Goals for Staff Biostatisticians

This is for submission to VUMC HR beginning November, 2015.

Goal 1: Practice Reproducible Research

Routinely use and continually improve upon good practices that ensure your work is trustworthy, transparent, and reproducible.

Expectations / rubrics:

• Goal met at 0%: Some analyses are run using GUI interfaces, scripts and data are saved in haphazard locations, and/or analyses are performed in a manner that is difficult to replicate a year after the analysis was last run.
• 50%: All analyses are run with a re-executable code and saved in a logical, easy to find structure. Analyses are able to be reliably rerun a year after the analysis was last run.
• 75%: The majority of major analyses are done within reproducible reports that contain important interpretation and documentation within the report.
• 100%: All major analyses are done with reproducible reports where the de-identified (free of protected health information) reports and code that generated them are publicly shared.

Goal 2: Create Reusable Code

Write your code to be easily adapted to multiple projects. As appropriate for your work, modularize and functionize to achieve greater long-term efficiency.

Expectations / rubrics:

• Goal met at 0%: All code is project specific, such that a new project requiring similar tasks receives no benefit from the previous code. Code contains PHI (protected health information).
• 50%: Code is modularized and somewhat adaptable, but not well functionized so that extensive revisions are required for each project.
• 75%: Code is often functionized to allow specific tasks to be completed quickly and reliably. Any task that has been encountered at least three times has an attempted functionalized solution.
• 100%: Code is highly functionized to allow new projects with similar needs to be quickly and reliably completed. Functions are well documented and shared publicly, e.g. via a GitHub repository. ------------------------------------

Tips:

VUMC organization-wide goals: Retention and Academic Performance, the latter measured this year by the amount of funds spent (not merely awarded) from grants. You also need to copy the goals you've set for yourself and put under "Department Goals".
Suggestions for the Retention Goal are that we use these actions:

* Finding more ways to thank our colleagues and our supervisees for jobs well done
* Enhancing communication and promoting a "safe" environment for sharing of feelings about the workplace, how we treat each other, and how projects are managed

Measures: Number of thank-you notes, nominations for rewards and recognition, survey of staff and faculty resulting in favorable opinions about being appreciated and about ability intra-department communication.

For Academic Performance:

* When working on grant proposals, take every step possible to maximize the chance of funding, for administrative staff to continue their ability to meet deadlines and do accurate work in the proposal process
* PIs on grants should work to expend awarded funds at a rate that results in all funds being used by the end of each grant period

Measures: Number of grants submitted in which Department members are in the budget; proportion of yearly budgets spent within that year.

Follow these steps on the web site:

Login / Home / Goals

Switch plan: FY17 VUMC Organizational Goals (Read Only)

Switch plan: FY17 VUMC Actions to Support Goals (see above suggestions)

Library Goal / Create new goal (Details/Tactics)

Retention goal - add goal and measures / Change category to Pillar: People

Library Goal / Create new goal (Details/Tactics)

Grants and Contracts / Pillar: Growth & Finance / Add Goal and measures

Library Goal / Create new goal (Department Goals)

Copy from other previous fiscal year goal plan

All goals should be weighted to total 100% with the organizationals goals about 50% of all goals.