Category: Uncategorized

Mentoring comes in all shapes and sizes

Have you ever been influenced by someone and chances are that person never even knew their impact on you?

During the 2013 Annual NORDP meeting in Austin, TX I was invited to join a dinner group hosted by Ioannis Konstantinidis.  It turned out that the dinner group was full, but he told me to come anyway.  We walked a short distance to a restaurant and when we sat down at our table Ioannis told us about the rich history of the restaurant, Threadgills.  I love history, music, and stories so I was captivated: a country music lover, Kenneth Threadgill, opened a filling station in Austin, TX in the 1930s and was granted a beer license, making him the first person in the county with alcohol.  His filling station/tavern became a popular place for musicians who played in the area to grab a drink after their shows.  Threadgill loved people and found that music “smoothed out…conflicts that usually occurred when longhairs crossed paths with rednecks.” In the 1960s his establishment welcomed “folkies, hippies, and beatniks” to sing on Wednesday nights.  Janis Joplin is said to have developed her “brassy” style at Threadgills. (For more information on Threadgills, visit http://www.threadgills.com/history/).

Ioannis continued to host the dinner group as if we were all old friends and we shared stories and conflicts from our own universities. He gave the entire dinner group his business card and later via the NORDP website, asked me to join his professional NORDP network. Ioannis reached out to this professional network occasionally afterwards, which strengthened my commitment to participate in NORDP and give back. Research Development professionals may not be musicians, but it seems Threadgills is still a place where people can cross paths and share stories.

Because of Ioannis’ dinner invitation, I then attended one of the NORDP committee meetings during the meeting the next day, I later volunteered on a committee, I volunteer during our Annual meetings, I became a mentor, and now volunteer on various committees as well as serve on NORDP’s Board of Directors…with Ioannis. I emailed Ioannis recently to let him know how his kind gesture of allowing me to join his dinner group impacted how I view my NORDP membership and my growth in Research Development, he said he had no idea.

We all can have an impact on one another. Mentors can be formal or informal and may have influence on people they may never consider mentees.  I encourage you to reach out to your NORDP colleagues, whether through a dinner invitation at the next Annual Meeting or by becoming a mentor through the NORDP mentor program. For more information, visit http://www.nordp.com/mentoring-committee.

Karen Fletcher
NORDP Board Member
Mentor Committee Co-chair

Membership Drive Launches in 2017

Greeting from the Member Services Committee!

It is the time of year to reflect, connect and make a difference. As I look back over the many things for which I am thankful, being a member of such a great organization filled with generous peers and colleagues who willingly share their time and expertise definitely makes the list.a86a6025

As I speak to people from around the country, I am still surprised at how few have heard of NORDP. On the flip side, it is so rewarding to hear from new members who feel like they have finally found ‘their people’ and professional organization home. NORDP enjoys high attendance (~60%) of members at our annual conferences. We expect this trend continues for the next conference in Denver, Colorado on May 8-10, 2017.

This year, at the leadership retreat of the Board, we agreed the time has come to take active measures to increase NORDP’s profile nationally. One strategy to accomplish this is a membership drive. To that end, we have set a goal of attracting 100 new members by the end of our fiscal year on September 30, 2017.

As with many initiatives, grassroots efforts are powerful. You will start seeing regular posts with small ‘calls to action’ of little things each of us can do to raise awareness and refer new members. Since the new year lends itself so well to re-connecting, we hope that you will mention NORDP to peers and colleagues.

In the meantime, we are ramping up activity on our social media outlets and encourage you to join, and invite others to join, the LinkedIn group and subscribe to our Twitter feed.

Happy 2017!

Terri Soelberg
NORDP Board Member
Member Services co-Chair

Announcing NORDP’s Inaugural Membership Drive Campaign

 

by Terri Soelberg

Greeting from the Member Services Committee!

It is the time of year to reflect, connect and make a difference. As I look back over the many things for which I am thankful, being a member of such a great organization filled with generous peers and colleagues who willingly share their time and expertise definitely makes the list.

As I speak to people from around the country, I am still surprised at how few have heard of NORDP. On the flip side of that, it is so rewarding to hear from new members who feel like they have finally found ‘their people’ and professional organization home. This is certainly supported by the fact that we have such a high attendance of the membership at our conferences. We are certainly hoping this trend continues for the upcoming conference in Denver next year.

This year, at the leadership retreat of the Board, we agreed the time has come to take active measures to increase NORDP’s profile nationally. One strategy to accomplish this is a membership drive. To that end, we have set a goal of attracting 100 new members.

As with many initiatives, grassroots efforts are powerful. You will start seeing regular posts with small ‘calls to action’ of little things each of us can do to raise awareness and refer new members. Since the holiday season lends itself so well to re-connecting, we hope that you will mention NORDP to peers and colleagues.

In the meantime, we are ramping up activity on our social media outlets and encourage you to join, and invite others to join, the LinkedIn group and subscribe to our Twitter feed.

Wishing you a safe and happy holiday season!

‘Holidays’: codeword for “taking care of a bunch of backburner tasks”

A message from NORDP President, Gretchen Kiser  

The holidays are officially upon us and they are always this strange time of year where we are expected to simultaneously slow down, reflect, assess, and count our blessings AND rush around to take care of a myriad of personal and work activities and tasks in time for __________ (grant deadlines, year end, Santa, Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, New Year’s Eve, Festivus, etc.) .  Rather than lament, I’m going to embrace the duality of the season and roll with it.

One of the goals that came out of our annual Board retreat in September was to plan and implement our first ever membership drive.  Under the keen guidance of co-chairs Terri Soelberg and Kayla Tindle, the Member Services committee has a carefully considered plan and will be rolling it out in the next month or so.  Please take note when you see it and help spread the word to potential new members!

Remember: December 19th is the submission deadline for 2017 conference abstracts. One of the strongest values of NORDP is the sharing of methods, best practices, tool applications, and strategies. Our conference is the most efficient avenue for this sharing and so we encourage everyone to submit a poster or oral presentation idea for potential inclusion.

The conference hotel reservation link and the 2017 conference registration fee schedule are now posted on the NORDP website, along with links to apply for travel scholarships. Check it out!

2017 Conference Plans and Other Activities

A message from your NORDP President:

It is especially important during this time of uncertainty that we all remain focused and committed to our professional efforts to effectively support and advance the research enterprise at our own institutions and broadly.  We are working to maintain and build NORDP as the go-to resource and community for your research development needs.  Right now we’re working on several goals, including planning the conference and nurturing our strategic alliances.

Always high on the list of activities for the organization is our conference planning.  We are in full-swing of planning an effective conference in Denver around the theme, “Creating Research Excellence through Strategic Research Development”.  For those that don’t know, our NORDP 2017 Conference Co-Chairs are Michael Spires (University of Colorado Boulder), Kellie Dyslin (Northern Illinois University), and Karen Eck (Old Dominion University).  We are definitely taking into account feedback that attendees gave on last year’s conference but if you have some input you’d like to give, please reach out to Michael Spires at rdconf@nordp.org.

In addition to the EPPD committee changes that I mentioned in September, our new Strategic Alliances committee (a refresh of the previous External Engagement committee) is working to further engage critical partners outside of NORDP and expand our sphere of influence and bring new and valuable resources to our membership.  For example, since corporate relationships are often a part of our research development efforts, Strategic Alliances has reached out to NACRO (Network of Academic Corporate Relations Officers), inviting them to network with us at the Denver conference, where we also plan to have content that will be valuable to both NORDP and NACRO members.

Hopefully you’ve all seen the call for abstract that went out last Monday.  If not, check it out at https://www.eiseverywhere.com/eselectv2/frontend/index/203635#44877.  Abstracts are due on December 19th.  As RD professionals, I know you all have an encyclopedia of strategies, ideas, practices, and tools that could benefit your colleagues and contribute broadly to research excellence.  I challenge you to reach out to collaborators near and far to develop conference presentation ideas.  We’re looking forward to seeing some great ideas for talks and posters!

NORDP 2016 Conference Notes: Demystifyng the U.S. Dept. of Education

This post is part of our NORDP 2016 Conference Reports. These reports capture the take-home points from a variety of sessions presented at the NORDP Annual Meeting in Orlando.

Session Scribe: Kristin Wetherbee

Demystifying the U.S. Department of Education

Presenter: Marjorie Piechowski

Key points from the session:

  • The U.S. Dept. of Education isn’t very consistent with funding opportunities. Programs may not be offered every year and there are few established due dates. Formatting and page limit requirements can vary. Also, some submissions must go through grants.gov while other must go through the U.S. Department of Education’s e-grants system.
  • Notices are announced via the Federal Register and the U.S. Dept. of Education website with a minimum 30 day notice (often, only 30 days’ notice is given).
  • Proposals should cite literature from the National Clearinghouse which holds documents about the current state of research.
  • Proposal components:
    • Personnel – must adequately describe role and credentials relative to the proposal
    • Project design and need – often weighed most heavily by reviewers
    • Adequacy of resources – need to address the specifics of what you’re asking for (cost per student, cost share, institutional resources)
    • Evaluation – often weighted heavily, up to 20% of total points. The Department seems to prefer external evaluators so you must provide excellent justification if using your own evaluation tool.
    • Special and competitive priorities – these may or may not be required. Bonus points may be given for addressing them so don’t make reviewers hunt for this language; state clearly and boldly in the proposal.
  • Program officers don’t have to be experts in the field and some PI’s have found that program officer comments are in direct conflict with what the review committee wants.

What did you hear at this presentation that surprised you?

The consistency of the Department’s lack of consistency.

What resources did you discover at this presentation?
What else from this session should NORDP members know?
You must routinely visit the U.S. Dept. of Education website to stay current on offerings and deadlines and must thoroughly review calls for proposals for changes from year to year. Also, if you’re interested in being a reviewer for the U.S. Dept. of Education, a Ph.D. is not required (master’s preferred). Register at http://www.g5.gov/.

NORDP 2016 Conference Report: Beyond the RFP

This post is part of our NORDP 2016 Conference Reports. These reports capture the take-home points from a variety of sessions presented at the NORDP Annual Meeting in Orlando.

Session Scribe: Suzanne Lodato

Beyond the RFP: Ann Introduction to Diverse Methods and Resources for Identifying Funding

Presenters: Katie Keough, Christina Leigh Deitz, and Susan Clarke  

Key points from the session:

  • Both static (e.g., web pages on which information does not often change) and dynamic (e.g., regularly updated databases and lists) can be valuable tools for searching for funding opportunities.
  • For cash-strapped institutions, an impressive number of free online databases, lists, and digests are available from federal agencies, foundations, scholarly societies, professional organizations, and others.
  • Novel searching methods can be highly effective. Examples are:
    cited reference searching using award announcements and lists to identify opportunities, investigating peer institutions and organizations, checking the membership lists of funder affinity groups, read annual reports, strategic plans, foundation 990 forms, etc.

What did you hear at this presentation that surprised you?

Although the presenters all subscribe to multiple lists and digests that sometimes overlap, they do not find overlapping listings to be a problem because they scan them quickly. The extra time it takes to scan duplicate listings is well worth the discovery of a good funding opportunity for their faculty.

What resources did you discover at this presentation? 

The slides list numerous sources – both free and subscription-based. We did discuss Guidestar, a free online database containing information on non-profit organizations, including foundation 990 forms that often contain the names of grantees and grant amounts.

What else from this session should NORDP members know?

Move beyond your daily opportunity list and do some detective work. It will pay off in the end!

 

Peggy Sundermeyer is the 2016 Holly J. Falk-Krzesinski Service Award Winner

NORDP_BOD.2015
Peggy Sundermeyer, Trinity University,  is seen here wearing a red blazer along with current and past members of the Board of Directors. Photo taken during the annual leadership meeting (August 2015) in Boulder, CO.

NORDP’s Service Award was established in 2011 and named for our organization’s founding President, Holly J. Falk-Krzesinski, Ph.D., who was the first recipient.  The award, voted on by the Board of Directors, is given annually to a NORDP Member in recognition of outstanding service to the organization and to the Research Development profession.  The honor is recognized with a commemorative plaque and waived registration fee for a future NORDP Research Development Conference.

Peggy Sundermeyer is a Founding Member of the Board of Directors (2010-2016) and has served as NORDP’s Treasurer (2011-2016). Her careful stewardship and management of our organization’s funds is one of the reasons NORDP was able to hire its first Executive Director in 2016. She routinely makes innovative suggestions to manage our finances more effectively and efficiently. Her colleagues acknowledge her helpfulness, kindness, and eagerness to “step up” when something needs doing and an unrivaled source of information about NORDP’s history, traditions, policies, and procedures. Above all, she is a superb connector and an extraordinary advocate for the best practices of research development. There are scores of new NORDP members who have joined our organization and are actively volunteering based on her inspiring leadership. In addition to serving as a member of the Executive Committee, Peggy has served on the following committees: Revenue & Finance, Executive Conference, Conference Planning, and Scholarships & Awards.

Previously Peggy previously served the University of Minnesota in the Office of the Vice President for Research (1999-2014) as the Executive Director of Research Advancement (2006-2014) and as Coordinator of Professional Development (1996-2006) . She is regarded as the type of colleague everyone wishes for. She is highly skilled in a variety of areas, committed to the development of collaboration and consensus, and dedicated to equity in all endeavors.

 

NORDP NE 2015 Summer Conference at Brown University

by Caitlin McDermott-Murphy, Harvard University and Kathy Cataneo, University of New Hampshire

The NORDP Northeast Regional group (NORDP NE) held a full-day conference at Brown University in Providence, RI on July 27, 2015. The group welcomed 59 attendees, representing 18 institutions and all New England states. Special thanks go to Amy Carroll, Brown University’s Director of Research Development, her staff, and David Savitz, Brown’s Vice President for Research, for their hospitality.

Because NORDP NE values the wide range of perspectives, experiences, institutions, and RD offices represented at our conferences and meetings, we emphasize interactive, discussion-based sessions that provide room for debate and problem solving. An important aspect of this and previous NORDP NE conferences is the opportunity to connect, which can lead to: sponsor programming made available across our New England institutions, shared resources (e.g., funding newsletters), shared best practices (e.g., metrics-gathering methods), and a level of comfort when reaching out to point-people for specific RD questions, such as how and when to hire external consultants.

As with NORDP NE’s past conferences, the July 2015 gathering featured keynote guest speakers, six different topic-specific sessions with expert panelists and group discussion, themed lunch roundtable discussions, and a business meeting. Following the conference, many attendees stayed to enjoy networking over appetizers and drinks.

Keynote speakers Savitz and Lawrence Larson (Brown University’s Dean of Engineering) offered valuable high-level perspectives on the importance of Research Development to not just individual faculty members but also to the larger institution. The RD role is especially important when it comes to large-scale future planning needed to grow modern universities. Dr. Savitz called Research Development a “connecting field,” and described it as the art of adapting strategies to pursue and win funding. With an increasing emphasis on the “research + education” model, Research Development professionals offer important support to assimilate faculty needs with institutional needs.

 

Following the key-note address, the July conference offered the following topic-specific sessions:

Career Strategies for Developing the Next Generation of Research Leaders

Karen Drew, Northeastern University; Carol Inman, Independent Consultant; Anne Windham, Brown University

Evaluating Research Development: Metrics and Satisfaction Surveys

Jennifer Corby, Harvard University; Sarah Marina, Tufts University; Loren Walker, University of Massachusetts, Amherst

Strategic Support for Faculty to Determine the Best Funding Opportunities

Erin Cromack and Caitlin McDermott-Murphy, Harvard University

It Takes a Campus…To Submit a Proposal

Brown University’s Tristan Barako (Research Development), Patrice Carroll (Sponsored Projects), Brian Demers (Technology Ventures), Catherine Nellis (Foundation Relations), and Douglas Wilkie (School of Engineering)

Government Relations as a Research Development Partner

Amy Carroll, Brown University; Rele Ritter, Office of U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, Rhode Island

Creating a Research Development Office or Function at Your Institution

Kathy Cataneo, University of New Hampshire

 

And, the conference’s roundtable lunch topics covered the following:

  • Broader Impacts Summit Debrief, Facilitator: Barbara Pearson, University of Massachusetts, Amherst
  • Exploring Regional Collaborations, Facilitator: Tristan Barako, Brown University
  • Incentivizing Research, Facilitator: David Savitz, Brown University
  • General Networking, All others

At the general business meeting, the NORDP NE Chair Kathy Cataneo and the Advisory Committee introduced an organization chart and position descriptions (modeled on NCURA regional positions) for the Past Chair, Chair, Chair Elect, Communications Coordinator, Membership Coordinator, and Secretary. Attendees agreed to transition NORDP NE into a more formal organization with defined roles and responsibilities, a succession plan, and opportunities for professional development through service to the regional group. The Advisory Committee intends to hold elections in 2015-16 in order to fill these positions prior to the next NORDP national conference.

For the first time since NORDP NE’s inception, we evaluated the impact of each individual July 2015 conference session and asked attendees to complete a brief survey before departing the conference venue. The sessions deemed most helpful were those on government relations and strategic support to faculty. And, the most salient topics proposed for future conferences and meetings include:

  • Funding trends and policies, presented by agency representatives
  • Project management: strategic planning and project management tools
  • RD office development: tangible tools for RD professionals
  • Collaboration: working with other university units or functions

NORDP Northeast extends a big “thank you” to NORDP National for their continued support and leadership. We also welcome questions from burgeoning RD groups in other regions, and look forward to (re)connecting with all of our colleagues in Orlando in May 2016.

Applications now being accepted for the NORDP Mentor Program

Are you looking for an opportunity for professional development? Do you have wisdom to share with new research development professionals? Consider becoming a NORDP mentor.

The Mentor Program is a great opportunity for NORDP members to connect with colleagues over their specific professional interests, share their professional experiences and stories, and develop lasting individual relationships with fellow members within our broad national network.

We particularly encourage anyone who has had a mentor in the past to apply to be a mentor to our newer members, or to participate both as mentors and mentees. New this year is also the opportunity to join small Community of Practice groups that bring together people with a similar set of specific discussion interests. Mentoring pairs and CoP groups will be matched using the same on-line application.

The deadline for applications will close on April 4, so don’t delay! Find all the details on the Mentor Program web page.