Delaware Clinical and Translational Research ACCEL Program-Tracking and Eval Core

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Abstract—Tracking & Evaluation (T&E) The Tracking and Evaluation (T&E) Key Component Activity (KCA) of the Delaware Clinical and Translational (DE-CTR) ACCEL Program will define and facilitate the ongoing success of this complex research infrastructure program. The major thrust of T&E activities will move beyond the initial accounting of research productivity, which has been high during the first four years of the program, and focus during the renewal period on new initiatives, the quality of integration among KCAs, and the overall impact of the ACCEL program. The Specific Aims of T&E are to: 1) Developmentally define metrics that guide data collection, analysis, and reporting for each KCA to aid ACCEL Lead- ership in directing program improvement, expansion and efficient use of resources; 2) Monitor and report progress towards KCA Specific Aims and overall program accomplishments delivered via standardized reports and real-time web-based interfaces; 3) Assure quality of T&E activities by monitoring processes and products, and by implementing process improvements to reduce errors and improve efficiency; and 4) Develop and share best practices in tracking and evaluation across institutions and in close partnership with other IDeA programs, including the National CTR Evaluators Group, and the South Carolina Clinical and Translational Research Institute (SCTR). To achieve these aims, in addition to the Overall ACCEL Specific Aims, we will utilize Liaisons representing each institution and each KCA. We will collect KCA-specific metrics that provide feedback to ACCEL members, leadership, advisory council members, and NIH staff. These evaluation data will define the degree to which we increase communication, expand interdisciplinary and inter-institutional collaborations, optimize decision-making, and facilitate resource-sharing. We will also address the degree to which ACCEL increases capacity in areas of need and opportunity, improves con- nections with the community, and expands collaborations and infrastructure to Delaware State University. Impor- tantly, during this renewal period we will enhance the role of T&E collaborators at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC). Their expertise will allow us to more effectively incorporate Results Based Accountability, Utili- zation Focused Evaluation, Developmental Evaluation Theory, and Lean Six Sigma methodology into T&E, and will facilitate adoption of CTSA-based initiatives. To ensure that the quality of feedback provided by T&E is consistently high and relevant to the needs of users and leadership, we will call upon the expertise of MUSC Liaisons to provide objective quality assurance of T&E activities. We anticipate, based the experience of ACCEL during this first funding period, that a continued focus on strengthening cross-institutional and cross-disciplinary efforts in our highly collab- orative culture will facilitate further effective program building and use of resources in support of clinical and transla- tional research that benefit the Delaware community.