Written by the Mentoring Committee Mentor Training Team
The NORDP Mentoring Committee’s Mentor Training Team held a mentor training workshop in January – February 2025. Twenty-three NORDP members completed the 5-week workshop, covering the 9-module Entering Mentoring curriculum initially developed for research mentors and tailored by the NORDP Mentoring Committee for RD professionals in collaboration with the University of Wisconsin Center for Improvement of Mentored Experiences in Research (CIMER). Over 100 NORDP members have completed the Entering Mentoring Workshop and received certificates.
RD professionals explored key mentoring competencies that can benefit RD mentors and mentees that have been associated with improved career outcomes, employee engagement and retention, and more inclusive work environments. The workshop was facilitated by the following NORDP Mentor Training Subcommittee members: Jan Abramson, Kristin Boman, Paula Carney, Charlotte Forstall, Rachel Goff-Albritton, Kathy Partlow, Matthew Schwartz, Samarpita Sengupta, and Carol Thornber. The NORDP Mentoring Committee is committed to equipping Research Development professionals for success by offering meaningful mentoring expertise, support, and resources.
As part of the training, participants had the opportunity to craft their own mentoring philosophies. Below are examples from this year’s participants!
I seek to help mentees gain independence and confidence by empowering them to identify solutions for issues that arise in their work and other spheres of their lives. My approach is to be available, invested, and intentional. I encourage each mentee to drive our relationship by setting goals (and allowing them to evolve), while I provide tools, resources, contacts, and advice toward achieving them. I also hope to learn from each mentee – and that we all find ways to pay it forward.
– Christine M. Blaumueller
I will enter into all my mentoring relationships with intention, be it as a mentor or mentee. I will work to establish trust rooted in mutual respect, a shared mission for learning and growth, and a desire to impact my workplace and professional positively. I will attempt to exercise grace and openness of thought in all interactions.
– Charlotte Forstall
Congratulations to the following 2025 NORDP Mentor Training graduates!
| Jen Aleman, The College of New Jersey | ||
| Christine Blaumueller, Carver College of Medicine, University of Iowa | ||
| Jessica Brassard, Michigan Technological University | ||
| Robert Clark, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital | ||
| Michelle Davis, Texas A&M – AgriLife Research | ||
| Marney Ellis, Boise State University | ||
| Jeffrey Engler, University of California, Davis | ||
| Charlotte Forstall, Washington University in St. Louis | ||
| Lindsey Frallic, Western Washington University | ||
| Savannah Hall, University of Michigan – Ann Arbor | ||
| Cassie Johnson, North Dakota State University | ||
| Neetha Khan, Carnegie Mellon University | ||
| Rebecca Kirkland, University of Georgia | ||
| Crystal Ladwig, Florida State University | ||
| Kaitlin Clare Maguire, Boise State University | ||
| Scott Merrill, Cleveland Clinic Foundation | ||
| Laura Mussulman, University of Kansas Medical Center | ||
| Jennifer Reininga, Duke University | ||
| Christina Ryan, University of Connecticut | ||
| Julie Svetlik, University of Missouri | ||
| Erin Umlauf, Boston Medical Center | ||
| Viktoriya Zhuravleva, Zuckerman Institute | Columbia University |
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