Most Valuable Member Benefits: This year, the top-ranked member benefits included complimentary access to conference and webinar archives, discounts on registration fees for educational programming, and the PRIM&R Member Newsletter, which is distributed to members via email each month. As many of you may have noticed, the PRIM&R Member Newsletter underwent a visual transformation this past May during Member Appreciation Month, and 97% of respondents said they like the new design and layout of this resource. The December edition of the PRIM&R Member Newsletter will arrive in inboxes this Thursday, December 18. 

 

Thoughts on New Benefits: The survey also gave us an opportunity to hear members’ thoughts on benefits recently added to the roster. The Research Ethics Digest Self-Study Program, which debuted in August of this year, allows members to earn continuing education credit for reading Research Ethics Digest and completing a quiz about three selected articles on human subjects protections. Sixty-eight percent of respondents who were unaware of or hadn’t tried the program said they were likely to use it in the future. For those interested in getting started, the self-study quiz from December’s edition of Research Ethics Digest, sent on Friday, December 12, is open until Thursday, March 12. By passing this quiz with a score of 80% or higher, PRIM&R members can earn 1.5 continuing education credits.

 

The Membership Onboarding Experience: We asked specific questions to members of one year or less to get feedback on the membership onboarding experience. Seventy-eight percent of new member respondents found our welcome emails to be helpful, and sixty-nine percent of this same group said they would be interested in receiving a mailed welcome packet that details our member benefits. As a result of this feedback, we will be sending hard copy member welcome packets to new members on a monthly basis starting in 2015. We hope these materials make it easier for you to take advantage of resources and connect with other members of the PRIM&R community. Want more information about member benefits as an active member? Let us know and we’ll gladly send you the packet too!

 

New Continuing Education Opportunities: In terms of continuing education, members requested additional workshops and conferences on topics related to social, behavioral, and educational research (SBER). We recognize this is in high demand and are excited to share that on November 12, 2015, PRIM&R is hosting the 2015 SBER Conference, a one-day meeting held before our annual Advancing Ethical Research Conference, in Boston, MA. Save the date, as more information on the program will be forthcoming. 

 

As a reminder, the PRIM&R membership team can always be reached by writing to membership@primr.org. Don’t hesitate to contact us if you have a question about one of your member benefits or how to access members-only material on our website.

In the last weeks of PRIM&R’s 40th anniversary year, we are preparing even greater plans for how to serve and support PRIM&R members in 2015. Thank you for your commitment to PRIM&R and to helping us to continually strengthen our offerings.