NORDP 2019 Conference Cameo: Anne Pascucci

#NORDP2019 starts Monday, April 29 in Providence, RI. Keep checking back here at the blog and on our Twitter feed (@NORDP_official) for conference updates. Register here: https://www.nordp.org/conferences.
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Who: Anne Pascucci, Director, Office of Sponsored Programs
Where: Christopher Newport University
Number of years in research development: 13
Length of NORDP membership: 8
Number of NORDP conferences attended: 4
When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up? Clown

“Research development professional” was a term I hadn’t heard until I met Mark Milutinovich. At AAAS at the time, he told me that an initiative I was trying to get off the ground was Research Development. The idea was to incorporate many disciplines at Radford University into a Rural Health Initiative. “Health” included physical/mental (nursing, PT, OT, Psych, Social Work), cultural (Dance, Theater, Music), educational (College of Education and Human Development), and financial (College of Business and Economics). The measurable impacts would be on the community and the student experience in the community. Mark told me that I should seek out Holly Falk-Krzesinski at the next NCURA meeting because she was doing a session on RD.  I went to that session and have been calling myself a Research Development Professional ever since, although I have been doing this type of transdisciplinary work since I was at Rhode Island College (2000-2008).

I attended my first NORDP conference on a scholarship in 2011. I have attended as many annual meetings as possible ever since. NORDP is my “leave feeling great” conference. It is about creativity, validation, and sharing ideas. I am invigorated at the end of the conference and ready to implement new ideas upon my return. NCURA is an excellent resource but it is the “here are the new rules to be afraid of conference.” Vitally important, as I am at a PUI with dual responsibility, but one leaves each conference with very different feelings, goals, tools, and peer connections.

I am particularly excited to be chairing the PUI NORDP Affinity Group this year. We hope to formalize our place in NORDP and expand everyone’s knowledge about who we are and what we do. I am honored as I am stepping in after a spectacular group led by Ronald Fleischmann put the backbones together.

My advice to conference attendees is to bring business cards. I know that I am old school but immediately upon return, I request to connect on LinkedIn with new peers and resources. Go to every possible opportunity to network. Seek out folks from different backgrounds and types of institutions. You will gain something from everyone that you meet.

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Visit the NORDP Store online now through March 15! We hope to see you at the Conference, which will be held April 29 – May 1, 2019, at the Omni Providence Hotel in Providence, RI. 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 #NORDP2019 updates.

NORDP fosters a culture of inclusive excellence by actively promoting and supporting diversity, inclusion and equity in all its forms to expand our worldview, enrich our work, and elevate our profession.