2018 NACRO Annual Conference

NACRO

Join the premier organization for corporate-university relations professionals at our annual conference! Now open to anyone interested in corporate relations, university/industry partnerships, and our organization, this year’s conference will be in Atlanta, GA on July 24-26, 2018 at the Hyatt Regency Atlanta Downtown. Whether you’re new to the industry or a veteran, you’ll find opportunities to connect, learn and collaborate with peer institutions and industry representatives throughout the 20+ sessions and breakout groups. For program details and to register visit www.nacrocon.org.

NEW FOR 2018: NORDP members will receive a 25% discount off of conference registration! Contact shymes@asginfo.net for details.

Board of Directors Voting Ends Soon

NORDP’s 2018 election for Board of Directors ends at midnight on Thursday, May 31. Please cast your vote if you have not already done so!

Board of Directors voting information was provided in a May 7 email sent by “NORDP Election Coordinator <mailto:noreply@directvote.net>.” Only individuals whose memberships are current may vote. If you believe you are eligible to vote but did not receive an electronic ballot, please check your spam or junk mail folder and notify me at nlm@unl.edu if you are unable to locate the election email.

As those of you who attended the candidates’ forum during the annual conference in Arlington saw, we have a tremendous slate of Board candidates this year. Please honor them all by taking the time to review their candidate materials and submitting your vote today.

Thank you!

Nathan Meier
Chair, NORDP 2018 Nominating Committee

#NORDP2018 By the Numbers

I hope everyone who attended NORDP’s 2018 10th Annual Research Development Conference in Arlington last week had a safe and uneventful return home, and that you didn’t find your inboxes and desks too cluttered with things to attend to when you went back to work.

Just a few brief statistics about the meeting that I thought might be of interest. This year, we had:

  • 1 leadership forum
  • 1 short course
  • 4 workshops
  • 4 plenary or keynote addresses or panels
  • 16 sponsors (a record!)
  • 33 networking dinners over the first two nights of the conference, with 250 participants
  • 40 individual or panel presentations
  • 54 posters (not including NORDP’s own committee and programmatic posters)
  • 598 registrants (plus 6 on-site registrations, for a total of 604; also a record!)

If you weren’t able to attend the meeting this year, or if you’d like to re-live a little of the experience, check out the conference recap video:

(It’s also available on the NORDP homepage, in case this link doesn’t work.).

We won’t have the full picture until the Evaluation Committee submits its report to the Board of Directors (probably in September), but all of the comments I heard (or overheard in passing) were uniformly positive. (Speaking of evaluations, if you haven’t yet completed all of yours, please do so: that information is of tremendous help to the Board and the planning committee as we start the process for putting together next year’s meeting.)

Kudos to everybody who helped make this meeting as successful as it was. And a very special thanks to our two stalwart conference co-chairs, Karen Eck (Old Dominion University) and Kari Whittenberger-Keith (University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee). We couldn’t have done it without you!

If you’re looking for presentations or materials from sessions at the conference that you either attended or wanted to browse because you couldn’t make the session, please be patient. The conference team will be contacting the presenters to get final copies of presentation materials shortly. Once they’re available, they’ll be posted to the conference program page. If you don’t find a hyperlink next to the presentation you’re looking for, that means the materials haven’t been made available yet. Also please note that we do not post materials from the leadership forum or the workshops, as that content is only available to the participants in those sessions.

Lastly, if you missed the announcement at the conference, save the date for #NORDP2019: April 29-May 1, 2019, at the Omni in Providence, Rhode Island!

Michael Spires
NORDP President

NORDP 2018 Conference Cameo: David Widmer

#NORDP2018 starts Monday, May 7 in Arlington, VA. Keep checking back here at the blog and on our Twitter feed (@NORDP_official) for live conference updates. Register here: http://www.nordp.org/conferences.
_______________________________________________________

Who: David Widmer, PhD, Manager of Scientific Development
Where: Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
Number of years in research development: 8
Length of NORDP membership: 8
Number of NORDP conferences attended: 4
What is the most interesting place you’ve visited? Of course, it will be Arlington, VA for NORDP 2018!

In the 17 years since coming to MSK’s Grants & Contracts unit as a slightly-used neuroscientist/historian of medicine, I have had several grant management roles before leading our Funding Development Team today. We provide funding searches, proposal development resources, complex grant project management, outreach and training for our faculty and fellows.David Widmer

From my very first interactions with NORDP members back in 2010, I found a friendly, collaborative, and wise group of colleagues willing to help navigate the new world of a Research Development Professional.

Learning the “secret” of grant proposal fundability is grounded in real-life for me: I believe my Fulbright grant was awarded because I focused on the review criteria, the mission of the organization, and the scientific research interests of my host country, Switzerland.

The research experience that I gained during my masters’ and doctoral work at Rutgers, my two years at the Université de Fribourg, and a post-doc at MSK allow me today to stand in an investigator’s shoes when supporting my PIs with research development best practices learned from NORDP.

But it’s interacting and learning from NORDP colleagues online and at the conferences that inspires me in my role. I love the ever-present and growing culture of mentorship. That is why I try to give back to other NORDP-ites as a member (and 2017-2018 co-chair) of the NORDP Mentoring Program Committee and as a mentor myself. I look forward to seeing everyone in Arlington!

_______________________________________________________

We hope to see you at the Conference, which will be held May 7-9, 2018 at the Hyatt Regency Crystal City in Arlington, VA. For more information about the conference program or to register, visit http://www.nordp.org/conferences. Follow @NORDP_official on Twitter for all the latest #NORDP2018 updates.

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 2018: Blog Link Edition

NORDP 2018 starts Monday! Pretty much everything you need to know (and more) is linked below if you need a refresher or want to catch up on the cameos while you’re traveling to the conference.

Must read:

Keynote and Plenaries:

Other important info:

All the NORDP 2018 Cameos!

Many thanks to the Conference Marketing Committee for pulling all of these blog posts together. See you next week!

Michael Thompson, Conference Marketing Chair

_______________________________________________________

We hope to see you at the Conference, which will be held May 7-9, 2018 at the Hyatt Regency Crystal City in Arlington, VA. For more information about the conference program or to register, visit http://www.nordp.org/conferences. Follow @NORDP_official on Twitter for all the latest #NORDP2018 updates.

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 Board of Directors Voting Opens May 7th

It’s Almost Time . . .

Voting for NORDP Board of Directors opens May 7, 2018. All NORPD members in good standing are encouraged to cast a vote. You will receive an email from our election provider, Survey & Ballot Systems, in advance of voting opening that will provide you with electronic ballot login information. The ballot will provide a bio, candidate statement, and CV for each of the candidates. You will be able to vote for any number of candidates, up to the four slots available in this year’s election.

The candidates for 2018 are:

  • Leigh Botner, University of Delaware
  • Kimberly Eck, University of Tennessee Knoxville
  • Jill Jividen, University of Michigan
  • Kerry Morris, Valdosta State University
  • Michael Spires (incumbent), Oakland University
  • Paul Tuttle, North Carolina A&T State University
  • Etta Ward (interim), Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis

If you will be at the 2018 Annual Meeting, be sure to attend the Candidates Forum on Wednesday, May 9 at 8 am to see the candidates in person and ask questions.

_______________________________________________________

We hope to see you at the Conference, which will be held May 7-9, 2018 at the Hyatt Regency Crystal City in Arlington, VA.  For more information about the conference program or to register, visit http://www.nordp.org/conferences. Follow @NORDP_official on Twitter for all the latest #NORDP2018 updates.

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 Member Etta Ward Awarded a Fulbright Scholars Grant

 

#NORDPMentoringMatters

Congratulations to Mentoring Committee member Etta Ward, Assistant Vice Chancellor for Research and Development at Indiana University-Purdue University of Indianapolis, who has been awarded a Fulbright Scholars grant for the International Education Administrators Seminars in France, for two weeks in the fall of 2018. Her work as a Fulbright Scholar will center on effective mentorship as a strategy for professional and research development, especially for women and minorities in the academy. She listed NORDP one of three organizations to potentially benefit from this tremendous opportunity. Etta’s participation in the program will provide insights on international and cultural aspects of mentoring from multiple perspectives. Specifically, she anticipates that it will offer a more global understanding of competencies that effectively address the needs and challenges facing different populations participating in formal mentoring programs and initiatives.

Jan NORDP mentor picture edit
Peer Mentors Etta Ward (right) and Jan Abramson meeting in person at National Research Mentoring Network Facilitator Training

Etta has been an integral partner in the development of the Mentoring Committee as a platform to equip research development professionals for success by offering meaningful mentoring expertise, support and resources. She leads by example in a working group that develops and provides tools for Mentoring Program participants to facilitate successful NORDP mentoring experiences. Etta’s expertise and commitment to the importance of mentoring has inspired us to provide an ever-expanding curated set of resources for NORDP members. She will work closely with the Mentoring Committee to explore best practices and innovative strategies to integrate elements of international cultural awareness in various aspects of it work.

The Mentoring Committee is always looking for NORDP members who would like to participate in the work we are doing. As a committee, we mentor each other, grow together and celebrate successes: today, we celebrate Etta’s Fulbright.

If you are interested, email us at mentorprogram@nordp.org, or visit with us at the Annual Conference.

More information on the Fulbright International Education Administrators Seminars can be found here.

Funding Agency Sessions at NORDP 2018

It’s almost conference time! Concurrent Session abstracts are linked on the NORDP Conference Schedule. Below, four sessions hosted by representatives from funding agencies are highlighted: 

Building Research Resilience Through International Cooperation: The Example of Horizon 2020 (Concurrent Session 1, Tidewater 2, 2nd floor)

eu_flag-2015PRESENTERS

  • Mary Kavanagh, Delegation of the European Union
  • Claire Chen, National Council of University Research Administrators
  • Viktoria Bodnarova, EURAXESS North America
  • Cole Donovan, U.S. Department of State

Perspectives from Federal Funding Agencies: NSF / DoD/ USDA (Concurrent Session 2, Potomac III)

nsfUSDA.jpgSTICKER%2520ALL%2520UNITED%2520STATES%2520DEPARTMENT%2520OF%2520DEFENSE%2520NEW__90328.1411489515.290.290.jpg

PRESENTERS

  • Dale Ormond, Principal Director, Research, Assistant Secretary of Defense, Research & Engineering
  • Brian Bornstein, Program Director, Law and Social Sciences, National Science Foundation
  • Mark Mirando, National Program Leader of Animal Nutrition, Growth and Reproduction, National Institute of Food and Agriculture, US Department of Agriculture
  • Moderator: Mary Beth Curtain, Binghamton University

Perspectives from Federal Agencies NEH and IMLS (Concurrent Session 3, Roosevelt, 3rd floor)

neh.jpgimls_logo_2c.jpg

PRESENTERS

  • Brett Bobley, National Endowment for the Humanities
  • Ashley Sands, Senior Library Program Officer, Institute of Museum and Library Services

Plenary: Dr. Michael Lauer, Deputy Director for Extramural Research, NIH: “Update from NIH: Perspectives on Extramural Scientists and Science,” Regency Ballroom (Wednesday, 11:45am-12:30pm, Regency Ballroom)

NIH_Master_Logo_With_Tag_2Color-PNG.png

 

 

_______________________________________________________

We hope to see you at the Conference, which will be held May 7-9, 2018 at the Hyatt Regency Crystal City in Arlington, VA.  For more information about the conference program or to register, visit http://www.nordp.org/conferences. Follow @NORDP_official on Twitter for all the latest #NORDP2018updates.

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 2018: What to Know Before You Go

Greetings NORDP 2018 Attendees:

Are you ready for NORDP 2018? We’re all set and looking forward to welcoming you to the Hyatt Regency Crystal City!  We are expecting a record breaking attendance for the 10th Annual Conference! Here are a few important details that should help you prepare for your arrival in Arlington, VA (metro Washington D.C. area).cq5dam.thumbnail.744.415

Arrival:

The Hyatt Regency Crystal City provides a courtesy airport shuttle. Due to construction at Reagan National Airport (DCA), the pickup and drop-off locations have changed.

  • The shuttle will now pickup and drop-off on the upper level (Departure level) right outside doors #2 and #4. After retrieving your luggage from baggage claim you’ll need to go back up to the departure level (airline ticket counter level) to catch the shuttle.
  • The shuttle DEPARTS the hotel for return to the airport every 20 minutes on the hour from 4:40am – 12:00am. (Times subject to change.)

Taxis

  • From Dulles Airport (IAD) to the Hyatt Regency Crystal City, the cost is approximately $65 to $55.
  • From Baltimore Washington International Airport (BWI) the Hyatt Regency Crystal City, the cost is approximately $85 to $90.

Metro Subway Access

  • From the Crystal City Metro Station (corner of 18th St and S. Bell Street) the Blue and Yellow lines are available, the hotel is a 10-minute walk.
  • Courtesy Hyatt Metro Shuttle to and from Crystal City Metro Station departs the hotel front drive every 30 minutes on the hour from 6:00am – midnight Monday thru Friday, and 7:00am – midnight Saturday and Sunday. (Times subject to change). When traveling to the hotel via Metro, once you are at the top of the escalators, turn to the left and walk toward 18th St.  The shuttle will pick up underneath the overpass.
  • Upon request, the shuttle will drop guests off at Crystal Drive & 23rd St. In addition, the shuttle will drop off and pickup at 23rd St and S. Eads St. These stops are based on request only and are not regular stops made during regular travel (Subject to change)

Amtrak

  • Taxi to / from Union Station is approximately $17 – $20.

Parking:

Hyatt Regency Crystal City at Reagan National Airport offers valet only parking at a rate of $40, with unlimited in-and-out privileges for overnight guests. We offer the option to park at our hotel and fly from nearby Reagan National Airport. Clearance is 6’ 8” in our underground parking garage.

Valet Parking Rates:

  • Up to 2 hours – $16
  • 2-4 hours – $25
  • 4-6 hours – $35
  • 6 – Overnight – $40

Oversized vehicles, greater in height than 80 inches will incur an additional $5 surcharge. In & out privileges pertain to overnight parking rates only.

On-Site Registration

Please check in at registration outside the Regency Ballroom foyer to pick up your badge and conference materials.

Registration Hours
Monday:           7:30 AM – 7:00 PM
Tuesday:           7:00 AM – 5:30 PM
Wednesday:     7:30 AM – 3:15 PM

Conference Program

This year, in our effort to maintain greener standards, we will not be offering a printed program. To assist you with planning, the full conference program schedule is available online. View or download it here. We will have an abbreviated Schedule at a Glance you will be able to insert into your name badge holder, as well as a detailed program schedule on the mobile app!

NORDP Conference Mobile App!

Partnering with Attendify, we have created a conference app for your convenience at NORDP 2018. To download, go to your app store, and search for and download the ATTENDIFY app. Then search for “NORDP 2018” and click on “Join.” You will need to create a profile. You will then be connected to your fellow conference attendees, you will be able to receive push notifications about happenings and updates during the conference, locate sessions and rooms, find information on sponsors and speakers, and create your personal schedule! Download the app today and see how informative it is, yet easy to use. Give it a try on your smartphone or tablet, and get ready for NORDP 2018.

Conference Attire

The attire for the conference is business casual. The forecast is for seasonal temperatures—warm during the day and cool at night, and a spot of rain is may be possible. We suggest that you be prepared for air-conditioned meeting rooms as well.

Stay Connected on Social Media

Do you Tweet? Follow NORDP on Twitter @NORDP_official, and connect with other conference attendees by Tweeting with the hashtag #NORDP2018. A gift card prize will be awarded on Wednesday at the conference for the attendee who Tweets the most using the hashtag! You can also sign up to be a Social Media Volunteer at the conference.

Wifi!

Complimentary wifi is available throughout the meeting space at the Hyatt. The network is Hyatt_Meeting, and the password is nordp18.

Welcome Reception – 5:00 p.m. Monday

Please join us in the Regency Ballroom foyer area at 5:00 on Wednesday evening to meet and greet other NORDP 2018 attendees! If you are a NORDP mentor or mentee, please look for the sign in the Atrium for the Mentor/Mentee Meetup and meet your fellow members of the Mentoring Program there before proceeding to the Welcome Reception.  The opening keynote address from Saul Kaplan will follow.

Morning Roundtables over Breakfast

During the continental breakfast on Tuesday morning, we will have some tables in the ballroom area designated for discussion of specific topics that were suggested by the membership at large. Please check the program book or the app for further details.

A Favorite! The Idea Showcase and Reception, Tuesday, 4:30 – 6:30 p.m.

We highly encourage you to attend this afternoon event: The Idea Showcase is a poster session designed for individuals or small teams to present their own approaches to problems and solutions in research development, to showcase best practices, or to introduce innovative ideas. Get a glass of wine, visit the posters and presenters, and engage in some great conversation before heading off to dinner.

Optional Networking Dinners

Join other conference attendees for dinner at some great local establishments in the Arlington area on Monday and Tuesday evenings. Some dinners will also feature an informal discussion around a research development topic of interest. Each dinner guest pays his or her own way and groups are limited in size. Registration is required. Please visit the following links to sign up:

Monday, May 7

Tuesday, May 8 

Morning Walks & Runs

Some fabulous conference volunteers are on point to lead you in a short walk or run each day.

Groups will depart from the hotel lobby each morning at 6:00 or 6:15 am. Check out the morning walk/run sign-ups below for specific trail routes and departure times.

Lead a Run/Walk/Bike Group

Join a Morning Run/Walk/Bike Group 

NORDP Sponsors

Please make time to stop by our sponsor exhibits in the Regency Ballroom Foyer to chat with them and find out what’s new in their businesses.  There will be fantastic sponsor giveaways!  Our sponsors make the conference happen!

Evaluation: Make the annual Research Development conferences better every year!

NORDP conference planners need your feedback! Each day during the conference, you will receive an e-mail asking you about that day’s activities.  To continue to provide you with the most valuable conference experience possible, the surveys will have questions about session content and format, as well as the venue and its services.  We’ll want to know if the sessions are relevant to you, and what your suggestions are for future meetings. If you complete your daily survey, you’ll be entered into a drawing to win cool stuff.

Want to visit the new Smithsonian NMAAHC?

No passes needed for National Museum of African American History and Culture on Wednesdays during May. More on this here.

Thank you for registering and we look forward to seeing you there!

The NORDP 2018 Team

_______________________________________________________

We hope to see you at the Conference, which will be held May 7-9, 2018 at the Hyatt Regency Crystal City in Arlington, VA.  For more information about the conference program or to register, visit http://www.nordp.org/conferences. Follow @NORDP_official on Twitter for all the latest #NORDP2018updates.

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 2018 Conference Cameo: BreeAnn Brandhagen

#NORDP2018 starts Monday, May 7 in Arlington, VA. Keep checking back here at the blog and on our Twitter feed (@NORDP_official) for live conference updates. Register here: http://www.nordp.org/conferences.
_____________

Who: BreeAnn Brandhagen, Program Manager
Where: BioSNTR
Number of years in research development: 4
Length of NORDP membership: 1
Number of NORDP conferences attended: 1
When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up? I wanted to be either a doctor or an event planner.

After completing my PhD, I was a Lecturer for one year but found myself missing research. I knew I did not want a traditional faculty career, but I wanted to be engaged with research in some way. An opportunity to work with a new research center came up and I jumped in without really knowing what I would be doing!

DSC_3590In 2014, I started  as the first Program Manger of BioSNTR (pronounced “bio-center”), a state-wide distributed research center in South Dakota. I work with faculty across the state on large collaborative research projects. In addition to managing the finances of the center, I also monitor and evaluate project progress, assist faculty in finding and applying for new funding, coordinate public and university relations’ information, and assist in creating new partnerships amongst academic researchers and the local biotech industry. Every day looks different and that’s what I love most! I also really enjoy getting to interact with faculty from a variety of disciplines – I’m always learning something new!

I attended the NORDP conference for the first time last year, and had an amazing experience. There was so much good information presented in all of the sessions, and I brought back a lot of new ideas to implement in our center. I joined as a NORDP member after attending the conference and have continued to be impressed by the resources and information provided by the organization and the other members. As someone new to the field, and in a state that does not have a lot of people working in this area, finding NORDP was a huge benefit.

I would highly recommend attending a Networking Dinner at the NORDP conference and/or participating in the run/walk sessions in the morning. I found that these events were a great way to meet and connect with other attendees, in a very non-intimidating setting (which was perfect for an introvert like me!)

Social Media Links:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/breeann-brandhagen
Twitter: @DrBrandhagen

_____________

We hope to see you at the Conference, which will be held May 7-9, 2018 at the Hyatt Regency Crystal City in Arlington, VA.  For more information about the conference program or to register, visit http://www.nordp.org/conferences. Follow @NORDP_official on Twitter for all the latest #NORDP2018 updates.

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.