Category: Uncategorized

Presenters:

• Roxana Ross, Grant Writing Manager, Nova Southeastern University
• Karin Scarpinato, Associate Vice President for Research, Florida Atlantic University
• Maureen Pelham, Director of Research Development, Florida International University
• Camille Coley, Vice President, American Museum of Natural History

Thanks to our session note-taker!

Key points from the session. We learned:

• Use multiple tools and approaches to measure the success of collaborations
• Consider the relevance and cost effectiveness of the measurements you are using
• Select the measures that will provide information that will be useful to you
• Measure progress and effectiveness in the short term as well as the long term
• Don’t overlook unconventional measures 

   
  What did you hear at this presentation that surprised you?           

  One institution was able to stimulate successful collaborations and new lines of research activity through modest investments of $2000.

  What resources did you discover at this presentation?

  The team used a texting tool to interact with the audience before and during the presentation. The tool can be found online here: https://www.polleverywhere.com. They also had handouts that included collaboration assessment checklists and tools. Many of these are available online and referenced in their presentation.

  What was the most interesting question asked by an audience member, and what was the presenter(s)’ response?

  One audience member asked how institutions that were running seed grant programs were gathering information and data on measurements of success, and for how long after the award. Some programs didn’t follow up, while others required reports on publications, follow up funding, other collaborations, etc. every 6 months or 1 year.

What’s Your Story? Helping Faculty Communicate the Value and Impact of Research

Presenter: Jill Jividen, Assistant Director for Research Development, University of Michigan Medical School Office of Research

Thanks to our session note-taker, Karen Fletcher!

Key points from the session. We learned:

• Why Communicate?
  1. Research is largely taxpayer funded.
  2. It is a University’s public mission.
  3. It helps faculty increase their competitiveness.

• The 3M’s to construct your message: Message should be Miniature, Meaningful, and Memorable (adapted from AAAS).

• Communicating Science Seminar Series. (Leverage your existing expertise and use in-house speakers from the library, faculty, etc.) Could include information on:
  • PR – Consider the audience and science literacy: 80% of people are interested in scientific discoveries yet 50% of them read below an 8^th grade reading level.
  • Social Media – if you wouldn’t say it in an elevator, don’t say it online. Write for the web. Readers’ eyes trace an “F” format and the top left is typically what gets read.
  • Scholarly Communication – use the library expertise: include data management, public and open access, publishing, measuring impact.
  • Plain Language – Plain Language Act of 2010 – it’s a law! – if working with the government, you must write/communicate in plain language. Strategies could include simplifying language and using analogies (just avoid clichés). Consider a workshop where faculty submit an abstract and during the workshop you re-write it in plain language.
  • Data Visualization – introduce this concept: visualization landscape, design principles, interpretation, campus resources.

• Include Science Activism and related ethics in Communication course material.

• Include information on Visual Abstract as visual abstract increase article dissemination.

What did you hear at this presentation that surprised you? Alt metric scores are affecting NIH impact scores.

What resources did you discover at this presentation? This slide show is online with active links to some of the presentation material in the Communicating Science Seminar Series mentioned above.

Working with Creatives: Artists in the Interdisciplinary Research Development Process

Presenters: Jenifer Alonzo, Professional Development Practice Lab, Old Dominion University

Thanks to our session note-taker, Lynne Dahmen!

Key points from the session. We learned:

• “Creatives” includes all sorts of people including those in the theater, the visual arts, etc.
• Creatives can be integral parts of teams with outputs, especially in broader impacts.
• They can also, especially theater folks, help teams work collaboratively.
• Engage them early in the process, not as an after thought.

What did you hear at this presentation that surprised/impressed you?     

“A key role of a performer is to make their partner shine.” Can we get PIs to work to make the work of other team members ‘shine’?

What else from this session should NORDP members know?      

Remember that MFAs and others in the arts are professionals and well-trained experts.  Treat them as such! Would you ask one of your team members to provide significant input without credit of financial support? Would you ask a consultant to provide services without putting them in a budget?

Remember that working a budget through “FTE” does not always give creatives a fair or living wage that easily aligns with ‘effort’…so think creatively for ways to provide enough funds to support the effort.

This was a great session and I highly recommend working with Jen!

I’m sure I wasn’t alone in obsessively checking for news about the hurricanes that recently ravaged south Texas (Harvey) and significant portions of the U.S. Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, and Florida (Irma): many NORDP members have friends, family, and colleagues in the affected areas just as I do. I’m happy to report that all of my near and dear ones have reported in safe, although several of them are still without power and a few are looking at rebuilding or repairing major damage sustained in the storms.

The NORDP Board of Directors and I wanted to let our members and friends in the affected areas know that they are much in our thoughts these days – and if there’s anything concrete we can do to help as you and your institutions recover, please don’t hesitate to reach out.

Some of the federal agencies are providing additional funding to institutions affected by these storms, and I wanted to highlight those programs here. If you know of any others that aren’t listed, please add them in comments, or feel free to post to the NORDP listserv if you have access.

• NEH Chairman’s Emergency Grants. NEH plans to award up to $1 million in emergency grants ($30,000 per institution in the affected area) to preserve documents, books, photographs, art works, historical objects, sculptures, and structures damaged by the hurricane and subsequent flooding.
• NSF has promised to provide assistance, and to be as flexible as possible in responding to the needs of institutions affected by Harvey (and I expect they’ll be doing the same for Irma before too long). They’ve set up a special email address, harvey@nsf.gov, for administrators, faculty, and students on NSF awards at affected institutions to use when making inquiries. They’re also accepting proposals related to the hurricane and its aftermath.
• NIH has issued a guide notice related to Harvey (and, again, will probably do the same for Irma shortly) outlining the applicable policies and allowances for late submission of proposals, reports, etc., necessitated by the weather and any campus closures. In some circumstances, awardees may also be able to continue to pay salaries and wages on grants even if the work is unable to continue due to damage, depending on the terms and conditions of the grant(s) in question.

Everybody stay safe, and I’m sure we all hope that things will get back to something a little closer to normal in the affected areas soon.

Michael Spires
NORDP President

How does our garden grow? Thanks for asking! NORDP’s Member Services Committee is delighted to report that our goal to increase the net number of NORDP members by 100 this year has not only been achieved, but exceeded. NORDP’s active members now total 779, an increase of 138 since NORDP’s fiscal year began on October 1, 2016.  Thank you to Member Services Committee members and to all other NORDP members who have worked so tirelessly on this year’s member recruitment and retention campaign.   Kudos!!

Kathy Cataneo, Member Services Committee 

During the 2017 NORDP Conference all seven regions held meetings with over 220 members attending. Common themes included affinity groups, annual conference location, listservs, and shared challenges.

Highlights of each region’s discussion are listed below. For full reports, click here.

I – Northeast

NORDP Northeast plans to apply for affinity group status. NE is open to piloting programs to roll out at NORDP national, and is considering slight increases to its meeting registration fees that could provide for travel awards to the NORDP annual conference for regional members with financial need.

 II – Atlantic

The Atlantic region is looking into holding a monthly conference call or online meeting to share best practices & challenges. Rotating annual in-person meetings and creation of a regional membership directory were also discussed.

III – Southeast

The Southeast region is very interested in becoming an affinity group with the intent to plan meaningful activities for members of the region. Kimberly Eck offered to lead the application process and plans to put together a working subcommittee to draft a proposal and give all SE members a chance to contribute.

IV – Great Lakes

The Great Lakes region had a great discussion about holding a regional meeting. As a result they are planning their 1^st Regional Meeting which will be hosted by Jeff Agnoli at Ohio State University in October.

V – Mid-West & Mountain

The Midwest & Mountain region members discussed using their new listserv to assist in organizing their regional efforts as well as exchanging ideas about funding opportunities specific to the regional members.

VI – Southwest

The Southwest region members discussed the new formalized process for creation of affinity groups and explored some of the background on why the process has been put into place. Kay Tindle offered to lead the affinity group initiative and plans to organize a conference call to discuss the effort.

VII – Pacific

The Pacific region discussed the active use of their active listserv, which they plan to continue to use. Members voted in favor of moving forward with identifying Region VII as an official region through the affinity group mechanism.

Summary prepared by Dan Campbell, Member Services Committee. 

This last year has been one filled with challenges and uncertainty but also wonderful achievements and new opportunities. It’s been a privilege for me to serve as the NORDP president during this time.

We started last July working with our then newly hired executive director to lay out a work plan for the new role that included expanding our list of potential sponsors. In late August, the whole Board spent an intense (and fun!) couple of days of planning and team-building in Boise, ID (check out the photo of the Board during our Boise meeting).  We developed primary goals and stretch goals for all of our committees, restructured some aspects of our committees, and defined working groups for activities that didn’t fit within the scope of our existing committees. Below, I’ve listed some highlights of this past year’s NORDP organizational activity.

• Member Services Committee rolled out a membership drive and realized a net increase of more than 100 new members, bringing NORDP membership to its highest point yet at well over 700 members.
• Member Services Committee also developed and rolled out new membership orientation materials.
• Developed and implemented a policy to guide the structure of affinity groups of NORDP, such as those defined as regional groups.
• Finance/Revenue Committee identified and adopted several administrative cost-saving and infrastructure improvement measures, including upgrading our MemberClicks membership administration tool.
• Implemented a modest increase in membership dues.
• Researched and generated a broader list of potential sponsors.
• Maintained current level of professional development webinars while working to define future, broader webinar content. Professional Development Committee supported the participation of over 360 members in live webinar events this year.
• Investigated past efforts, reactivated, and successfully re-implemented the Program for External Evaluation of Research Development (PEERD) NORDP Consulting Program. At the 2017 conference, launched an effort to recruit expert reviewers for the program as well as advertise for potential clients.
• Developed and implemented of the first training forum focused on emerging research enterprise leaders: Wise decisions in times of change and uncertainty: Research Enterprise Leadership Forum, held at the 2017 conference in Broomfield, CO.
• Planned and executed the best-attended NORDP annual conference to-date, with nearly 500 people in attendance at the Broomfield, CO conference.
• Established the Mentoring Program Committee as a ‘stand-alone’ NORDP committee, recognizing its expanding programmatic depth and breadth, with development of mentoring resources, e.g.
• Established an expanded volunteer administrative services resource to assist with MemberClicks and other member-related administrative questions.
• Reinvigorated the former External Engagement Committee under the new name of Strategic Alliances Committee, building capacity in the Liaison Program and in peer-group alliances.
• Matured the New Opportunities in Research Development (NORD) Working Group to a NORDP committee.
• Formed a revived Communication Working Group manned by several NORDP members, focused at several communication levels – website, blog, social media, listserv, conference communication.
• Formed a new working group focused on increasing diversity and inclusion within NORDP.

I know that these accomplishments were the collective effort of many volunteers and thank you all for your contributions to these and other recent accomplishments.  So, while this year has brought challenges, it is not hard to also see evidence of continued positive growth in NORDP, and to be excited about the potential for the future.

Thank you for the honor of serving as president this past year.  Onward and upward…