Starting this Fall, the way subjects in UF research studies are compensated will be streamlined through the myUFL system. Previously, researchers were forced to cut checks and apply for petty cash orders to pay participants.
“We want things to be as easy for our office staff as possible,” said Wendy Dahl, professor of food science and human nutrition.
Carmen Graham, accountant at the department of food science and human nutrition and a member of the pilot committee that tested the new system, said the old system had additional costs.
“Cutting a check costs $8.50 in addition to the manpower it takes to do it,” Graham said.
In the new system, researchers will be issued prepaid debit cards, said Cheryl Bell, associate controller at UF’s Treasury Management. Participants’ names will be logged into an encrypted system to improve security and confidentiality.
“I, as the principal investigator, do not ever need to know the names of my participants,” Dahl said. “With checks, the names are listed. If I was running a study with HIV patients … I could see them.”
Eventually the system will be required for all research that provides compensation to participants, Bell said.
“[Now] the only thing that you really have to do for them is put their name on a log,” Graham said.
A version of this story ran on page 5 on 8/28/2013 under the headline "New form of payment for research study participants"
