Category: Membership

NORDP Career Stories

Compiled by Daniel Campbell, Member Services Committee

Career Stories are a partnership of NORDP LEAD, the Professional Development Committee, and the Member Services Committee.  These informal “fireside chats” highlight the professional trajectories of NORDP members by showcasing the multiple ways that members end up in research development as well as the variety of paths available for career growth and advancement.  

NORDP Charter Fellow and Emeritus Member, Jan Abramson, was part of the group that worked to create this series of conversations.  Jan adds, “Career Stories is always a highlight of my month. We have a great team of volunteers who make this event happen, and it is always fun to connect through conversation with NORDP members. Career Stories is a great way to start volunteering or sharing your personal path with NORDP colleagues.” 

These 30-minute listen and learn sessions along with participant Q&A, began in January 2021 with Karen Fletcher, Director of Grants Resources & Services at Appalachian State University, and have continued monthly since then.  

Gagan Bajaj, PhD, Grant Proposal Developer at the University of Vermont notes, “I joined the team at Career Stories in September 2021, bang in the middle of the pandemic—I was craving human connection, and boy, did the series deliver! Career Stories is my monthly dose of inspiration, and I am so grateful for all the wonderful people I have met through this forum.”   

Career Stories from this year are listed below with a bit of background bio on the featured members. All Career Stories have been recorded and are accessible by NORDP members through the NORDP LMS.

January – Sammy Rodriguez Flecha (Washington State University)
Sammy Rodriguez Flecha, PhD is currently the director of the Washington State University’s Team Mentoring Program, a network serving underserved undergraduate students pursuing degrees in science, technology, engineering, math (STEM) and health fields. Prior to this new role, he served as interim director for the WSU Office of Research Advancement & Partnerships. His research development and administration career has spanned over 10 years. His PhD is in educational psychology and his Master’s degree is in English literature. He’s been a member of NORDP’s Nominating Committee, a mentor for NORDP’s mentoring program and participated in the inaugural cohort of NORDP LEAD.
February – Jaime Rubin (Columbia University)
Dr. Jaime Rubin is currently the Vice Chair for Investigator Development in the Department of Medicine at Columbia University. She has held senior level positions at Columbia University Medical Center, including Acting Associate Dean for Graduate Affairs, was the founding Director of the Office of Graduate Affairs, and served as the Acting Associate Vice President/Acting Associate Dean for Research Administration – and was one of the founders of the Office of Research Administration. Dr. Rubin completed her PhD at the Ontario Cancer Institute, University of Toronto. She is currently a Fulbright Scholar awardee with the Republic of Kosovo’s Ministry of Education, Science, Technology and Innovation. Her responsibilities include working on projects to increase extramurally-funded research with international partners. 
March - Elizabeth Lathrop (University of Maryland)
Elizabeth Lathrop works as a Proposal Development Specialist for the A. James Clark School of Engineering at the University of Maryland. She provides critical support to the Clark School's capacity for complex, multidisciplinary research initiatives in response to targeted funding opportunities. Elizabeth is a Professional Track Faculty with degrees in sciences and was the Associate Director of Programs for a DOE EFRC: Energy Frontier Research Center - Science of Precision Multifunctional Nanostructures for Electrical Energy Storage.  Elizabeth is currently a co-chair of the Mentoring Committee, and participates in the iKnoW, (immigrant Knowledge and Wisdom) Affinity Group.
April - Jason Charland (University of Maine)
Jason Charland serves as Senior Advisor to the President and Executive Director of Research Development at the University of Maine. He oversees research development service provision to faculty and researchers across the University of Maine System, which comprises five primarily undergraduate institutions, a regional comprehensive university, a law school, and an R1 research university distributed across a rural state. He is also responsible for implementing university-wide extramural funding strategies for federal, state, and foundation funding and executing strategic research initiatives.
May - Elizabeth Festa (Rice University)
Elizabeth Festa is a Research Development Specialist in the Office of Research Development at Rice University. She received her Ph.D. from Vanderbilt University and her B.A. from the University of Notre Dame. She is an IRB affiliate at Baylor College of Medicine and a past screener for the Fulbright-National Geographic Fellowship. Before transitioning into RD, Elizabeth was Associate Director of the Program in Writing in Communication at Rice, and the Associate Director of the Center for Academic and Professional Communication. Elizabeth holds leadership positions in NORDP’s Strategic Alliances Committee and Member Services Committee. 
June - Camille Coley (University of San Francisco)
Camille Coley, JD, CRA is the inaugural Associate Vice Provost for Sponsored Programs and External Partnerships at the University of San Francisco.  She has worked in research administration and research development for more than 20 years including at the American Museum of Natural History (in New York City, NY), Florida Atlantic University (FAU), and Southeast National Marine Renewable Energy Center and the Center for Biomedical and Marine Biotechnology at FAU. She is a certified Research Administrator as well as a Certified Mediator. Camille shares her experience and expertise through the NORDP PEERD program and is a consultant for NORDP’s Pilot Project for Historically Black Colleges and Universities.
July – Eric Wayne Dickey (Oregon State University)
Eric holds an Honors Bachelor of Arts in English and a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing, both from Oregon State University (OSU), and is a certified Project Management Professional by the Project Management Institute. He is also a published poet, children's author, and translator of German Poetry, and his work can be found online and in print. In July 2022, Eric began a new role as the first ever Director of Sponsored Programs for OSU’s Division of Extension and Engagement. He has 20 years of experience in research development and proposal and project management and has worked for OSU’s College of Forestry and College of Liberal Arts, for Oregon Sea Grant, and at Western Oregon University where he established its inaugural Sponsored Projects Office. For NORDP, Eric currently serves on the Member Services Committee and is a co-representative for the Pacific Region. He is also on the Mentoring Committee and has recently agreed to serve on the Conference Committee.
August - Jessica Venable (Thorn Run Partners)
Jessica Venable, PhD is known for her work in higher education policy and reform, particularly as it pertains to how underserved and underrepresented individuals, institutions and groups are represented in, and benefit from, the Federal funding landscaper. In her career, she worked in RD at Virginia Commonwealth University, and at NASA Langley Research Center and NASA Headquarters. She has also served as a grant reviewer for numerous federal agencies, and prior to joining Thorn Run Partners served as Vice President at McAllister & Quinn.

Elizabeth Festa noted, “As a person who transitioned to RD mid-career, the experience of being interviewed for Career Stories was a validating one.  The field of RD is still emerging and the opportunity to draw upon a wide variety of experiences and skills to impact the profession, as opposed to following a clearly defined path, has ultimately been rewarding.  Career Stories made me recognize the value in my unique path, and those of my NORDP colleagues.”

Don’t miss our Fall 2023 slate of speakers:

If you are interested participating as a conversation facilitator, technical host or sharing your own story please contact Gagan Bajaj at gagan.bajaj@med.uvm.edu. 

If you are curious about a previous session you were not able to attend you can find them on the NORDP LMS under NORDP LEAD presents: Fireside Chats. https://nordp.mclms.net/en/package/4461/course/9169/view 

NORDP Announces the Availability of Membership Scholarships

NORDP is pleased to announce the availability of twenty scholarships to support membership renewals in fiscal year 2021. 

In recognition of the impacts of COVID-19 on institutional funding for professional development, the awards will cover individual regular, trainee, and emeritus membership renewal costs for active, graced, and lapsed members as of June 1, 2020.  

The awards support NORDP’s richly diverse and robust national peer network of research development professionals, enabling members to continue benefiting from:

To apply, please complete your APPLICATION FORM by 5pm (submitter’s local time) on December 31st, 2020. 

We look forward to expanding the Membership Scholarship program in FY22.

Funding for this first round of scholarships was provided by Elsevier, s a proud and long-standing sponsor of NORDP. As a global leader in research information and analytics, Elsevier helps researchers and research executives advance science and research for the benefit of society. Our Research Intelligence solutions combine quality, structured, interoperable data, advanced analytics and an array of indicators and metrics that offer actionable insights to address critical challenges and expand research excellence. Learn more. Elsevier is committed to advancing equity, inclusion and diversity in the global research ecosystem to ensure that research benefits from a diverse research workforce to reach its full potential in achieving a sustainable and equitable future. Learn more.

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.

Get involved in NORDP!

Register Now for Committee Roundtable, Rescheduled for July 24

NORDP has rescheduled the Committee Roundtable (technical difficulties on our first attempt) for Friday, July 24, from 11:00 – 12:30 EDT. (10:00 – 11:30 CDT, 9:00-10:30 MDT, and 8:00-9:30 PDT), to explain the many committee activities underway and how members can get involved. Register for the roundtable here (NORDP members only).

“NORDP depends heavily on volunteers, and it takes a lot of dedicated research development professionals to support our growing profession.  We hope NORDP members, especially our new members, will join us at this roundtable to find opportunities to contribute to that effort,” says Karen Fletcher, NORDP past president. “Regardless of where you are in your RD career, your expertise is needed. Veteran or beginner, title or no title, the diversity of our membership is what has enabled NORDP to grow so rapidly.”

Brief descriptions of the committees are included below, and each committee has created a poster to summarize their most recent activities, available here.

Committee on Inclusive Excellence (CIE) – Works to operationalize inclusive excellence within NORDP.

Member Services Committee (MSC) – Recruits and retains members, assesses member needs, and provides member benefits and services.

Mentoring Committee – Offers meaningful mentoring expertise, support, and resources.

Nominating Committee – Facilitates board nominations and the election process.

Professional Development Committee (PD) – Coordinates the development and delivery of training and resources for members.

Strategic Alliances Committee (SAC) – Builds mutually beneficial relationships with related organizations.

Additional information on NORDP committees can be found at the NORDP website, and upcoming committee meetings can be found at the NORDP online calendar.

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.

 

Get involved in NORDP!

Committee Roundtable Scheduled June 25

NORDP has scheduled a Committee Roundtable on Thurs., Jun. 25, at 3:00 p.m., Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) (2:00 CDT, 1:00 MDT, and noon PDT), to explain the many committee activities underway and how members can get involved. Register for the roundtable here (NORDP members only).

“NORDP depends heavily on volunteers, and it takes a lot of dedicated research development professionals to support our growing profession.  We hope NORDP members, especially our new members, will join us at this roundtable to find opportunities to contribute to that effort,” says Karen Fletcher, NORDP president.

In the process of committee work, Fletcher notes, members create rich relationships with RD professionals across the country. She describes this new two-step committee engagement process as: (1) attend the committee roundtable to explore opportunities, and (2) attend your chosen committee’s July meeting. “Regardless of where you are in your RD career, your expertise is needed,” Fletcher adds. “Veteran or beginner, title or no title, the diversity of our membership is what has enabled NORDP to grow so rapidly.”

Brief descriptions of the committees are included below, along with the date of each committee meeting. Each committee has created a poster to summarize their activities, available here.

NORDP’s committees are listed below, along with meeting times during July. Members can sign up to join in on these July meetings by registering here.

Committee on Inclusive Excellence (CIE) – Works to operationalize inclusive excellence within NORDP.  While there is no meeting set for July, you can contact Gretchen Kiser at gretchen.kiser@ucsf.edu or Etta Ward at emward@iupui.edu for more information.

Member Services Committee (MSC) – Recruits and retains members, assesses member needs, and provides member benefits and services.  Committee meeting on Jul. 6, 1:00 p.m. EDT (noon CDT, 11:00 MDT, and 10:00 PDT).

Mentoring Committee – Offers meaningful mentoring expertise, support and resources – Committee meeting on Jul. 23, 2:00 p.m. EDT (1:00 CDT, noon MDT, and 11:00 PDT).

Nominating Committee – Facilitates board nominations and the election process.  While there is no meeting set for July, you can contact Kim Patten at kjpatten@arizona.edu for more information.

Professional Development Committee (PD) – Coordinates the development and delivery of training and resources for members. Committee meeting on ­­­July 16, 3:00 p.m. EDT (2:00 CDT, 1:00 MDT, and noon PDT).

Strategic Alliances Committee (SAC) – Builds mutually beneficial relationships with related organizations.  While there is no meeting set for July, you can contact Karen Eck at keck@odu.edu  for more information.

Additional information on NORDP committees can be found at the NORDP website.

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.

 

 

2020 NORDP Salary Survey Results

Salary Calculator Allows Comparisons, Informs RD Staffing

A snapshot of salaries across the research development profession is now available, with the release of the 2020 NORDP salary survey available to NORDP members here here. This survey updates the information gathered in the most recent survey completed in 2015.

“Research development and human resource offices across the country have used this salary information to inform hiring decisions and RD staffing at universities,” says Kimberly Eck, president-elect of NORDP and assistant vice chancellor of research development at the University of Tennessee.

For example, Karen Eck, assistant vice president for research at Old Dominion University and past president of NORDP, says she used the 2015 survey data to advocate for more senior positions in her office.

“With 3,000 employees at our university, our HR office welcomed this critical data,” she says.  “The 2015 NORDP salary survey helped us craft our strategic case and get two senior grant development specialist positions approved. Data always wins, especially in the academic environment.”

NORDP members can access the results, which includes a salary report and salary calculator, which enables users to enter parameters such as degree, job title, type of organization, and region to obtain mean salaries, based on the 2020 survey.

A webinar is scheduled for May 29, 1:00 – 2:00 p.m EST, to highlight key findings and demonstrate the calculator. NORDP members can register for the webinar here.

The confidential online survey was administered to approximately 1,000 NORDP members and received a robust 34% response rate. As in past years, the 2020 survey collected member institution zip codes, enabling paired analyses using both actual reported salaries and normalized salaries using the 2019 county cost-of-living index table from the Council for Community and Economic Research. This allows users of the salary calculator to compare similar positions in different geographic areas.

The report addresses multiple institutional and individual variables including: institution type (public or private), institution geographic location and size (based on research expenditures); job category (professional title); RD office size (as measured by FTEs); and respondent demographics (gender, race, ethnicity, and education). Added this year, the survey also collected information about job functions.

NORDP members serving as salary survey investigators included:

  • Kimberly Eck, assistant vice chancellor, University of Tennessee, Knoxville
  • Karen Eck, assistant vice president for research, Old Dominion University
  • Mary Fechner, proposal development specialist, University of Massachusetts
  • Rebecca Latimer, director of proposal development, University of Virginia
  • Kayla Tindle, assistant vice president, Texas Tech University

Additionally, salary survey subcommittee members included:

  • Gretchen Kiser, executive director, University of California San Francisco
  • Heather McIntosh, manager, School of Community Medicine, University of Oklahoma-Tulsa Schusterman Campus

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.

NORDP 2020: Call for Abstracts and Workshop Applications

12th Annual Research Development Conference

San Antonio, Texas                     May 17 to 20, 2020

Abstracts for presentations, lightning talks, roundtables, and the ideas showcase are now being accepted for the 12th Annual Research Development Conference, hosted by the National Organization of Research Development Professionals (NORDP) in San Antonio, Texas, from May 17 to 20, 2020. In addition, workshop applications are encouraged.

Abstracts must be submitted via https://www.eiseverywhere.com/eselectv3/v3/events/469605/site/view no later than 11:59 P.M. Pacific Time on Monday, October 21, 2019. 

Four-Hour Workshop application details are described at the end of this blog.

Several different conference session formats are available in 2020, as described below. Regardless of the session format, proposers should consider how their presentations and workshops will:

  • Demonstrate ways in which research development professionals support, encourage, and empower researchers to try new things—to create and mobilize knowledge, to respond to new funding mechanisms and pursue multi-disciplinary grants, or to participate in campus think-tanks or networking events.
  • Explore new approaches used in research development programs.
  • Explore creative resources for personal and career development.
  • Emphasize the innovative roles and value of research development within the broader research enterprise.
  • Contribute to strategic research planning at the institutional level.

Format Options:

Oral Presentations—ONE-HOUR and TWO-HOUR sessions—are intended for individual or group presentations (no more than four presenters for one-hour sessions). Audience size at these sessions is anticipated to be between 25 and 75 individuals. One-hour sessions will be scheduled on Tuesday and Wednesday, May 19-20; two-hour sessions will be scheduled on Monday, May 18. Please avoid presenting case studies from a single institution or program. Case studies are more appropriate for a poster in the Ideas Showcase. Oral presentations are most effective when they address a significant over-arching issue, problem, or hot topic in research development and/or showcase data, solutions, and programs from an array of institutions or perspectives. Two-hour sessions allow presenters to discuss a topic more in-depth and interactively; proposals should describe why two hours are needed for the presentation.

Lightning Talks—FIVE-MINUTE presentations—are a fun and fast-paced opportunity for individuals to share new and creative ideas for fostering research development. Based on Ignite (http://www.ignitetalks.io/), presentations are limited to five minutes and <20 slides. Presenters will be grouped into 60-minute sessions to be scheduled on Tuesday, May 19, or Wednesday, May 20. We will organize Lightning Talks thematically for 2020. Please consider proposing around one of the following themes: Faculty Development; Interdisciplinary Research; Funding & Funders; RD Professional Development. If these do not apply, please indicate “Other.” As a courtesy to fellow presenters during these rapid-format sessions, slides must be submitted in advance.

Roundtables—ONE-HOUR sessions—allow conference attendees to participate in a discussion focused on a specific RD issue. Roundtables encourage networking and sharing of individual experiences. Applicants should provide a description of the topic and its relevance to NORDP members and be willing to lead the discussion.

Ideas Showcase—Poster—is designed for individuals or small teams to present their approaches to problems and solutions in research development, to showcase best practices and case studies, and to introduce innovative or experimental ideas. Presenters chosen to participate in the Ideas Showcase will provide posters at their own cost. Posters will be presented for discussion during the Ideas Showcase and reception, tentatively planned for the evening of Tuesday, May 19.

For each submission, please identify the audience for whom the content is targeted:

Fundamental: The session is aimed at providing knowledge and content fundamental to RD. Content may be appropriate for individuals interested in RD or new to RD, individuals already in RD but whose job responsibilities do not currently include the indicated topic, or those who want a refresher. Note that “essential” does not mean “easy;” rather, the information is fundamental to nearly all in RD.

Intermediate: Content in these sessions is fundamental to RD but most relevant to individuals who have been involved in RD (or the given topic) for more than one year. This information can also be useful to individuals thinking about the next steps in their career or about skills and responsibilities they want to gain.

Advanced: Content in these sessions is relevant to and aimed at individuals who already have significant skills in the given topic, who have or are working toward leadership roles in RD (including those who are “offices of one”), and/or who have an institutional leadership role or advise institutional leaders. This information can also be useful to experienced individuals thinking about their next career steps or about skills or responsibilities they want to gain.

The Program Committee intends to balance the program with topics across these ranges so that the needs of all NORDP members are addressed by the 2020 conference program.

Abstract Submission—Submit using this link: https://www.eiseverywhere.com/eselectv3/v3/events/469605/site/view

Deadline for submissions is: Monday, October 21, 2019, 11:59 PM Pacific Time.

A complete application includes the following fields:

Presenter(s): Name(s) and institutional affiliation(s) (Corresponding presenter should be listed first, followed by additional presenters.)

Session Type (check one):

  • Two-hour Oral Presentation
  • One-hour Oral Presentation
  • Lightning Talk or Lightning Hour
  • Ideas Showcase
  • Roundtable

Intended Audience (check one):

  • Fundamental
  • Intermediate
  • Advanced

Title

Full Abstract (2,000 characters maximum including spaces)

Your abstract should briefly describe the information, solutions and/or best practices that will be presented in the session, addressing the following:

  • What are the goals of your session?
  • What will participants learn by attending your session?
  • Will you be introducing new concepts, skills development, or theories, and/or advancing research development? Please describe.
  • How will your session differ from or build upon past conference presentations/sessions?

Program Summary (100 words)

This summary will be published in the conference program; it also will be used to market selected sessions. Your abstract should be proofread for both content and grammar and be written in a concise, vigorous, compelling tone that tells a potential audience member what s/he will learn or gain by attending your session. This is your opportunity to promote your session!

Once submitted, you will be able to edit your application up to the deadline date: Monday, October 21, 2019, 11:59 PM Pacific Time.

Review and Notification

Abstracts will be reviewed by NORDP’s 2020 Program Committee. Reviews are confidential. Reviewers will be asked to evaluate abstracts based on the following criteria:

  • Quality of the abstract
  • Likelihood that the proposed session will engage participants and promote discussion
  • Clarity in describing the session’s objectives, outcomes, and intended audience
  • Relevance of the topic in providing key content to research development or advancing professional development for RD professionals
  • Suitability of the topic to the presentation format proposed

Workshops—FOUR-HOUR sessions—allow participants to interactively explore a topic in-depth, led by teams of two to four facilitators (two is the minimum). Facilitators should use the long format to allow for more holistic discussion, to facilitate interactive activities, and/or to involve participants fully in the session. Audience size at these sessions is anticipated to be between 30 and 40 participants; however, facilitators can suggest a number appropriate for their topic. Applicants should provide a clear rationale for the need to have four hours to accomplish the goals of the session; how they will provide intensive, interactive learning activities and/or professional development opportunities; and how they will deliver identified learning objectives and take-home materials. Preparatory and developmental coaching around adult learning will be available for all teams developing workshops, and a stipend will be provided for facilitators to compensate for the time spent developing a four-hour session. All workshops will take place on Monday, May 18. Workshop applications require description of:

  1. Proposed learning objectives, workshop competencies, and/or tangible outcomes
  2. Format, lesson plan, and curriculum overview
  3. Learning environment and connection to inclusive excellence (i.e., description of how the facilitators will develop a positive learning environment and support NORDP’s inclusive excellence goals)
  4. Targeted audience(s), i.e., RD roles and positions, levels of knowledge/experience, academic disciplines, institution type
  5. Facilitator expertise and qualifications (related to workshop content and delivering interactive sessions)

The 2020 Conference Workshop Application is available here.

Upload your completed application here.

Important Information for Presenters

The Program Committee will select presentations and workshop topics based upon the reviews and ratings of all materials submitted, available time slots for presentations, and diversity of presentation topics and levels, including diversity of types and geographic location of represented institutions.

Abstracts and workshop applications from presenters that appear to be identical to presentations made at previous conferences may not be accepted for presentation in 2020, absent substantial revisions or new information.

Individuals who have presented NORDP webinars are encouraged to propose the same or a similar topic for a conference presentation so they may reach a different audience. Multiple submissions are allowed, but the Program Committee will strive to maximize both the quality of the presentations and the diversity of speakers (including the types of institutions they represent) when evaluating proposals. Please start a new application for each proposed abstract.

If your abstract or workshop application includes co-presenters, the corresponding presenter’s name should be listed first in the application. There is no limit to the number of times an individual may be a co-presenter. The corresponding presenter is responsible for informing and acquiring agreement to participate from all co-presenters listed on the abstract submission.

Please do NOT submit an abstract or workshop application as a corresponding presenter if you do not plan to attend the NORDP annual meeting.

If you cannot present as scheduled, please notify the Conference co-chairs (rdconf@nordp.org) as soon as possible in advance of the conference. Substitution of the lead presenter in sessions requires prior approval from the Conference Program Committee.

Except for submissions accepted for the Ideas Showcase, for which at least the corresponding presenter is expected to attend the NORDP annual meeting and present the poster, all presenters o must register for the conference, submit the online presenter’s agreement, and participate in the accepted session.

If you invite colleagues who are not NORDP members to co-present, please be aware that—as with other professional organizations—they will be expected to pay for their meeting registration and other expenses. Please make this expectation clear to your colleagues.

All final instructions and information will be sent in a speaker’s packet. The NORDP Professional Development (PD) Committee will be offering a presentation skills webinar in winter 2020 to provide additional training on making effective presentations; presenters are encouraged to attend the webinar.

Once you have submitted your conference abstract or workshop application, you will be able to edit the application until the submission deadline.

Applicants interested in receiving feedback on a draft of their conference workshop proposal should email their draft to rdconf@nordp.org by September 27, 2019.

If you have any questions regarding the abstract selection process, please contact the 2020 NORDP Conference Co-Chairs Jill Jividen and Jenna McGuire at rdconf@nordp.org.

We look forward to receiving your abstracts and workshop applications!

A Message from NORDP’s President

Greetings, NORDP!

I would like to welcome you to a new year as your President. Thank you for the opportunity to serve you this year.

This year, your Board is working on putting together a Strategic Plan to move NORDP forward over the next decade and beyond. Many of you (over 1/3 of you!) participated in the Member Services survey earlier this year, which was our first step to finding out how you, as members, are using NORDP. Thank you for your participation! This information is helping guide us in our activities in the coming year.

In the next few months you may receive a phone call or an email from First Point, the organization working with us on your Strategic Plan. Please be candid with them. They are gathering information for a SWOT analysis and getting reports ready to inform your Board during the retreat in September. 

In fact, you can help us with the process right now! Every week or so leading up to the Strategic Planning in September, we will be posting a short poll, posing a question to you to help us gather information for our Strategic Plan. To participate in the first question, please visit here to let us know what you think NORDP should focus on.

Throughout the year, please make use of the listserv to ask your colleagues about RD, and don’t forget to subscribe to the NORDP Blog for relevant NORDP and RD news.

Also, I want to know what matters to you. I am starting a two-way communication avenue called “Ask the President.” Please, if you have any questions or comments about NORDP and/or the Research Development field, just “Ask the President” by emailing president@nordp.org.

I look forward to working with all of you next year!

Cheers,

Karen “Fletch” Fletcher

—

Karen Fletcher
Director, Grants Resources & Services
Office of Research | Appalachian State University
John E. Thomas Hall | ASU Box 32174 | Boone, NC  28608

President 2019-2020
National Organization of Research Development Professionals (NORDP)
www.nordp.org

NORDP Members Featured in Nature

Check out this Career Feature in Nature: The hunt for the lesser-known funding source. In addition to gaining valuable information about finding funding outside of the “standard” sources, you will most likely see some names you recognize, including NORDP’s current president, Karen Eck.

Congrats to all who participated in this article!

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.

 

Expert Finders Systems National Forum: February 2019 in Orlando, Florida

 

Jeff_Agnoli
Jeff Agnoli | The Ohio State University

The 2019 Expert Finders Systems Forum Report is now available.

Access presentations at http://expertfindersystems.org/Speakers.html

“Expert finder systems (EFS) have been serving universities, businesses, and the research community for more than two decades. However, there are still no formal venues for EFS stakeholders to network, learn from each other, and help steer the future of this dynamic field.” – EFS National Forum 2019

A group of ~5 NORDP members attended the EFS National Forum. Together with the more than 80 forum attendees, we explored:

  • the current administrative and research uses of these systems,
  • the need for new features and functions to support emerging uses,
  • best practices for building and managing expert finder systems and
  • strategies for enhancing stakeholder engagement.

We also discussed the economic development impacts of EFS on a regional, state and national level. The forum also explored the possibility of establishing a professional organization to provide leadership and develop ongoing events.

Attendees included many of the established and emerging vendors/partners in this space, librarians, researchers, informatics and social science faculty, research development, foundation and corporate relations professionals.

Robert McDonald, Dean of Libraries at UC Boulder, delivered a compelling keynote address. He provided a history of these tools citing their existence since the early 1990s, first in Europe and then spreading to other countries. He referenced an important study, see euroCRIS (Current Research Information Systems) Survey http://bit.ly/2TgQX1b, detailing “Practices and Patterns in Research Information Management: Findings from a Global Survey”, a 92-page report developed by OCLC, of Dublin, Ohio. He emphasized the role of the library as the system leader, “owner of the citation” and their responsibility to support and promote adoption of these tools. UC Boulder is training people in how to build their profiles and drive impact.

He introduced all of us to the made-up word “collabatition” which reminded me of “Team Science”, detailed the library as a trusted broker of data (or keep of the citation), the need to build a larger distributed network, and establish linked data as people move from institution. The EFS, at its core, is about the impact of our faculty member’s work.

Other presentations featured how these systems can educate early career researchers, identify potential collaborators, recruit individuals for peer review service, improve the status of the discipline, boost research through media/journalist relations, drive industry-sponsored research, and promote self/research activities. Presenters shared their success stories ranging from the number of visits/month to their site, to industry-sponsored research agreements, student research partnerships, and postdoc recruitment.

The EFS have three main audiences which include (1) Researchers, (2) Community Members/Industry, and (3) Managers/Research Administrators.

A highlight of the Forum for me was the presentation from Noshir Contractor, Northwestern University. His team has leveraged these systems and social science research to develop “Team Recommender Systems” which will influence the future of work at Northwestern University and beyond.

Noshir shared what has to be one of the best workshop titles: “Why Netflix thinks I am gay and Amazon thinks I am pregnant.” His message illustrates the limitations of analytics and the challenge of consuming data from multiple sources. As any of us in RD know, simply knowing our faculty members’ keywords is not enough to build a cohesive team; the process is much more nuanced. His description of “traditional teams as hierarchical versus self-assembled and more organic” speaks directly to the need for RD professionals to leverage creative collaborations and provide a high-touch vs a high-tech solution. Our sponsors desire authentic, transdisciplinary collaborations to solve the most challenging questions of our time.

Another high point was the concierge engagement model developed by New York State’s FuzeHub. They are leveraging the power of a Salesforce-like platform to capture leads, engage with industry through regular education/outreach, and drive industry-sponsored research. It is an exceptional and highly successful example of entrepreneurship and higher education. As a member of the core team leading to the implementation of the Ohio Innovation Exchange, launched in Novemeber of 2018, we are eager to adopt some of these practices to promote our site.

The EFS Steering Committee will continue to meet and discuss the meeting evaluation/feedback and chart a course for the future. For example, EFS could collaborate with NORDP and plan a joint conference, become an affinity group, or establish themselves as a new professional association. Stay tuned.

Submitted by Jeff Agnoli, The Ohio State University. My attendance at this forum was co-sponsored by NORDP’s Strategic Alliances Committee. Thank you.

NORDP Board Member Cameo – Rachel Dresbeck

Who: Rachel Dresbeck, Senior Director, OHSU Research Development
Where: Oregon Health & Science University
Number of years in Research Development: 20
Length of NORDP membership: 9 years

Dresbeck_Headshot.2018When and how did you enter the field? What kind of RD work do you do? I had just finished my PhD in literature and was teaching at a community college in Portland, Oregon. Four tenure-track positions were open in my department, and I couldn’t bring myself to apply to any of them. I love community colleges—they are the most innovative thing about American higher education—but I knew that this wasn’t my path. My dean told me that a research institute at Oregon Health & Science University was looking for a contractor to teach science writing to their trainees. I applied, was hired, and never looked back. I had virtually no science background but my training in philosophy and literature, as well as my teaching many undergraduate sections of composition, served me well—I could decode. I could follow a variable through a process and identify inconsistencies and contradictions. I also had grant writing experience, so that helped. I loved the work—I loved learning about all the molecules and models, the norms of scientific culture, all of it.

In the beginning, I worked freelance on science writing and editing and grant writing, eventually turning it into a small business. I never thought I would be an entrepreneur, but having my own business was incredibly rewarding. I enjoyed finding and working with clients across the world and helping them make their dreams come true, whether that was an awarded grant or a successfully defended dissertation or publication in a high-end journal. At that time, my children were small, so I also liked the flexibility. Eventually, though, my children were in school—and OHSU had become my largest client. Using our superior proposal-writing skills, my friend and I persuaded OHSU’s vice president of research that he should create an office for research development. We established that office in 2004, and I have been there ever since. The early focus was on finding funding and proposal development, but now we do many more things: run funding programs, provide strategic advice for investment and programming, serve as a resource for institutional positioning, and much more. I am so appreciative that I foster research at the highest levels of the institution. But I still teach that same science writing class! I love it—it keeps me connected to the daily work of the research.

What’s your history with NORDP? How have you engaged with the organization (committee work, conferences attended/presented)? I first found out about NORDP from a colleague who attended the first Science of Team Science meeting and thought NORDP would be up my alley. I attended the conference in Chicago in 2011 and was very excited to find my tribe. For the first time, I did not have to explain what I did for a living. I have attended every meeting since then, presenting at all of them in some capacity or another.  I helped with planning the 2013 conference in Austin. I was recruited by Jacob Levin and Holly Falk-Krzesinski as the conference chair for the 2014 meeting in Portland, joining the board as vice president that year. I served as president in 2015-16 and immediate past president the year after that. In 2017, I ran for a second board term, under the election system that the board had put into place when Dave Stone was president and I was vice president.

I have always been on what is now the Strategic Alliance Committee—it used to be called External Engagement—and involved in NORDP communications. We used to publish an actual printed newsletter that we would carry around to conferences and then eventually recycle. One of my favorite accomplishments was converting the newsletter to the NORDP News blog. Currently, I am co-chair of the Strategic Alliances Committee. I focus much of my time on sponsor relations for the conference (and a shout-out to them: we could not have our great conference without them!) as well as engaging in strategic partnerships with national and international organizations. Our partnership with the Network of Academic Corporate Relations Officers has been great for NORDP and also has opened up new areas for me professionally. I highly recommend getting involved in committee work. It’s inherently rewarding and there are personal and career benefits too.

What relationships have you built as a result of NORDP (new colleagues, connections to institutions where you previously had no point of contact)? Some of my most important professional and personal relationships are because of my NORDP work. It’s so much fun to work with smart, talented professionals across the country—and even internationally. Not only is it fun, but it’s also useful to be able to say to your vice president, “Well, my national colleagues do it this way….” It gives you credibility to be well connected and it serves the research and RD missions to show you have best practices and exemplars.

What initiative are you most excited about in your role as a board member?  Besides the work I mentioned above, the long-term sustainability of NORDP is most on my mind. Many of us, as RD professionals, are extremely enthusiastic about starting new things. We are always coming up with lots of new activities. We are ideators and planners—that’s why we’re great at proposal development. Right now, I am most excited about strategies for building sustainable systems that can be maintained over the long term with consistency, to kind of balance out the enthusiasm of the idea generation. We are still fairly new as an organization. How do we strategically build for the future, especially in light of pressures on research in the United States? I am also enthusiastic about our focus on inclusive excellence that Gretchen Kiser spearheaded when she was president and has continued to lead.

What is your proudest accomplishment as a NORDP board member?  Serving as president made me realize that the Board’s role is stewardship of the organization, and that’s something we all do together. Creating a board that is member-elected was a huge board accomplishment, and I remain excited about this because of the incredible talent it has brought to the organization. Our current board is passionate about serving NORDP members!

Compiled by Daniel Campbell, Member Services Committee.

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.