Who: Kathy Cataneo, Director of Research Development
Where: University of New Hampshire
Number of years in Research Development: 9
Length of NORDP membership: 9 years
When and how did you enter the field? What kind of RD work do you do?
I have been supporting faculty research and scholarship at the University of New Hampshire (UNH) for 35 years, 25 of which as Director of the Office of Sponsored Research. In that position, I was responsible for 26 staff conducting all pre- and post-award activities at UNH. During that time I became quite familiar with the interests and strengths of all our active researchers, and contemporaneously experienced a growing appreciation of and proclivity toward helping the faculty become more strategic, competitive, and successful in their proposal writing.
In 2010, I was appointed as founding director of the UNH Research Development Office. I create and implement programs to help UNH researchers identify the best funding sources for their work and write the most competitive proposals possible. I have also mentored UNH masters’ level students to enter the RD field.
What’s your history with NORDP? How have you engaged with the organization (committee work, conferences attended/presented)?
After receiving generous advice and inspiration from Holly Falk-Krzesinksi, I joined NORDP in 2010, attended my first NORDP Conference in 2011, and have attended every Conference since then. In 2011-12, I helped Anne Windham (Brown University) establish a Northeast regional NORDP group, and became NORDP NE Chair in 2014. At the national level, I have been a panelist at Conference sessions and co-presented a pre-conference workshop with Ann McGuigan in 2016. I have been a member of the NORDP Communications Working Group and the Member Services Committee (MSC), and I currently serve as MSC chair and a member of the Revenue and Finance Committee. I have also been fortunate to be a mentor to an outstanding NORDP mentee.
What relationships have you built as a result of NORDP (new colleagues, connections to institutions where you previously had no point of contact)?
My initial NORDP networking began in NORDP NE, where I met new colleagues from large, research intensive institutions to mid-sized to small institutions, and formed lasting friendships with so many people. We share information and resources, invite each other and our faculty to attend regional meetings with federal program officers, and meet formally as a group at least twice a year. The regional networking became a great springboard for building lasting professional and personal relationships with colleagues across the country. From the beginning, I have been impressed by and grateful for the openness and willingness displayed by every NORDP member to share knowledge and resources so willingly with each other.
What inspired you to run for a position and serve on the NORDP board?
In NORDP’s history, there had been just one Board member from the Northeast (Anne Windham) before I ran. I wanted to bring a sustained Northeast “voice” to the Board. I was also passionate about increasing the Board’s appreciation for the role that regional groups play in nurturing RD as a profession and in serving as a pipeline for increasing membership at the national level. I had great support and encouragement to run from my NORDP NE colleagues, including Peg AtKisson, another lifelong colleague and friend.
What initiative are you most excited about in your role as a board member?
After working in my first year on the Board to craft and gain Board approval for an “Affinity Group” policy – which brought official NORDP recognition of regional groups to the fore — what excites me the most is serving as NORDP’s Member Services Committee Chair. With a vision established by former chair Terri Soelberg (who was my Board mentor), this committee’s members have worked diligently to increase the NORDP membership to new heights, and to implement creative retention measures to keep members engaged. Personally, I enjoy interacting with new members, helping to address issues they may have when they first join, and connecting them to others within NORDP to enhance their member experience. (Akin to on-boarding new faculty!)
Compiled by Daniel Campbell, Member Services Committee
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