Resiliency: Research Development Strategies to Engage and Promote Faculty Flourishing
Presenters:
- Kerry Morris, Valdosta State University
- Susannah Gal, Penn State-Harrisburg
- Marilyn Korhonen, University of Oklahoma
- Barbara Wygant, Van Andel Research Institute
Thanks to our session scribe, Laura Sherwin, University of Nebraska at Omaha!
Key points from the session. We learned:
- Listen to faculty and customize your approach to each of them. You want faculty to see you as a partner in their success.
- Target specific faculty or groups of faculty. In particular, look for faculty with a passion for their research who are struggling to obtain external funding. Your work with them can have high impact.
- Identify faculty key players to develop funding strategies. Look to where students are gravitating.
- For new faculty, start with internal seed grants, then foundation and corporate seed grants to collect data for larger grant submissions.
- Connect first with a small group of key “champions” and build from there.
What did you hear at this presentation that surprised you?
- Many research development offices have a close working relationship with institution development officers.
- It is more common in research development offices to “cold call” faculty than I realized.
What resources did you discover at this presentation?
“Aspirational 7” – seven concepts for research faculty: scale up, stabilize, re-direct, diversify, re-invent, engage, persevere.
What was the most interesting question asked by an audience member, and what was the presenter(s)’ response?
Q: What is the role of the institution’s development office vs. the institution’s sponsored programs office?
A: There can be some overlap and confusion on which office performs which functions. The presenter recommended working with the institution’s development office to create a checklist that each office can use to decide if a particular funding mechanism is a grant, contract, or gift. This is also important because money for philanthropic vs research efforts is located in different “buckets” in an institution.
What else from this session should NORDP members know?
Some specific things presenters have used to engage and promote faculty:
- Facilitate writing groups for proposals and papers
- Hold an annual networking event for researchers and business/industry contacts
- Publicize researchers and their work via free videos (YouTube)
- Include a “Research News” button on the research development or institution’s website that highlights overall research, not just research that has been funded externally.
Also, see the handout from the presentation: NORDP resiliency session handout
NORDP News 