College of Education

Office of School-University Research Relations

Last update: April 28, 2025

The Office of School-University Research Relations’ (OSURR) primary function is to develop and maintain partnerships with school districts and other educational entities in a research capacity. We then help to facilitate connections between campus researchers and our partners. OSURR is housed within the Bureau of Educational Research but is a resource available for faculty from all disciplines across campus – you do not need to be affiliated with the College of Education to receive support.

Details regarding which form to select are below.

• Go to Collaboration
• Go to Recruitment-Only Request
• Go to Letters of Support

Collaboration

Click here for Collaboration Request Form

This form should be used to identify schools/districts to collaborate with on research initiatives. Use this form if:

• you are constructing a grant proposal and need a school partner (with no prior relationship),
• you need a school partner for an IRB application (with no prior relationship), or
• you need to identify a school to work with on future research.

Please be advised that collaboration requests typically have a longer review process. Plan accordingly. 

Recruitment – Only 

Click here for Recruitment - Only Request Form

1. The avenue of distribution is varied and is determined by each individual school district – most send this information out electronically (e.g., electronic newsletter, online communication system, social media/website posting) and others will pass out hard copies.
2. The length of time from submitting this form to recruitment materials getting distributed varies – For example, we have districts who post opportunities on social media sites the day our office submits materials to them OR it could take 4-6 weeks to get published in a school newsletter.
3. The avenue of distribution determines what information the school district uses – either a short blurb or flyer. Please make sure both the blurb and flyer can standalone, and each includes all necessary information for recruitment.
4. Please only submit this form when you have final recruitment materials constructed to send. We will not be able to reach out to school districts to request sending updated materials.
5. Please be advised that beyond initial confirmation from the district or school stating they will distribute your flyer, our office does not have the capacity to complete numerous follow-ups for every district we contact and the large number of recruitment flyers we send out to be distributed.

Letters of Support

Click here for Letters of Support

If you are needing a letter of support from the Office of School-University Research Relations (OSURR) OR a partnering school, please use this form.

• If you are requesting a letter of support from OSURR for IRB purposes, we have a standard letter we will provide you.
• If you are requesting a letter of support for a grant proposal from OSURR, you must provide a template or draft of a letter of support. You must have a school partner in place if using this form.
• If you are needing a letter of support from a school partner, YOU MUST have a partnering school or district in place to use this form. If you do not have a partner in place, you MUST submit a collaboration request form. 

If you are requesting a letter of support from a partnering school/district, please reach out as early as possible. OSURR suggests at least 6 weeks – but timeline varies based on school/district.

Additional Information

• The districts do express willingness to support campus researchers, but advise that projects should be designed with care, understanding that teacher and staff availability may be limited.
• We recommend initiating communications and planning with the districts as soon as possible for all research initiatives.
• The OSURR typically works directly with superintendents or other administrators in the district office. Please be advised that this requires review at the district-level, and then depending on the nature of your work, review by other individuals/teams and building-level approval before seeking interest at a teacher/classroom level.
• Chicago Public Schools will only review new and ongoing research projects that have been explicitly flagged as high-priority by school and district leaders. For more information please review the CPS Conduct Primary Research page.

For school district personnel 

• You are cordially invited to direct researcher inquiries from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign to us for information and assistance, by sharing a link to this page.
• If you are interested in being more connected with University research and would like to be a partner, please reach out directly to the OSURR Director, Dr. Meghan Fisher via email at mfisher2@illinois.edu 

For Assistance:

We invite you to contact OSURR at researchplacements@education.illinois.edu to request assistance.

Feel free to also reach out directly to the Director of the Office of School-University Research Relations, Dr. Meghan Fisher, to schedule a consultation to receive guidance tailored to your needs at mfisher2@illinois.edu