Month: May 2017

Susan Carter Recipient of 2017 Holly J. Falk-Krzesinski Service Award

Susan Carter, J.D., Director of Research Development Services at the University of California, Merced, has received NORDP’s 2017 Holly J. Falk-Krzesinski Service Award. Founding NORDP President Holly Falk-Krzesinski presented the award to Susan at the 9th Annual NORDP Conference in Broomfield, Colorado, in May.

DMNS Legacy
Susan Carter (left) and Holly Falk-Krzesinski (right)

Clearly stunned when Holly announced her name as the awardee, Susan later said, “My involvement in NORDP has truly been a highlight of my professional life, and indeed, has brought amazing rewards both to me and my institution. As I was standing on the stage listening to Holly discuss the service to NORDP that led the Board to choose me as this year’s recipient, all I could think was that the service I gave was absolutely minimal compared to the benefits I received.”

This service award is given annually by the NORDP Board of Directors to one NORDP member to recognize her/his commitment to further the research development profession, to NORDP’s growth, and service to peers. Susan is a consummate exemplar of all of these qualities.

At UC Merced, Susan is well known for her efforts on individual faculty development and team science, and is lauded by the faculty, her staff, and the administration for her talents as a visionary and research development professional. Since starting the UC Merced office in 2008, Susan has been responsible for hiring and nurturing a staff of five, perhaps bringing a record number of people into the research development profession in the shortest time period.

Susan’s dedication to NORDP is legion, spanning the lifetime of our organization. Among her many contributions to NORDP are:

  • National Steering Committee (2009-10), Founding Executive Officer (2009), Board of Directors Secretary and member (2010-13)
  • Helped secure NORDP’s initial 501(c)3 status
  • Membership Committee member (2010-14)
  • Founder, Mentoring Program (2012), which has served more than 250 mentor-mentee pairs
  • Managed conference volunteer corps (2012)
  • Commissioned first NORDP Peer Review (2013); co-developed the PEERD program’s business plan (2014-16 )
  • 2015 Annual Conference Co-Chair and Program Committee member (2013, 2014)
  • Contributor/ presenter at NORDP Annual Conference sessions, Idea Showcase, and pre-conference workshops (2013-17)
  • Nominating Committee Co-Chair (2017-)

In her presentation remarks, Holly said, “What makes her so special is how deeply she gives to her faculty, staff, and community, and to the many of us who consider Susan a mentor.” Congratulations, Susan, and many thanks from all of your NORDP official and unofficial mentees and peers.

NORDP Launches New Service: PEERD

Are you thinking about implementing the research development model at your institution? Does your institution have a strategic plan to move ahead? Is your RD operation the most effective it can be? Are you “right resourced”?

If you, or anyone at your institution, is asking those questions, you may want to consider contacting PEERD!

NORDP is launching a service, Program for External Evaluation of Research Development (PEERD), to provide assessment of an institution’s RD needs by a team of experienced RD professionals.  PEERD is designed to provide client organizations an external evaluation of their research development operations by a team of qualified NORDP members from peer institutions.

If you’re interested in being a PEERD consultant, we’re looking for experienced leaders with review, evaluation, and/or strategic planning experience. NORDP members who meet the experience criteria are welcome to apply. Memberswho have their own consulting firms, or who are not prohibited by other firms’ contractual terms or potential conflicts, are eligible to serve as reviewers for PEERD.  An on-line application will be available after the Denver conference.

To learn more about the eligibility criteria, selection process, and timeline for PEERD consultants, or to learn how to engage the service for your university, visit our poster during the Idea Showcase on Tuesday, May 9 from 5:30 – 6:30 pm in the Centennial and Interlocken Foyers.

We look forward to seeing you next week in Denver!

Best regards,

Karen Eck
NORDP Board of Directors (2015-2019)

Peggy Sundermeyer
Former Member, NORDP Board of Directors (2010-2016)
Former NORDP Treasurer (2012-2016)

2017 Conference Cameo: Eileen Murphy

#NORDP2017 starts Monday, May 8 in Denver, CO. Keep checking back here at the blog and on our Twitter feed (@NORDP_official) for live conference updates. Register here: http://www.nordp.org/conferences.
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Who: Eileen Murphy, Ph.D., Senior Director Corporate and Foundations Relations
Where: Rutgers University
Number of years in research development: 7
Length of NORDP membership: 7
Number of NORDP conferences attended: 3 (first one was via NORDP travel scholarship – THANK YOU!)
What is the most interesting place you’ve visited? Yellowstone National Park

I, like many NORDP colleagues, discovered research development after a long career as a researcher and research manager. I switched careers from government scientist to academic administrator after my research group was dissolved due to budget cuts. The silver lining in this storm was a new career in research development. Once I embarked on this adventure, I never looked back.Photo March 2017

Like any scientist new to a field, I searched for a professional organization where I could learn from seasoned professionals. While I had found good research administration organizations, what I really wanted was something more akin to what I was doing – research development. Rutgers University had just hired a handful of research development professionals at the time, and, together, we discovered NORDP. That was the organization I was searching for – the one  that offered advice, networking and camaraderie in the field.

I attended my first NORDP conference through the generous support of the NORDP travel scholarship. Naturally, I felt the need to “pay it back” by volunteering in every aspect that I could. Volunteering is a wonderful way to network and get to know people – even people from my own institution that I may not get to see as often as I would like. I continue to be impressed by the diversity, talent, and dedication of the people who are attracted to this field.

Conferences allow me to immerse myself in research development and to discuss challenges I may be having with colleagues from other institutions. While many of us feel like islands at our institutions, being one research development professional amidst a sea of faculty and administrators, we are all “stranded” together on that island during a NORDP conference.

It’s one week away, and I am truly looking forward to meeting new colleagues, sharing ideas, and learning from others’ experiences.

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We hope to see you at the 2017 NORDP Research Development Conference, which will be held May 8-10 in Denver, CO. For more information about the conference program or to register, visit http://www.nordp.org/conferences. Follow @NORDP_official on Twitter for all the latest #NORDP2017 updates.

If you’d like to be featured in a Conference Cameo, let us know at rdconf@nordp.org.