As the 2022-2023 NORDP Mentoring Program year draws to a close, we want to thank everyone who participated. Whether you have participated in the more individualized 1:1 dyads or the pilot of 1:3 cohort mentoring, we hope your mentoring experience has been inspirational and supported your professional growth. In 2022, we had the largest cohort for the Mentoring Program ever: 172 participants (136 mentees; 76 mentors) matched in 106 pairs and 10 cohorts. We currently have six active peer mentoring groups, and 19 people completed the five-week mentor training program.
The NORDP conference in Crystal City, Virginia on May 8-10 afforded some of those who were able to attend with a first opportunity to connect with their NORDP mentoring partners in person! Mentoring Committee members enjoyed having a chance to talk about program options and opportunities to get involved with the committee at three conference events: the committee networking session, the poster session, and a committee breakfast table. We had a lot of positive feedback from people who have been involved in the mentoring program, and interest from people wanting to get involved for the first time. We hope everyone interested in the mentoring program this year applied in advance of the application deadline on May 22. If you missed this year’s deadline, remember that peer mentoring groups are open to new members year-round.
Congratulations to Hilda McMakin and Carolynn Julien, the recipients of this year’s Mentoring Awards! Mentoring Committee members (Angela Jordan, Kartik Yadav, and Brooke Gowl) hard at work during the committee networking session, 2023 NORDP Conference.
Now that the application window for our matched dyads and cohorts programs has closed, the committee is managing the matching process. We expect to share information about new matches for the 2023-24 program by mid-June.
Program participants for 2023-24 should mark their calendars for our Mentoring Program Matching Orientation, which will be held on Wednesday, June 21 from 1-2:30pm ET. The orientation introduces the mentoring programs and the support provided by the committee in the form of curated resources, facilitation, and onboarding materials. We will also be joined by Supermentor Carolynn Julien, a co-recipient of this year’s Mentoring Award along with Hilda McMackin, who will share her experience in the mentoring program.
The Mentoring Committee is also hosting the July TNT session on “Leveraging Wisdom Share Software for Mentoring” to show members how to navigate within Wisdom Share software to maximize your mentoring relationships. That session will be Tuesday, July 11 at noon ET.
On behalf of the Mentoring Committee, Angela Jordan, Elizabeth Lathrop, Hilda McMcakin, Kathy Partlow
The yearly NORDP Mentoring Program offers a structured mentoring experience for NORDP members. This month, we catch up with a current mentor-mentee pair as they share their reflections on their mentoring journey.
Brooke Gowl is currently serving as Research Development Associate at Duke University, Durham, NC. She has been in research development for over 13 years. Her PhD is in Neuroscience. She is a member of NORDP’s Mentoring Committee and formerly served on the Member Services Committee. She is also a mentor and mentee in NORDP’s mentoring program. She serves as a mentor for Kartik Yadav currently in NORDP’s mentoring program.
Kartik Yadav is the Director of Research Development and Administration at the University of California Irvine (UCI) Sue & Bill Gross School of Nursing. He has researched vulnerable populations in Los Angeles and India for over a decade. In his current RD role, he mentors junior faculty and Ph.D. students in developing and designing complex research grants for prestigious and competitive funding agencies and in the scientific development and operational, regulatory (IRB), and financial aspects of research grants to ensure their successful completion. Regarding the Research Administration role, he has led both Pre‐and Post-Award grants, ranging from simple to incredibly complex. In addition, he has collaborated with other partner institutions, both national and international (India, Botswana, Europe), to develop grants and provide training and support for developing programs. He is a mentee of Brooke in the NORDP’s mentoring program.
Q1: What influenced you to apply to be a mentor and a mentee for the 2022-2023 NORDP Mentoring Program?
Brooke: I have been a NORDP mentor every mentoring program year since 2019. My participation in the program has been a pleasure, and I knew that I wanted to participate again for the 2022-2023 year and plan to sign up for the 2023-2024 program year. I originally applied to be a part of the mentoring program to be a mentee and a mentor so that while I received knowledge from someone, I was also giving support to someone else.
Kartik: Although I have been conducting research and developing grants with PIs for over a decade, I recently stepped into a more formal role for the school. I felt the need to learn more, and the NORDP mentorship program was the best option!
Q2: What is your favorite part about your relationship?
Brooke: I have really enjoyed getting to know Kartik. I look forward to our monthly Zoom calls. I enjoy talking with him about what is happening in his life and giving advice as needed. My favorite part of our relationship is that while Kartik is learning from me, I am learning from him.
Kartik: I just love it! It provides me a safe space to ask any question, discuss and learn all about Research Development from Brooke’s vast experience. Besides our monthly Zoom meeting, Brooke was always available to answer my questions.
Q3:How has participation in the Mentoring Program helped broaden your horizons about Research Development in general and/or affected your daily work in particular?
Brooke: The mentoring program has helped me to improve my mentoring skills. My participation has given me the opportunity to learn about Kartik’s work responsibilities, his institution, where he lives, etc. and the opportunity to provide him some suggestions and advice based on my past experiences, discussing what worked and what didn’t.
Kartik: It has been an excellent success for my professional development, and with Brooke’s support, I created an internal/external proposal review process at my institution. In general, I got many insights from the world of Research Development!
Q4: What surprised you about being a mentor or a mentee?
Brooke: I have been surprised by how much mentoring is a two-way street. Kartik and I both benefit from the relationship by learning from each other.
Kartik: The extraordinary guidance from Brooke in availing all the available resources and networking across the NORDP platform.
Q5: Any words of wisdom or encouragement for those wanting to apply next year? Any other thoughts you would like to share?
Brooke: I encourage my NORDP colleagues to be mentees and mentors, but I especially encourage them to be mentors! There is always a demand for mentors, and if you do not think you are quite yet ready to be a mentor, NORDP has an excellent Mentor Training course! NORDP also provides excellent support to both mentors and mentees through a wealth of tools in Wisdom Share and through virtual get togethers called McHuddles. We also have facilitators that can help answer questions and provide support to mentee pairs. In addition to being a mentor and mentee, I also serve as a facilitator on the Mentoring Committee. I encourage all NORDP members to get involved in mentoring and other NORDP initiatives.
Kartik: If you are new to RD or want to move to RD or have been in RD, I would strongly recommend joining this program. It gives you a great perspective of the RD world at various, different levels and provides a strong network of experts volunteering their time towards your professional development.
The application for the 2023-2024 NORDP Mentoring Program is currently open until Monday, May 22. You can participate as a mentor, a mentee (or both), or participate in a Peer Mentoring Group (PMG - which you can join anytime via Wisdom Share). To participate, the first step is to apply for the Mentoring Program and complete your mentor and/or mentee profile. This short video provides a step-by-step overview of the application process. (Note: For current users in Wisdom Share, separate instructions were sent for how to participate in the 2023-2024 Mentoring Program.)
The NORDP Mentoring Committee’s Mentor Training Team held a mentor training workshop in January – March 2023. Nineteen 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). 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 NORDP members Toni Blair, Kristin Boman, Paula Carney, Rachel Goff-Albritton, and Melissa Li. The NORDP Mentoring Committee is committed to equipping Research Development professionals for success by offering meaningful mentoring expertise, support, and resources. The next Mentor Training Workshop is being planned and will be announced soon. If you would like to be contacted when the next workshop series is scheduled, please complete this form.
Congratulations to the following 2023 NORDP Mentor Training graduates!
Sheri
Anderson
North Dakota State University
Sarah
Atkinson
Michigan Tech
Anna
Babkhanyan
University of Hawaii
Danielle
Barefoot
University of Arizona
Tiffany
Brutus
James Madison University
Elizabeth
Carroll
Texas Tech University
Kathy
Dreyer
University of North Texas
Debbie
Frank
Washington University in St. Louis
Sharon
Franks
UC San Diego
Carolynn
Julien
Fairleigh Dickinson University
Monica
Kessel
Utah State
Liz
Lance
Syracuse University (Falk College)
Crystal
Love
Indiana University
Jennifer
Lyon Gardner
The University of Texas at Austin
Ali
Pearks
University of Colorado Denver
Matthew
Schwartz
UMass Chan Medical School
Vess
Vassileva-Clarke
University of Michigan
Quyen
Wickham
Arizona State University
Viktoriya
Zhuravleva
Columbia University
List of graduates from the 2023 Mentor Training and their home institutions.
As part of the April 27, 2022 NORDP Awards session, NORDP Fellow Jan Abramson presented the 2022 NORDP Leadership Award with heartfelt emotion to her peer, colleague and friend — Kathy Partlow. The NORDP Leadership Award “honors a member, a group of members or team, an RD unit, or an organization that demonstrates exceptional leadership and/or a deep commitment to volunteerism in ways that advance the profession or field of RD.”
Jan began her recognition of Kathy with a quote from Peter Strople, former director of Dell Computer Corporation — “Legacy is not leaving something for people, it’s leaving something in people. The legacy of leadership begins at the first moment of impact.” Jan’s moment of impact with Kathy began when they worked together on the Mentoring Committee. Whether we know it or not, our NORDP experiences have been touched in some way by Kathy’s quiet, behind-the-scenes leadership.
Jess Brassard from the Communications Working Group interviewed Kathy about her take on leadership.
Who: Kathy Parlow
Where: Remote-working from Oklahoma. Note: Kathy participated in this interview in her personal capacity.
Number of years in research development: 10
Length of NORDP membership: 10
What is leadership to you?
KP: Formally, I am a co-chair of the Mentoring Committee and the lead for the Evaluation & Innovation team. Broadly, I believe leadership is noticing that one is in a position to to bring others up. This can happen from any title or position. Leadership also means having a big-picture, strategic mindset to guide a group of people toward the group’s mission.
How did you learn or develop your style of leadership?
KP: My style of leadership is focused on others. I use the unit’s mission as a meter. My contributions started small and really grew as I became passionate about mentoring. Along the way, other leaders mentored me and helped me “settle in” to the style that best suits me. I was very much mentored into my servant leadership style.
How does your membership in NORDP develop your leadership style?
KP: I came to a point in my career where there was no pathway to leadership in my job and had a mentor that encouraged me to think more broadly about where I could gain leadership experience. I chose to develop my leadership capabilities outside my “day job” through volunteering and community service.
What relationships have you built as a result of NORDP, and how have these relationships influenced your work?
KP: I have connected to amazing colleagues and formed lasting friendships through mentee/mentor relationships and volunteer activities. Their guidance is infused through my work and career journey. I learned to be active and intentional about building relationships. Within the Mentoring Committee, I take it to heart. It’s the foundation of everything the Mentoring Committee does.
What do you wish you would have known when you began your leadership journey within NORDP?
KP: I wish I would have known earlier that leadership is a gentle pathway. It doesn’t need to be a switch that is flipped. I eased into the time commitment. The “rising co-chair model” of the Mentoring Committee and other NORDP committees helps with transitions. I appreciate the co-leadership and support this model enables.
What have you found most rewarding, and most challenging, about leading within NORDP? In your CAREER?
KP: As far as the most challenging — the Mentoring Committee leadership team saw the need to adapt to a growing NORDP. That meant large initiatives were needed to adapt and diversify the resources for mentoring (e.g. peer mentoring groups (PMGs) and implementing Wisdom Share mentoring software ). The reward from this hard work has been the feasibility of supporting record-breaking numbers of NORDP Mentoring Program participants. .
By far, the most rewarding part of NORDP is the people. I love to recognize and celebrate with NORDP volunteers in these accomplishments (and all the mini-milestones throughout).
What advice do you have for others within NORDP who are looking to develop as leaders?
KP: My advice is to choose a measured path. Most NORDP leadership roles allow you to ease into them. Make small contributions at first. Share your time and skills in areas that interest you. Find reward in the volunteer work.
Written by: Mentoring Committee Marketing & Communications, Sammy Rodriguez, and Charlene Emerson
The yearly NORDP Mentoring Program offers a structured mentoring experience for NORDP members. While the program officially runs for a year, a lot of participants continue their mentoring relationships long-term. This month, we catch up with one such long-term mentor-mentee pair as they share their reflections on their mentoring journey.
Sammy Rodriguez is currently serving as Interim Director for the Office of Research Advancement & Partnerships at Washington State University. He has been in research development and administration for over 10 years. His PhD is in educational psychology and his Masters in English literature. He is a member of NORDP’s Nominating Committee and also a mentor for NORDP’s mentoring program. He serves as a mentor for Charlene Emerson.
Charlene Emerson is a Scientific Editor and Writing Consultant for the NextGen Precision Health building at the University of Missouri – Columbia. It’s hard to know when her career in research development started exactly, but she has over 5 years of professional experience in science editing. She received her PhD in Molecular and Human Genetics from Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, TX, where she was a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow. She is a mentee in NORDP’s mentoring program.
Q1: What influenced you to apply to be a mentor and a mentee for the 2021 NORDP Mentoring Program?
Charlene: I was very new to my position and to the Research Development field in general. I felt I needed to get advice and perspective about an RD career from someone who I didn’t work with closely, someone who could be relatively unbiased and candid in conversation. The NORDP Mentoring program felt like the perfect opportunity.
Sammy: Having NORDP go over the mentoring program in advance, its structure, the approach to pairing mentors/mentees, expectations, and its flexibility, provided more clarity on what to expect before deciding to sign up.
Q2: What is your favorite part about your relationship?
Charlene: My favorite part of my mentoring relationship with Sammy is how we’ve been able to watch each other grow and share in celebrating that growth. Our conversations have covered a lot of our challenges and ambitions, so it’s been great to be able to keep returning to that consistent support. I’m always looking forward to our next meeting to update him on my latest big project or to hear how his plans have turned out.
Sammy: My favorite part is that I gained a colleague I probably wouldn’t have otherwise. Although Charlene is relatively new to the profession, she has so much knowledge and drive, and she’s a leader. Feels like we are mentoring each other. I’m happy that I am able to share some experiences and guidance and get feedback later on what was helpful, how an issue got resolved, or hear about a big win on her plans to advance her goals. It serves as validation and motivation to continue to share what we know with others.
Q3:How has participation in the Mentoring Program helped broaden your horizons about Research Development in general and/or affected your daily work in particular?
Charlene: RD is an incredibly varied field and I’ve learned a lot about the variety of positions and growth trajectories for an RD office. I now have more knowledge about different areas I could grow into and I don’t feel as uncertain about where this career path will take me. In my daily work, I feel much more confident that I’m approaching challenges and opportunities reasonably and that I have a supportive resource for any questions that come up.
Sammy: It’s easy to get caught up in the day-to-day work of our office, our institution, but we have to keep a balance even within the professional sphere of our lives. It can’t just be tasks, tasks, tasks. We have to take care of ourselves and our colleagues, taking time for professional development, mentoring, taking a step back for a minute, and consider all those aspects that revolve around our profession. Doing so will ultimately make our careers more enjoyable, fruitful, and lasting. RD is truly a community, and as we grow and gain more and more years of experience, there is a responsibility to share what we know and our ideas. RD and NORDP are at a maturing phase where there is a broader space for mentoring as a key element for growth, looking to the future of RD and as an organization.
Q4: What surprised you about being a mentor or a mentee?
Charlene: I was surprised how easy it was to grow the relationship comfortably. Before the mentoring got started, I was nervous that it would feel awkward or that we wouldn’t have anything to talk about. But once I decided to just open up and ask about topics that I’d been wondering about, insecurities about how to move forward with my career, or my perceptions of office politics, conversation came incredibly easy.
Sammy: How well it has gone. I think there’s always a level of apprehension when considering getting into a mentoring relationship. What if the pairing doesn’t work? What will we talk about? Is it going to be awkward? There’s a degree of opening up, whether you’re a mentor or a mentee, an element of vulnerability. Once you get past that initial pause and take the next step, then vulnerability turns into honesty and that builds trust. And I have to go back to a previous point I made, I’ve learned so much from Charlene. I knew that you also learn as a mentor, but I’ve learned in ways I had not anticipated.
Q5: What made you decide to maintain a longer-term mentoring relationship and how has it impacted you?
Charlene: It was an easy decision because I felt like we both still were getting quite a lot out of our conversations. Our monthly meeting doesn’t feel like an obligation or just another thing to get done, it’s a bright spot in the month.
Sammy: When the program was officially coming to an end, I think it was mutual that getting together and having these conversations, exchanging ideas, challenges, and successes had become natural. There wasn’t a reason it couldn’t or shouldn’t continue. I’ve read some advice that mentoring should have an end date, and I can see that, if the goals have been met, etc. But as I mentioned earlier, I’ve gained a colleague, a very knowledgeable, thoughtful colleague who has contributed to my professional development. We’re genuinely interested in contributing to each other’s success. Having someone to go to, vet an idea, ask a question, who knows you and at the same time is not biased due to proximity, is a great resource to have. I have gained a trusted colleague I can go to, and I’m also available to assist her in any way she feels I can be of help.
Q6: Any words of wisdom or encouragement for those wanting to apply next year? Any other thoughts you would like to share?
Charlene: Set expectations early on, then just relax and have a good conversation. And definitely don’t get caught up in thoughts that you’re taking up your mentor/mentee’s time, you’ve both chosen to be part of the mentoring relationship and there’s a lot to gain on both ends.
Sammy: Go for it. Getting outside our comfort zone is necessary for growth. Although each mentoring relationship is unique, there’s one common thread: whether as a mentor, mentee, or both, we all have an interest and are making a commitment to mentorship. It may feel like a gamble, but the odds are you’ll have a great experience!
Applications for the 2023-24 cycle will open in the spring; keep an eye out for emails from the NORDP listserv. Additional mentoring opportunities are available through the Peer Mentoring Groups that are open for participation throughout the year via the WisdomShare platform.
Investment in mentoring is an investment in you! So, as Sammy says, “Go for it!”
During January, the Mentoring Committee leveraged National Mentoring Month to share information about the many ways to get involved with mentoring. As Mentoring Month comes to a close, Susan Carter and Jan Abramson, NORDP Fellows and the inaugural recipients of NORDP’s Mentoring Award, share some thoughts.
Mentoring broadens perspectives,; establishes connections, and grows relationships. It’s a way to meet new people, learn new skills, and refine your own. Mentoring opens doors, and takes you places you might never have imagined. And, it is fun!
Susan reflects, “When I look back on my career in research development, one of the best professional steps I ever took was to engage with the Mentoring Committee and to become a mentor, both formally through the NORDP Mentor Program, and informally to others in RD. The time I spend mentoring really is fun, but most importantly, I have learned much more than I ever imagined I would. One definitely gets back more than one gives, which has been a huge benefit of being involved in mentoring. There is always someone I can call on when I need a new perspective, advice, or even just a friendly voice or face on Zoom for a bit of venting. Moreover, many of my mentees have become wonderful collaborators as well as great friends: we’ve built new ideas and new programs together.”
Jan shares, “the Mentoring Committee was my first step into NORDP, and mentoring continues to be a foundation of my life. Although I have retired, my connections stay strong, and I continue to #PayItForward. My world is richer thanks to the many relationships I have formed over the years. My intent is to nurture and celebrate connections — new and established. I’m thankful for my mentors, my mentees, and those who are peer mentors. I am who I am, because you touched my life.”
The Mentoring Program is a benefit available to all NORDP members, and we encourage you to get involved. Join a Peer Mentoring Group (open year round), register to participate in the 1- on- 1 or cohort-based mentoring program (applications open annually in the spring), join the Mentoring Committee, and be open to mentoring opportunities.
By the NORDP Mentoring Committee Leadership Team Jan Abramson, Angela Jordan, Elizabeth Lathrop, Hilda McMackin, Kathy Partlow
January 2023 marks a new chapter in a super busy post-Covid time for research development professionals. Whether you are re-adjusting to in-person or hybrid norms, you can enjoy some of our favorite holiday recipes shared at the Mentoring Committee’s virtual holiday party held in December.
We also invite you to join the Mentoring Committee Open House Thursday, January 19 at 2 pm Eastern by emailing mentorprogram@nordp.org to receive a zoom link — everyone is welcome!
Recipe for Success on Mentoring
Ingredients:
Desire to Connect Shared RD Experience Be Present to Lend Support Active Listening Protected Time WisdomShare Learning Library Resources
Methods:
Begin your “dish” by signing up for the NORDP Mentoring Program in May.
Select recipe options: the One-To-One Dyad or the Cohort Mentoring.
Preheat the oven via the program kick-off and orientation in June.
Regular check-ins with your Mentor/Mentee(s) is the secret sauce that makes learning palatable and delicious!
Marinate the mentoring flavors by attending the regularly-scheduled McHuddles and connecting with other Mentors and Mentees.
Generously sprinkle any and all spices from the Peer Mentoring Groups or PMGs brought to you by NORDP members and accessible anytime on the WisdomShare platform.
Last but not the least, you can fine-tune your culinary skills by attending the NORDP Mentor Training Workshops — the Jan/Feb sessions are currently full but keep an eye out for additional offerings in 2023.
PMG Organizers: Don Takehara, Jet LeBlanc, Joanna Downer, Paula Carney, & M. S. (Peg) AtKisson.
The 2022 NORDP Conference included multiple sessions that addressed the discipline of coaching and how it can be used in research development (RD), including faculty research career development, research leadership development, and research team engagement.
The Coaching & RD Peer Mentoring Group (PMG) is now being launched to provide a vehicle for supporting NORDP members interested in coaching.
Coaching fits a broader collection of skills in the RD skillset to further faculty research career development and reflects the dynamic nature of the RD profession. Coaching is a powerful process that encompasses a distinct set of competencies. The International Coaching Federation defines coaching as “partnering with clients in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires them to maximize their personal and professional potential.” Coaching often unlocks previously untapped sources of imagination, productivity, and leadership. Trained coaches can engage individual faculty to address research career and research leadership development, facilitate research team engagement, and promote development of research leaders.
Using the peer mentoring model, the Coaching & RD PMG’s goals are to:
Enable members to explore coaching as part of the RD skillset
Develop programs to offer coaching as an RD service at the institutional level
Assess coaching as a contributor to faculty and organizational research attainment
Provide a setting for accountability and continuous improvement for RDs interested in coaching in research development
The Coaching & RD PMG is for NORDP members who may be curious about becoming a coach to add to their RD skillset, interested in adding coaching to an institution’s faculty research career, research leadership development, or research team engagement programs, as well as other opportunities for RD professionals that may benefit from inclusion of coaching.
NORDP members interested in learning more about all eight active PMGs can do so at the 2023 Peer Mentoring Group (PMG) Orientation on Wednesday, October 26, 2022, noon-1:30 pm Eastern.
By Jeremy Steinbacher (Syracuse University) and Leah Gorman (Oregon State University)
We are seeing new opportunities for transdisciplinary teams to develop proposals that cross disciplinary boundaries to increase the societal impact of research. Our institutions are excited by these opportunities, thinking creatively about how they might nurture environments that foster transdisciplinary work, and looking to research development (RD) professionals to help spark and facilitate these collaborations. For many members of the NORDP Collaboration and Team Science Peer Mentoring Group (CTS PMG), the skill set needed to do this work has not traditionally been a central part of our professional training. In addition, our institutions may not be familiar with how other institutions are approaching this work. Combined, the lack of both training and institutional knowledge leaves many RD professionals with the feeling that we are constantly reinventing the wheel when facilitating team science. The CTS PMG seeks to address this challenge by offering an opportunity for RD professionals to share best practices and develop strategies toward creating working knowledge of team science at our institutions.
Below, we address some common questions about the CTS PMG and the work we have engaged in over the last year.
How is a peer mentoring group different from other types of professional development environments you might use to build skills for fostering collaboration and team science?
All of us have access to a variety of professional development opportunities through our employers, professional societies, and educational institutions. Many of these are highly-structured workshops and classes with a designated leader/instructor and, for the most part, strangers as co-participants. On the other hand, the PMG environment offers several characteristics that provide a distinct learning experience.
First, the PMGs do not have a single, defined topic at the outset; rather, the material is flexible to the needs, experience, and interests of group members. Though the CTS PMG set a schedule of topics for monthly meetings early in the year, we remained flexible to accommodate new topics as the group evolved.
Additionally, unlike a workshop, class, or a traditional dyadic mentoring relationship, a PMG benefits from a range of perspectives, rather than training on a single approach. Every facilitator brings a different style and the open nature of discussions encourages input from all participants regardless of experience level. Importantly, the setting of ground rules by the group itself early in the meeting cycle helps create a psychologically safe environment where it is ok to be vulnerable. This helps members recognize and express the limits of their knowledge, knowing that the other participants are there to support each other’s growth.
PMGs also offer the chance to build relationships with other NORDP members beyond the annual conference experiences and the more structured learning opportunities.
What did we learn about collaboration and team science this year?
The CTS PMG discussed a wide variety of topics over the last year!
Sharon Pound (University of Tennessee) led a discussion about the relationship aspects of teams, including how to deal with common barriers in communication and expectations, and also the benefits of long-term team building.
Laura Heinse (University of Idaho) presented strategies for after-action review, such as post-submission debriefs with a team to determine course corrections and evaluate lessons learned.
Chris Erlien (Duke University School of Medicine) and Eva Allen (Indiana University) gave an overview of the many issues unique to developing center proposals with large teams, both practical impacts like project management and strategic issues surrounding group ideation and leadership.
Melanie Bauer (Nova Southeastern University) shared a range of strategies that she has employed to facilitate faculty networking within her institution and with other institutions in her state.
Leah Gorman and Sarah Polasky (University of Missouri-Columbia) led a discussion about collaboration across disciplines and the strategies we employ when team members working in very different disciplinary cultures.
Finally, guest speakers Kristine Glauber and Christine Hendron of Intereach introduced us to their community of “boundary spanners” working across disciplines. Chris Erlien provided a nice description of their talk in a recent blog post.
How can NORDP members get involved in a PMG?
The NORDP PMGs are open to all members. We encourage experienced practitioners to participate in these groups as a way to build community and share best practices (#payitforward). To see the available PMGs, visit your dashboard on the WisdomShare platform and scroll down until you see the list of Peer Mentoring Groups, where you can click to join. Our PMG group will kick off again in September, and everyone who has joined will get the notification message. If you have already joined a PMG or a few, we hope that you continue participating in the same or new PMGs this upcoming year. If you have not yet tried a PMG, we strongly encourage you to attend this year! To all, bring your curiosity, a willingness to share your experiences, and lots of questions.
The NORDP Mentoring Committee is planning a PMG Orientation in October. Keep an eye out for the event announcement and we welcome everyone to participate!
Phew! It is June already. Where has the time gone?
In the NORDP Career and Professional Development Peer Mentoring Group (CPD PMG), we began the year by coming together, introducing ourselves, and determining what we’d like to do by collecting jam board entries and prioritizing them using a survey. After discussing the survey, we decided to begin by sharing about ourselves — how we got into Research Development (RD), how our careers have progressed, and the structure of our offices. We moved on to reviewing fireside chats for lessons that we could apply to our careers and professional development, learning from presenters: Kelly Rose, Daniel Arriaga, David Widmer, Peg Atkisson, Rebekah Hersch, Samar Sengupta, Mark Milutinovich, Karen Fletcher, and Susan Carter.
What did we learn from our NORDP colleagues sharing their journeys?
Networking and connecting with others: Networking is important!
Get to know people, even if you are an introvert, e.g., set a goal to meet and learn about a targeted number of people at a conference.
Reach out to colleagues at your organization and get involved with NORDP. Getting involved with NORDP can simultaneously help you get to know others and what they are doing to further the goals of their organizations, while providing thoughts for how what you learn can be applied at your own organization.
Getting to know your faculty and building trust with them will benefit your work.
Professional Development:Believe in yourself — “own your own value”!
Make professional development a priority. Identify a niche area that can pay off for your own growth. You may find that what you learn and how you grow not only allows for your own advancement, but for that of the RD profession as well.
Upskilling to learn additional skills is important.
Doing a skills assessment can help identify your strengths and areas where you could grow. See NORDP Mentoring’s self-assessment tool.
Mentoring, both providing and receiving, is an important piece of career and professional development. Get mentoring from a number of people (see NORDP Mentoring’s MESHH Network tool for assistance in identifying a mentoring network).
Look at new opportunities as learning experiences.
Career Development:Remain open to change!
Sometimes serendipity helps us land in a new position; other times a career move is purposeful and may arise out of doing a skills assessment. Putting in the [sometimes hard] work, persevering, and engaging with others at your organization and within NORDP can lay the foundation for future opportunities.
Be willing to get out of your comfort zone and ask for informational interviews.
If a position meets your interests/desires, be willing to try for it.
Our professional development discussion led to sharing thoughts on potential connections to other relevant professional organizations. Examples included the International Network for the Science of Team Science (many NORDP members subscribe to the INSciTS listserv) and Intereach— a community of practice whose stated purpose is “to articulate and promote the need for a dedicated career path around interdisciplinary research expertise, and to improve practitioners’ tools, best practices, success metrics, and career trajectories.”
If Intereach sounds interesting, note that Christine Hendren, Intereach co-Chair, presented to the Collaboration and Team Science PMG on May 17, 2022. Dr. Hendren founded Intereach in 2015 “to connect research professionals with expertise in synthesizing and communicating integrated science across disciplinary and organizational boundaries to effectively address wicked problems.” The CPD PMG hopes to learn how RD professionals can contribute to solving issues as one of the many diverse perspectives needed to tackle challenges, potential professional development opportunities within Intereach, and related careers that utilize RD skills. A transcript of this conversation can be found here.
Where will the 2022 NORDP Conference and the rest of the year take us?
The time we’ve spent together talking about goals and strategies on professional development prepared us well for the annual NORDP Conference, which provides a meaningful occasion to gather new ideas to implement on the job, to connect and reconnect with colleagues, to further develop professional networks, and to find new ways to become actively involved with NORDP.
For the remainder of the year, we plan to focus on discussions that will help position us for the next career move with topics such as articulating RD professional impact, obtaining management experience without formal direct reports, or engaging in RD research and publications. We will push ourselves out of our comfort zones and help increase marketability for the next career opportunity!
Compiled by Christine Erlien (Duke University School of Medicine Office of Research), Deborah Lundin (East Carolina University Office of Research Administration), and Danielle Matsushima (Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons).
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