Mentor/Mentee Spotlight: The NORDP Mentoring Program in Five

Name: Vanity Campbell
Institution: University of California, Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources (UC ANR)
Are you a Mentor? Mentee? Both?  Both

1)      What influenced you to become a mentor or mentee?
Upon being introduced to the field of research development, a dear colleague recommended two things, first join NORDP and second, join the organization’s Mentoring Program. After three years of being a not so active member, I realized, not only was I not fully benefiting from the power of NORDP’s robust network but also not adequately serving an organization that I had so greatly benefited from professionally through conference engagements, sharing of resources and best practices. I was determined that I wanted and needed to become a more active member. That initial mentoring program suggestion now deeply resonated with me, and I sought the opportunity to serve as both a mentor and mentee.

2)      What surprised you about being a mentor and/or mentee?
Over my professional career, I have taken on a mentorship role with staff and academics alike. However, what was most surprising as both a NORDP mentor and mentee was how easy, natural, and fun it has been.

3)      How has participating in the NORDP mentoring program impacted your day-to-day work?
A goal that I set this year with my mentor was to seek out and initiate a professional mentoring relationship within my home institution. I now meet regularly with my new non-research development mentor, gaining valuable institutional perspectives that impact my ‘day-to-day’ research development work.

4)      What is one way being in the mentoring program has helped increase or broaden your understanding of research development?
As both a mentee and mentor, I have found that it is more than possible to carve out space and time to grow professionally. In doing so, I have found ways where I can be a more active and effective contributor to the overall RD field, ways that I know will have a direct feedback on furthering my understanding of our growing field of research development as well.

5)      Are there any additional thoughts would you like to share about the NORDP mentoring program?
There is no better way to get to know NORDP than to engage with its members.  The Mentoring Program has been an amazing opportunity to build a one-on-one relationship with another member, growing, learning, sharing, all while having fun together.

The NORDP Mentoring Program
The NORDP Mentoring Program offers a formalized pairing process to match a mentor and a mentee with similar professional interests and different levels of experience in order to frame a relationship that offers mutual guidance and support. Once pairs are matched, the mentoring process is an informal one based on the needs of each individual pair.

We encourage Research Development Professionals who have been in the Research Development field for a few years to consider volunteering to be a mentor; and we encourage members who are new (or relatively new) to the field to sign up as a mentee. But feel free to sign up for whatever you feel you need. You can even sign up to be a mentee AND a mentor!

Open Enrollment to the Mentoring Program can be accessed through the following link. The survey will be available through March 16, 2018.

Interested in learning more? Check out the website.

If you have any questions, please send an email to mentorprogram@nordp.org.

Interested in learning how you can leverage principles of mentoring at your institution?
You are invited to attend a NORDP Pre-Conference Workshop to learn strategies for advancing the research enterprise through building and supporting effective mentoring relationships as well as developing on-campus mentoring programs: Taking the Research Development Professsional to the Next Level Through Effective Mentoring.