating.
Payments to Participate: Participants will not receive any payment or reimbursement for participation in this study.
Voluntary Participation: Participation in this study is voluntary. All individuals have the right to agree or refuse to participate in this study. Individuals who consent to participate also have the right to change their minds at any time during the study. Participants may tell the investigator that they no longer wish to participate. Refusal or withdrawal of participation will not involve any penalty or loss of benefits to which non-participants are entitled. Refusal to participate will not affect participants' legal rights or the quality of education they may wish to receive at UTD.
Records of Participation in this Research: All of the information participants provide to investigators as part of this research will be protected and held in confidence within the limits of the law and institutional regulation. As part of this research study, the research team will collect your name, contact information (email address), interview recording, and interview transcript. The name of the organization where you currently work, or organizations that you have worked for in the past, may also be collected as part of the interview process. This information will not be shared with anyone outside the research team. Transcribed interviews will be de-identified by assigning pseudonyms to you and any organizations that you name in your interview. The original video/audio recordings of the interview and the de-identified transcripts will be stored in separate, password-protected folders accessible only to the research team. Video/audio recordings will be stored for up to one year following the interview date and will then be deleted. You may request to turn off your video and have only the audio of your interview recorded.
Information Available to Others: Information will be available and accessed only by members of the study team listed at the bottom of this form.
Identifiable Private Information / Identifiable Biospecimens: Participant's information collected during this research study will not be used or distributed for future research studies.
UT Dallas Institutional Review Board (IRB): Members of The University of Texas at Dallas' Human Subjects Research Office (HSR) may review the records related to this research project, which has been designated by the HSR as exempt from review by an Institutional Review Board.
Publications Associated with this Research: The results of this research may appear in publications, but individual participants will not be identified.
Contact People: Participants who want more information about this research may contact any of the investigators listed below. Participants who want more information about their rights as a participant or who want to report a research related injury may contact:
The University of Texas at Dallas Human Subjects Research Office 972-883-4575
UTD Office of Research and Innovation
About the Research Team and Contact Information:
Principal Investigator:
Allison R. Russell, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor at the University of Texas at Dallas, Public and Nonprofit Management Program. She is the primary contact for questions related to this research project and can be reached at allison.russell@utdallas.edu.
Doctoral Research Assistant:
Kayla Parker is a doctoral student in Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Dallas and can be reached at kayla.parker@utdallas.edu.
Interested in participating in this research study? Please CLICK HERE to complete a short intake questionnaire, which will be used to confirm your eligibility to participate and to follow up with you to schedule a virtual interview. Thank you for your time and interest.