SECTION 18. Duties; research and evaluation

(a) The duties of the program of employee involvement and ownership shall be consistent with the provisions of section seventeen and shall include, but not be limited to:

(1) promotion of employee involvement and employee ownership;

(2) coordination with other available state programs, including the executive offices of manpower affairs and labor;

(3) education of state agency personnel who advise or provide assistance to businesses, individuals, public sector entities, and employee organizations about the implications of employee involvement and employee ownership for their agency's programs or services, including but not limited to training, assisting with staff development seminars, and facilitating the coordination of state agency resources;

(4) development of education programs, including, but not limited to, convening an annual conference with industry, government and labor participation to promote and discuss employee involvement and ownership in the commonwealth and elsewhere;

(5) provision of research and evaluation of public and private employee involvement as well as employee ownership including but not limited to conducting a survey of employee participation and management practices in the public and private sector;

(6) cooperation with all other state, federal and local agencies, departments and commissions, as is necessary, to carry out its duties and purposes;

(7) implementation of the advice and recommendation of the commission relative to improving the performance of its duties and purposes;

(8) creation of referral services including, but not limited to, a ''loaned'' executive and union leader program;

(9) assistance to private business through the provision of diagnostic resource and referral services in exploring the feasibility of establishing employee involvement programs;

(10) provision of grants to state agencies, the majority of whose employees are not subject to the provisions of chapter one hundred and fifty E, authorities of the commonwealth and the board of regents of higher education for employee involvement start-up efforts;

(11) provision of grants to regional and municipal authorities, cities and towns including the public school systems, regional school districts and independent vocational schools for employee involvement start-up efforts;

(12) review of private enterprises and businesses doing business with the commonwealth which have more than one hundred employees to assess their employee involvement efforts and compilation of a list of employee-owned firms which might provide products and services to the commonwealth;

(13) promotion of the creation, training and funding of area labor-management committees, including the provision of grants to said area labor-management committees;

(14) development and issuance of procedures concerning the administration of the duties of the program of employee involvement and ownership consistent with the purposes of this chapter.

(b) The program of employee involvement and ownership shall perform research and evaluation concerning employee involvement and employee ownership efforts. The purpose of said research and evaluation shall be to:

(1) aid the employee involvement and ownership programs in the commonwealth in becoming more effective by learning through research and feedback of the information to the participants of such programs. Said research and evaluation shall involve program participants in the design survey instruments and feedback methods of such evaluation;

(2) assess and evaluate each project funded by said program to determine whether or not such project is meeting its own goals and the goals of this chapter; and

(3) provide information to the commission, the governor and the public so that informed decisions may be made about employee involvement and employee ownership in meeting the needs of the commonwealth.

A summary of such research and evaluation concerning employee involvement and ownership efforts shall be regularly published.