This study assessed the perceptions of faculty employed by the historically black institutions of the University of North Carolina, concerning the personal utility of activities to increase their educational research participation or to gain educational research skills and knowledge. The study was part of a pilot project to develop strategies to encourage and facilitate increased educational research participation of the faculty. Three-fourths of the 73 responding faculty recognized many personal and institutional benefits of participation in educational research. Research participation was recognized as being beneficial by larger percentages of junior faculty than by all responding faculty. Most activities offered by the pilot program, including having faculty design and conduct individual educational research projects, work with experienced educational researchers who act as research mentors, and engage in the activities of professional research associations, were identified as helpful or useful by a majority of faculty members; coursework offerings were not. (JDD)