Month: July 2017

How does our garden grow? Thanks for asking! NORDP’s Member Services Committee is delighted to report that our goal to increase the net number of NORDP members by 100 this year has not only been achieved, but exceeded. NORDP’s active members now total 779, an increase of 138 since NORDP’s fiscal year began on October 1, 2016.  Thank you to Member Services Committee members and to all other NORDP members who have worked so tirelessly on this year’s member recruitment and retention campaign.   Kudos!!

Kathy Cataneo, Member Services Committee 

During the 2017 NORDP Conference all seven regions held meetings with over 220 members attending. Common themes included affinity groups, annual conference location, listservs, and shared challenges.

Highlights of each region’s discussion are listed below. For full reports, click here.

I – Northeast

NORDP Northeast plans to apply for affinity group status. NE is open to piloting programs to roll out at NORDP national, and is considering slight increases to its meeting registration fees that could provide for travel awards to the NORDP annual conference for regional members with financial need.

 II – Atlantic

The Atlantic region is looking into holding a monthly conference call or online meeting to share best practices & challenges. Rotating annual in-person meetings and creation of a regional membership directory were also discussed.

III – Southeast

The Southeast region is very interested in becoming an affinity group with the intent to plan meaningful activities for members of the region. Kimberly Eck offered to lead the application process and plans to put together a working subcommittee to draft a proposal and give all SE members a chance to contribute.

IV – Great Lakes

The Great Lakes region had a great discussion about holding a regional meeting. As a result they are planning their 1^st Regional Meeting which will be hosted by Jeff Agnoli at Ohio State University in October.

V – Mid-West & Mountain

The Midwest & Mountain region members discussed using their new listserv to assist in organizing their regional efforts as well as exchanging ideas about funding opportunities specific to the regional members.

VI – Southwest

The Southwest region members discussed the new formalized process for creation of affinity groups and explored some of the background on why the process has been put into place. Kay Tindle offered to lead the affinity group initiative and plans to organize a conference call to discuss the effort.

VII – Pacific

The Pacific region discussed the active use of their active listserv, which they plan to continue to use. Members voted in favor of moving forward with identifying Region VII as an official region through the affinity group mechanism.

Summary prepared by Dan Campbell, Member Services Committee. 

This last year has been one filled with challenges and uncertainty but also wonderful achievements and new opportunities. It’s been a privilege for me to serve as the NORDP president during this time.

We started last July working with our then newly hired executive director to lay out a work plan for the new role that included expanding our list of potential sponsors. In late August, the whole Board spent an intense (and fun!) couple of days of planning and team-building in Boise, ID (check out the photo of the Board during our Boise meeting).  We developed primary goals and stretch goals for all of our committees, restructured some aspects of our committees, and defined working groups for activities that didn’t fit within the scope of our existing committees. Below, I’ve listed some highlights of this past year’s NORDP organizational activity.

• Member Services Committee rolled out a membership drive and realized a net increase of more than 100 new members, bringing NORDP membership to its highest point yet at well over 700 members.
• Member Services Committee also developed and rolled out new membership orientation materials.
• Developed and implemented a policy to guide the structure of affinity groups of NORDP, such as those defined as regional groups.
• Finance/Revenue Committee identified and adopted several administrative cost-saving and infrastructure improvement measures, including upgrading our MemberClicks membership administration tool.
• Implemented a modest increase in membership dues.
• Researched and generated a broader list of potential sponsors.
• Maintained current level of professional development webinars while working to define future, broader webinar content. Professional Development Committee supported the participation of over 360 members in live webinar events this year.
• Investigated past efforts, reactivated, and successfully re-implemented the Program for External Evaluation of Research Development (PEERD) NORDP Consulting Program. At the 2017 conference, launched an effort to recruit expert reviewers for the program as well as advertise for potential clients.
• Developed and implemented of the first training forum focused on emerging research enterprise leaders: Wise decisions in times of change and uncertainty: Research Enterprise Leadership Forum, held at the 2017 conference in Broomfield, CO.
• Planned and executed the best-attended NORDP annual conference to-date, with nearly 500 people in attendance at the Broomfield, CO conference.
• Established the Mentoring Program Committee as a ‘stand-alone’ NORDP committee, recognizing its expanding programmatic depth and breadth, with development of mentoring resources, e.g.
• Established an expanded volunteer administrative services resource to assist with MemberClicks and other member-related administrative questions.
• Reinvigorated the former External Engagement Committee under the new name of Strategic Alliances Committee, building capacity in the Liaison Program and in peer-group alliances.
• Matured the New Opportunities in Research Development (NORD) Working Group to a NORDP committee.
• Formed a revived Communication Working Group manned by several NORDP members, focused at several communication levels – website, blog, social media, listserv, conference communication.
• Formed a new working group focused on increasing diversity and inclusion within NORDP.

I know that these accomplishments were the collective effort of many volunteers and thank you all for your contributions to these and other recent accomplishments.  So, while this year has brought challenges, it is not hard to also see evidence of continued positive growth in NORDP, and to be excited about the potential for the future.

Thank you for the honor of serving as president this past year.  Onward and upward…