Hats Off to the 2024 NORDP Mentor Training Workshop Graduates!

Written by the Mentoring Committee

A certificate of completion with blue and white design Description automatically generated

The NORDP Mentoring Committee’s Mentor Training Team held a mentor training workshop in January – March 2024. 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). Over 100 NORDP members have completed the Entering Mentoring Workshop and received certificates. 

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 Jan Abramson, Kristin Boman, Paula Carney, Rachel Goff-Albritton, Melissa Li, Kathy Partlow, and Samar Sengupta.
The NORDP Mentoring Committee is committed to equipping Research Development professionals for success by offering meaningful mentoring expertise, support, and resources. If you would like to be contacted when the next Mentor Training workshop series is scheduled, please email mentorprogram@nordp.org.

Congratulations to the following 2024 NORDP Mentor Training graduates!

Sowmya AnandUniversity of Illinois
Vinita BharatStanford University
Sherri BurdaNew York University
Cate CaldwellBlack Hills State University
Caitlin CharosUniversity of California, Santa Cruz
Kaylynn CoatesCleveland Clinic
Mandy DavisTexas A&M University, Texarkana
Palemon GonzalezResearch Development Consultant, Mexico City
Stephanie HaddadUniversity of California, Santa Cruz
Angela JordanUniversity of South Alabama
Keri JupkaUniversity of Missouri, St. Louis
Prapti ModyUT Southwestern Medical Center
Kelly Anne MooreEmory University
Hugo MorenoResearch Development Consultant, Mexico City
Aimee OkeColorado State University
Daniel RiechersUniversity of Massachusetts, Lowell
Branden RitterOhio State University
Claudia ScholzUniversity of Virginia
Ruth SosnoffUniversity of Kansas Medical Center
Carol ThornberUniversity of Rhode Island
Monica VidalStanford University School of Medicine
Nancy WalkerUniversity of Missouri, Columbia
Kathryn WrenchLawrence Technological University
Kartik YadavUniversity of California Irvine
Table: list of 2024 NORDP Mentor Training graduates and their respective organizations.

NORDP Liaison Report: Colleges of Liberal Arts Sponsored Programs (CLASP): An Interview with Amy Cuhel-Schuckers

Amy Cuhel-Schuckers, Director, Office of Grants and Sponsored Research, The College of New Jersey

What is the mission of CLASP? Colleges of Liberal Arts Sponsored Programs (CLASP) was designed to provide a resource for sponsored research administrators at liberal arts colleges and those with a liberal arts focus to promote and strengthen members’ abilities to respond to research support and policy issues as these arise; this is hugely important in contexts where there may only be a single person covering all the functions of research administration and research development. In recent years, CLASP has evolved to become a community of practice and, through an NSF GRANTED conference award, is considering ways to extend its reach to women- and minority-serving institutions and its organizational framing.

What are some of the unique challenges that liberal arts institutions confront with respect to grant administration? The challenge many liberal arts and/or predominantly undergraduate institutions face is that staff engaging in RD need to act in a “generalist” role. They must inform the institution of risk, stay abreast of federal funding trends and priorities, and perform research development, research administration, and compliance functions.  Often practitioners must lead from the middle to educate those to whom they report, explain what the university is certifying, and position the institution should it be audited.  This is a stressful role with a variety of needs and little support from within the institution. 

 In small institutional settings there is often a single research administration practitioner doing a “soup to nuts” or “cradle to grave” job.  That is, they might engage with faculty on the front end, supporting research development and facilitation, in addition to performing the duties of a pre-award sponsored research professional in submitting, accepting, and managing an award.  In some very small institutions with a single staff member managing research administration, this person might also manage IRB and IACUC regulations as well as other aspects of compliance.   When I worked at Franklin and Marshall College, a 1,200-student institution, we piloted a 5.5 FTE sponsored research, Corporate and Foundation Relations, and grant accounting team that occupied the same office with three reporting lines under a common leadership structure. Now, I am at the College of New Jersey, a comprehensive master’s granting institution with 7,000 students, also classed as a PUI. We have a 3-person pre-award office and are now in the process of bringing a post-award specialist into our office. Folks acting as generalists in a complex regulatory environment where their institutions are likely strained fiscally, may have little to no money for professional memberships or to travel to conferences for professional development. Yet, their institutions are responsible for meeting the same compliance standards as R1 institutions. Moreover, these folks are often the “expert” on campus –a daunting reality.

How has CLASP evolved since its founding?  CLASP originated at Middlebury College and was spearheaded by Francie Farnsworth, who created a listserv-enabled conversation group supported by a Wiki repository of shared materials. The targeted listserv now anchors the membership by providing a forum where questions related to sponsored research concerns—which at small institutions may also map onto corporate and foundation relations—can be posed, with answers coming back almost instantaneously. In addition, through the listserv, CLASP members periodically conduct surveys on range of topics. As one example, we have surveyed our membership on the types and nature of indirect cost rates at member institutions. For example, smaller institutions may have salary and wage-based indirect cost rates, salary, wage, and fringe rates, as well as Modified Total Direct Cost (MTDC) rates, which are more commonly seen at larger institutions.  CLASP has also surveyed our membership on where our offices are situated within their institution, whether in academic affairs, advancement, the President’s office, and to compare to peer institutions. Having peer or near peer institutional knowledge helps CLASPS members to advocate for policies and practices that better serve our institutions.   As a replacement for the original Wiki-based repository, CLASP hosts a “Collaboratory” which is a Google-document based repository of resources that archives materials and resources from past meeting sessions as well as resources and on various topics of interest that members have created. CLASP also hosts annual meetings, post-Covid alternating between virtual and in-person meetings. The upcoming 2024 meeting will be held in person at North Central College in Naperville, Illinois, November 13-15. Typically, 60-90 people attend.  

You are part of a team that was awarded an NSF GRANTED award. Could you speak to some of your objectives for this grant? CLASP’s NSF GRANTED award (NSF 2324524), via Carleton College, is design to strengthen a community of practice (CoP) and to broaden, increase, and diversify membership in CLASP, in particular with MSIs and women-serving and women-only institutions. We first articulated this CoP vision at the annual CLASP meeting in 2018 at Swarthmore College and at the 2019 meeting at Bowdoin College. CLASP has long showcased funder presentations intermingled with some presentations from members. But we began to recognize more fully that our members represent a significant body of expertise and have placed greater emphasis on expanding that dimension of our organization and our community of practice, and imagining how we can position our organizations for the future.  

What are the mutual benefits of NORDP’s relationship with CLASP? I started out as an assistant grant writer at a community-action agency, and later transitioned to a predominantly undergraduate institution (PUI) in the SUNY system where I was institutional grant writer and later grant development specialist.  Then, when I came to Franklin and Marshall I was introduced to CLASP.  Through CLASP I was introduced to NORDP, and like so many other members felt as though I had finally found “my people.” Of course, many one-person shops do not have the resources to attend NORDP, and that has motivated me to share my expertise with CLASP. For example, I recently presented on RD with Susan Ferrari and Dean Gerstein at the 2023 virtual CLASP annual meeting last November.   Conversely, expertise from the CLASP community, together with others in PUI settings, has been extended to NORDP through the founding of the PUI (Predominantly Undergraduate Institution) Affinity Group, in 2019.  Many members of the PUI Affinity Group are also members of CLASP.  Historically, NORDP was developed by individuals who were in a context in which they could specialize in all of the contextual aspects of RD and in preparing researchers to lead large research grants, whereas the research focus of smaller institutions is most commonly at the PI-level and often within a teacher-scholar framework. The PUI Affinity Group addresses the needs of these NORDP members by developing resources for research-related and grant development activities, including my 2016 research article with Cara Martin-Tetreault and Carol Withers, “The Grants Office and the RA Generalist: Parallel Life-Cycles and Development at Small PUIs,” which addresses benchmarks research administrators can use in assessing development at the office and practitioner levels. 

However, the biggest benefit to NORDP in liaising with CLASP is in engaging generalists around a clear articulation of one component of their role – research or grant development. CLASP in some ways also represents a type of diversity – institutional diversity – that NORDP needs to be consciously aware of, so that it can best meet the needs of this sector of membership. Moreover, and relatedly, CLASP members are well positioned to inform NORDP that it runs the risk of losing the generalist audience to larger organizations such as NCURA and SRAI who are beginning to offer RD training modules which NORDP is, in fact, most ideally positioned to offer. 

This report was prepared by Elizabeth Festa, Liaison Chair, Strategic Alliances Committee, eaf2@rice.edu

An Open Letter from the NORDP Board Regarding NORDP’s use of Basecamp

Dear colleagues:

As an organization, one of our shared goals is to create an environment where every member can feel heard, respected, and valued. Late last year, a NORDP member notified the board of directors about an article posted by the Duke University Libraries outlining their decision to terminate the use of Basecamp as a project management platform.

The decision at Duke was prompted by Basecamp leadership’s blatant criticism of diversity, equity, inclusion, and racial justice efforts. The NORDP member who reached out encouraged board members to review the Duke Libraries’ stance through the lens of NORDP’s goal to “foster 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.”

Diversity, equity, inclusion, access, and belonging are cornerstones of our organization, and we took this call to action seriously. We began immediate discussions about Basecamp’s lack of inclusive culture and considered whether we wanted to continue to commit NORDP’s financial resources to a service provider that is not aligned with the organization’s central values.

Following careful consideration, we voted to discontinue the use of Basecamp as NORDP’s project management platform when the organization’s current contract for the tool expires on June 1, 2024. We encourage you to read the Duke University Libraries article, “Why We’re Dropping Basecamp,” which reinforces the importance of aligning our organizational investment in resources with our values.

We are in the process of selecting a new project management platform. If you have suggestions about alternatives, we welcome them. In the coming weeks, we will provide more information about the new platform we select as well as details and guidance about how we plan to shift NORDP’s work to the new platform while retaining the organization’s historical records. We appreciate your understanding and support during this period of change.

As always, we welcome your thoughts or suggestions. Please feel free to communicate directly with any member of the Board of Directors. Thank you for making NORDP the organization that it is and for raising concerns and challenging our professional community to do and be better.

Best regards,

NORDP Board of Directors

NORDP 2024 Keynote: Building your Unicorn Career with Alaina Levine

Written by: Eric Dickey, Conference Planning Committee

Alaina Levine can pinpoint when she began her career in professional development and networking to a specific, catalyst moment in her life. And it all hinged on one word: Nothing.

She has degrees in Math and in Anthropology and studied in Cairo, Egypt which provided her with a Middle-Eastern studies and Arabic background. But she knew she didn’t want to be a mathematics researcher or an academic. She sought the advice from her mathematics advisor and asked him what her job prospects outside of academia were, and he literally used the word “nothing.”

Career development in STEM is too rarely discussed. Alaina herself noted that she never got the job talk during her mathematics training. Later while at the University of Arizona, she found herself in a position teaching STEM students about career development, soft skills, networking, and negotiation. She helped them identify their own unique gifts to build what she calls their “Unicorn Careers.”

What is a Unicorn Career? Alaina defines it as a customized, authentic career that aligns with one’s values and humanity. It allows you to be yourself 100% of the time and it is a career that brings joy, meaning, and money. As humans, we are diverse and have unique gifts, skills, abilities, and perspectives.

In her keynote talk, Alaina will discuss strategies by which we as RD professionals can make our jobs into our own Unicorn Careers by aligning our skills and abilities with the needs of our institutions and clients. We can use our interests to focus on who we are, and by doing so, we can honor our full authenticity and full humanity. We can make an impact by simply being ourselves through mentoring and creating safe spaces and trust.

We all know that taking such a leap of faith in ourselves, of stepping into our full humanity, will include emotions like doubt and fear. To Alaina, feelings are fantastic data. We can analyze data about ourselves to discover what we can do differently, better, or more. By building our own mental fitness in low-stake scenarios, we can position ourselves to use it in high-stakes scenarios.

As the current President of Quantum Success Solutions, LLC, Alaina is a prolific speaker and writer on career development and professional advancement for STEM Nerds (engineers, scientists, and technical leaders). She also helps Research Development offices land transformative funding through her site visit consultation and speaking and innovation coaching. 

She was drawn to NORDP because she believes her diverse background mirrors the diversity and backgrounds of research development professionals and leaders. She respects and values the collective and diverse wisdom that RD professionals bring to the profession and to the institutions, communities, and scholarship that we serve. She looks forward to sharing her data-driven and process-oriented approach and providing tools which will enable conference attendees to position themselves for success.

Help us welcome her to the NORDP stage in Bellevue, WA.

New NORDP Board Member Cameo: Ms. Amy Gantt

Who: Ms. Amy Gantt, Director of Strategic Research Development

Where: Tufts University

Number of Years Working in RD: 20 years

Length of NORDP Membership: 13 years

Entering the field

Amy earned her master’s degree in sociolinguistics from North Carolina State University, deciding not to pursue a PhD because, while she really enjoyed learning about linguistics, she didn’t envision a career in linguistics. She then spent about five years waiting tables and teaching in North Carolina, including at community colleges. About 20 years ago, she left North Carolina to move to Boston, still unsure about what she wanted to be when she grew up. In Boston, Amy started working as a freelancer for Tufts through a connection with Peg AtKission, who was leading the creation of research development services there. She thought that she would do this work for a little while until she figured out her career path. Well, 20 years and a couple of promotions later, and a lot of institutional change, she’s still in the field.

Her research development work

Amy’s team’s responsibilities have grown over the years to become quite broad. She and her team are responsible for very large federal proposals, and they partner with their corporate and foundation relations colleagues to work on very large foundation proposals. They are also responsible for helping junior faculty with their proposals, with a focus on NSF CAREER and other early-career awards. Amy oversees three seed funding programs that are managed by the Office of the Vice Provost for Research, and she oversees limited submissions. Amy places a priority on developing partnerships, particularly with other institutions, although her team partners with industry as well. Amy’s team helps to develop research strategy for both individuals and for teams and for the institution itself. Her portfolio is very broad and, as a central office, covers the entire institution.   

Amy notes that one thing that Tufts does very well is community-engaged and community-based participatory research, in line with Tufts’ emphasis on making an impact on society. Something she really enjoys is connecting fundamental science to impact and how it’s going to engage people. Her social science training has helped her to think through study design – things like ‘what variables are you controlling for’ and ‘what ways are you going to recruit?’ When hiring, she looks for people with very strong writing and communication skills, but just as important to her is a sense of curiosity. Amy enjoys diving into all different fields, thinking very deeply about what connections there are across them and what is unique to a specific field and about how she can leverage all of those different pieces.

Amy’s history with NORDP

Amy joined NORDP in 2011. She became aware of NORDP through her regional group (New England area), which was fairly new, and she believes that she was reached out to by them around that time. Through her interactions with the Region, she learned more about NORDP. The Northeast group has stayed close to her heart throughout the years, and she served as chair for the Region for a three-year term.  During that time, she organized meetings and came to understand more about NORDP at the national level. As often as university finances allowed, she attended conferences. She recognizes the value of these events and alternates attendance among her team so as many people as possible have the chance to benefit from in-person attendance. Amy has presented posters and oral presentations on a wide range of topics at conferences over the years: She’s spoken on how to avoid saying ‘no’ in a resource-limited environment and how you can be really creative with a small staff and do a lot. She has also talked about her career path in RD, and she’s presented with colleagues on institutional engagement with corporations and where that fits into RD, particularly on the federal side.

Her motivation to run for the NORDP Board

Serving on the Board was not something on her radar, but Amy was nominated for a position. When this happened, she remembered how much she enjoyed and learned from being chair of NORDP Northeast, and she thought that this would be a really great way contribute at a time when there’s a lot of creativity in RD and excitement about RD ‘professionalizing’. She also recognized it would be an opportunity to expand her network and learn more about the Organization. Amy recognizes that there is much room for learning from one another, from figuring out new ways to do things that would increase efficiencies to improve competitiveness and leveraging each other’s strengths on the administrative and research sides of our institutions. She recognizes the value and importance of professionalizing the field without losing the creativity.

What Amy is most excited about as a new NORDP Board member

Amy is excited about many things! She really enjoys thinking strategically about making NORDP more inclusive, in terms of increasing the compositional diversity of our members, in making sure that we’re meeting the needs of our communities, and that the Organization is leveraging its strengths. It’s important to Amy that we are not burning out volunteers, that we offer programming that reaches the people that it needs to reach, and that we are supporting the growth of our industry. Amy also recognizes the importance of telling that story outside of the RD community.  Something she has always loved about NORDP is that people are so helpful and collegial rather than competitive. She holds the value of community very dear.  Amy supports the continuing expansion of RD, which includes bringing new people in. She’s excited about new people, new ideas, and keeping moving!

Amy’s very grateful to have the opportunity to be a part of NORDP leadership, and she’s grateful to the community that we’ve all collectively built around NORDP. She wants to ensure that we continue to have the same (or even better) support and environment for people who are coming into the field. Amy acknowledges that most people don’t grow up thinking ‘I want to be a research development professional’. She doesn’t necessarily want that to change, but she does want people to see that this is a fun career; it’s really satisfying and she wants to encourage people, if they’re so inclined, to become a research development professional.

Empowering immigrant RD professionals via iKNoW

Contributors: iKnoW members:

Elizabeth Lathrop, University of Maryland, College Park

Meira Orentlicher, Touro University

Prapti Mody, UT Southwestern Medical Center

Yoanna Ferrara, Syracuse University

The NORDP affinity group – Immigrant Knowledge and Wisdom (iKnoW) – seeks to empower and engage research development (RD) professionals who identify as immigrants or allies of immigrants. From the initial 15 founding members in 2023, we have grown to >30 members thus far. Members of iKnoW come with diverse perspectives to share experiences, interests, and goals contributing to inclusive excellence, resource generation, recruitment and retention of RD professionals to further advance NORDP mission. Collectively, iKnoW is a place for members to share international knowledge and immigrant experiences in the context of RD professionals, with opportunities for advocacy, networking, mentoring, and leadership development on immigrant impact to foster a culture of diversity, equity and inclusion within NORDP.

The iKnoW launched our inaugural networking events at the 2023 NORDP in-person Conference in Arlington, VA. As an iKnoW Co-chair, Samarpita Sengupta organized the highly popular “Monuments by Moonlight” bus tour, which provided opportunities for networking and relationship-building within the growing iKnoW community. iKnoW also hosted a member meetup dinner as well as an interactive poster session to meet existing members in person and to recruit new members. We encourage everyone to be on the lookout for  iKnoW activities at the upcoming 2024 NORDP Conference in Bellevue, WA.

Another notable accomplishment includes a NORD pilot project award: in collaboration with iKnoW members from four institutions (Touro University, University of Michigan, University of Arizona, and University of Vermont), Meira Orentlicher is spearheading a study to increase the understanding of immigrant faculty researchers’ experiences and needs, and to begin to identify strategies for addressing the needs and supporting their growth and development in the US academic institutions.

A few testimonials from current iKnoW members highlight the impact this tiny-but-mighty group has had on them!

Prapti Mody: As a South Asian who immigrated to the USA and has tons of diverse immigrant friends and colleagues, I identify strongly with iKnoW’s values and mission goals. I joined this affinity group after meeting with Gagan last year at the 15th NORDP annual conference, so I have been a member for just under a year now. Our meetings are equal parts fun time and resource generation brainstorming. It’s so interesting to connect with people from all across the world as part of this group, learn about their experiences and share ideas. For example, in one of our meetings, we designed a flyer highlighting points to be aware of while traveling internationally. iKnoW is a great resource group and a beautiful network of RD professionals.  

Yoanna Ferrera: Initially, I joined iKnow out of curiosity. At the affinity group dinner in Arlington (NORDP 2023), I met remarkable people who, like me, had moved to the United States from worlds away or, as second-generation immigrants, have straddled continents and cultures. I value the sense of community and everyone’s willingness to support others. We have discussed care options for aging parents who are non-US citizens or non-English speakers. This topic may also be of interest to many faculty. We have bonded through book clubs. We plan approaches to recruit immigrants to the RD profession and support members looking to switch jobs, e.g., through mock interviews and career guidance. Samar’s and Gagan’s leadership is inspirational—they encourage the iKnow-ers to be involved in the various NORDP committees, pursue leadership roles, and contribute immigrant perspectives to the organization.

Faina Thompson: Absolutely thrilled to share my experience with the Immigrant Knowledge and Wisdom (iKnoW) group! Meeting the members at the 2023 NORDP conference was an absolute delight and sparked an immediate connection. It was a moment where I felt seen, understood, and welcomed into a vibrant community. iKnoW is an outstanding network of RD professionals, eager to share their expertise. The conversations are as diverse as they are informative, with topics spanning the globe. iKnoW welcomes you with a remarkable sense of community and professional camaraderie. It’s not just a group, it’s a global community that enriches you both professionally and personally. I wholeheartedly recommend it.

The iKnoW affinity group meets monthly, on every 3rd Tuesday of the month, at 4pm ET/3pm CT/2pm PT. We welcome you to join our community by contacting the current Co-Chairs: Samarpita Sengupta (SS141@alumni.utsw.edu) and Gagan Bajaj (gagan.bajaj@med.uvm.edu) for meeting information!

Get to know a NORDP Committee: Professional Development Committee (PD)

Written by Elizabeth Christensen and Susan Elkins

The NORDP Professional Development Committee coordinates the development and delivery of professional development training and resources for NORDP members. The Committee’s current focus is online professional development in three main strategic areas: (1) career planning, (2) operational resources for research development, and (3) skill building.

The Professional Development Committee is led by a proactive team of co-chairs:

Erin Christian, EdD

Research Grants Business Specialist, Common Spirit Health

Emily Devereux, PhD

Director of Research Development, Research Office in the College of Engineering and Computing, University of South Carolina

Susan Elkins, CRA

International & Research Services Development Manager and Grants Administrator, Office of Research and Innovation, Drexel University

Series and Webinars

The NORDP PD Committee helps to curate, advertise, and find speakers for the ever-popular Tools and Tips (TNT) Series and Webinars on a variety of topics of interest to NORDP Members. Most of these sessions are recorded and available on through the NORDP website learning management system (LMS).

TNTs (Tools and Tips) are short 30-minute sessions that explore a tool or strategy that many find helps them be more efficient/organized. These range a wide range of topics from the use of SciENcv to what’s at your desk that you use to de-stress.

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

Webinars are typically 60 minutes in length. They usually have stated aims/goals associated with the session and one to three facilitators. Participants will walk away with increased knowledge base of the subject matter.

Discussion Panels are typically 60 minutes in length. They are less structured. There will be a facilitator and a number of subject matter experts. The audience will also have an opportunity to add to the conversation as well as ask questions of the panel. The goal is to have an interactive discussion on the topic being discussed.

Working Groups

The Professional Development Committee runs several Working Groups led by some amazing NORDP members:

Webinar Production – led by Dawn McArthur and Emily Devereux. This group selects topic areas for the coming year’s NORDP webinars from our topic framework and then identifies and invites webinar presenters in those areas, using NORDP conference evaluations as a resource. If you have an idea, please reach out to us!

Webinar Planning – led by Katie Shoaf and Josh Roney. This group serves as technical production hosts for NORDP webinars, working closely with the “webinar host” and the presenter(s).

The Professional Development Committee also coordinates with other NORDP Working Groups to facilitate collaboration across the NORDP community, providing many resources and benefits to NORDP members:

NORDP Communications Working Group – PD liaison is Susan Elkins. This working group leads publicity and announcement of activities for NORDP. These communications can be internal among the NORDP Membership and shared externally (e.g., LinkedIn & Twitter).

NORDP Board Liaisons – We have board members who work with PD who tell us anything from a board perspective that we need to be aware of. We also can communicate any issues/questions that we as a committee have and they will take this to the next board meeting on our behalf.

Goals and Objectives

The objective of the NORDP Professional Development Committee is to provide NORDP members with meaningful, timely, and engaging opportunities to expand their research development knowledge and add valuable skills to both their professional and personal toolboxes. The PD Committee’s goals are to:

  • Develop, implement, and organize engaging and worthwhile professional development content based on the needs of the NORDP membership;
  • Provide opportunities for NORDP members to offer their relevant expertise and to gain valuable leadership skills by leading webinars and developing other professional development materials;
  • Recruit knowledge experts to contribute time and relevant intellectual resources to the NORDP community;
  • Collect and disseminate best practices in research development, for use by NORDP members;
  • Compile and maintain a database of professional development resources for NORDP membership.

Volunteer Opportunities

There are many opportunities to participate in the NORDP Professional Development Committee.  The Committee meets monthly via Zoom to develop and produce Professional Development materials, decide on upcoming programming, and to research specific topics and methods for professional development. The Committee also recruits members and other experts to lead webinars and develop professional development resources for NORDP’s membership.

Activities that engage and invite new Volunteers to get involved are the virtual and in-person Open Houses held throughout the year.  The Professional Development Committee also sponsors an annual Holiday Party via Zoom. The committee hosts at least one open house event for all members to meet with us to learn more about what we do and talk about the volunteer opportunities.

For those who may be on the fence about volunteering to serve on the professional Development Committee, co-chair Susan Elkins says: “Serving on the Professional Development Committee is a great opportunity to seek out new members and try out a NORDP leadership role.”

The Details:

Committee meeting scope/schedule: The goals of the Professional Development Committee are to help provide opportunities for Research Development Professionals to build their skills and knowledge and to share information about research development practices and activities that have been used successfully in various settings.

The professional development committee leadership meets the second Thursday at 3pm Eastern. The entire committee meets the third Thursday at 3pm Eastern. Each working group also meets as needed.

Current Co-Chairs: Erin Christian, EdD, Emily Devereux, PhD and Susan Elkins, CRA

You might enjoy serving on this committee if: You are interested in providing the NORDP membership development learning opportunities. This committee does a lot and your involvement can fit around your needs. We would be grateful if you can tech host assist for a few offerings a year. Or if you have the bandwidth, we are looking to have a total of six co-chairs.

How to get involved: Email the committee co-chairs at PDCommittee@nordp.org (We’d love to hear from you!)

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Take Center Stage at the Annual NORDP Conference

Written by: JL Weissman, Committee on Inclusive Excellence

The 16th Annual NORDP Research Development Conference is only a few short months away, and here at the Committee for Inclusive Excellence (CIE) we are looking forward to this valuable time to connect with colleagues. We had hoped to compile a comprehensive list of relevant presentations for attendees interested in DEI topics, but soon realized this task would be impossible. Nearly all presentations at the conference touch on DEI themes; to list them all we would simply have to send you the entire conference agenda! Building a more equitable and inclusive research enterprise is clearly a priority for the NORDP community. Below, we highlight a small selection from the wealth of conference sessions. We hope to see you there!

Hear about funding priorities in DEI from major funding bodies at the conference keynote: “DEIB Perspectives from NIH, NSF, and AAAS”

Get a crash course in writing NIH diversity supplements to support trainees from underrepresented backgrounds by attending: “Preparing NIH diversity supplements and finding funding for trainees from under-represented backgrounds” presented by Viktoriya Zhuravleva & Arthur Uhimov. 

Hear about how implementing team science practices can help support your institutional goals at: “How Does Team Science Support your DEI Mission?” Led by Hannah Love & Hannah Torres.

Discuss how research development professionals can become key players in fighting against a colonialist past & present at: “Landback Institutions – Can Research Development Professionals Have a Role Beyond Land Acknowledgement Statements?” Hosted by Jane Casteline.

Discuss strategies for building inclusive environments in multidisciplinary research teams at: “Inclusion is Inclusion: How Team Science Skills Promote DEIB” led by M.S. AtKisson & Jessica Venable

Learn and reflect on how you can improve faculty retention programs to increase diversity at your institution at: “Centering Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging in Early-Career Investigator Training” presented by Matthew Schwartz.

Engage with a broad selection of DEI topics across the proposal development space by attending: “CIE Lightning Storm: DEI in the Proposal Development Process” featuring Amber Moore, Anna Ward, Courtney Coffey, Jane Garrity, and Riley McIsaac.

Learn about early successes and lessons learned from a GRANTED workshop series at: “Mid-Year Report from the Middle Tennessee Research Administration and Innovation Network (M-TRAIN)” presented by Philip Ko & Sajid Hussain

Experience the breadth of GRANTED-funded projects at: “Research development and GRANTED conference projects: Brief reports from successful applicants” featuring Jennifer Glass, Amy Cuhel-Schuckers, Camille Coley, Gillisan Harootunian, and Jessica Andrews

Discuss how resource-strapped MSIs can still succeed when competing for “big” funding opportunities at: “Demonstrating commitment with limited resources” Led by Jackie Lee Weissman & Rosemarie Wesson

Hear about lessons learned from and strategies developed by the NORDP Consultants Program at: “Strengthening the research infrastructure at MSIs and ERIs by creating inclusive research environments: Early results, recommendations, tools, and next steps from four NSF GRANTED awardees” featuring Kimberly Eck, Barbara Endemaño Walker, Sarah O’Brien, Kimberly Littlefield, and Melanie Bauer.

Cultivating Significance: The Importance of Developing a Network of Mentors in Proposal Development

Contributors: Proposal Development Peer Mentoring Groups (PMG) Co-conveners — Sonya Craig, New York University, Grossman School of Medicine and Lindsay Ridpath, University of Arizona

The Proposal Development field is growing as proposals become more complex and as the competitiveness for obtaining research funding continues. Academic success is not achievable through the efforts of a solitary individual; the era of lone geniuses thriving in academia has passed, emphasizing the collaborative nature of contemporary academics that thrives on teamwork, be that with other investigators or with research development (RD) professionals.

To help RD professionals build a network of support, NORDP initiated the peer mentoring groups (PMGs) in 2019, out of what was then the Community of Practice Groups. As David Widmer stated for an earlier blog post about the PMGs: “We are never fully developed by a single mentor. If you think about your broader network, it’s clear that you are being mentored by multiple people.” Jan Abramson said PMGs developed “from a discussion about member needs, the importance of building a network of mentors, and making sure anyone who requests a mentor has one.” A driving factor in PMGs is NORDP members’ needs. Christina Howard, David Widmer, Jan Abramson, Kathy Partlow, Faye Farmer, Katie Shoaf, and other members of NORDP’s Mentoring Committee, are the brains behind the PMGs, orchestrating the programming that has proven to be a valuable resource for many. The Proposal Development PMG is one of six active groups.

Proposal development can be summarized as the process of advising, writing, editing, coordinating, and compiling grant applications. The RD specialist can have many roles within proposal development, including as an educator, a project manager, a writer/editor/illustrator, or an advisor and advocate. Many proposal development professionals give guidance on and coordinate writing of grant components (including budgets, letters of support, and research strategies), manage grants libraries and other institutional resources, and coordinate and manage peer or “Red Team” reviews. 

The proposal/research development role has evolved over the last decade, leading to major growth in proposal development specialists in university settings. Now, innovations in generative Artificial Intelligence and graphic design have the potential to transform both proposal development and proposal evaluation, meaning that the roles of RD professionals are likely to change in the near future. Likewise, complex proposals and transformational initiatives, like ARPA-H, are transitioning grant writing from a solo experience to one requiring strategic planning from a group. Industry support in research is also increasing, as more government agencies are including industry participation in their proposals. Some examples of this are the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Innovation Engines (NSF Engines) and Directorate for Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships (TIP) programs, and the US Economic Development Association’s (EDA) Regional Technology and Innovation Hubs (Tech Hubs). Companies like Amazon are increasingly offering research awards (Amazon Research Awards) to test solutions. Industry understands the value academic research brings and is increasingly interested in research collaborations rather than developing an internal R&D arm. 

By connecting with colleagues at other universities through our Proposal Development PMG, members are able to stay abreast of how other institutions are negotiating these new developments as they arise. Our PMG has active members from all over the US, in the medical, engineering, social science, and humanities fields. Some members are in leadership roles within their institutions working in large RD offices, while on the other extreme, we have colleagues who are independent consultants who work from home. We both joined the PMG for different reasons: Sonya was working within an academic unit as the sole grant writer and wanted to grow her RD professional network; whereas Lindsay joined the PMG as a Foundation Relations professional with the goal of cultivating connections and gaining a comprehensive understanding of the research enterprise. Whatever your office size or job classification, if you have an interest in discussing proposal development best practices and challenges, we invite you to join us for an informal conversation the first Tuesday of every month at 1 pm ET. See this site within WisdomShare for more information, or direct any questions by emailing the Mentoring Committee at mentorprogram@nordp.org.

The January 2024 Career Stories featured Kayla Dryden, Research Development Officer for Arts and Humanities at The University of Texas at Austin.

Kayla Dryden • Research Development Officer for Arts and Humanities • The University of Texas at Austin

Kayla Dryden is the first-ever Research Development Officer for Arts and Humanities at The University of Texas at Austin. In this role, she provides major proposal development support for faculty, facilitates skill-building and team research, and leads arts and humanities strategy in the central Office of the Vice President for Research, Scholarship, and Creative Endeavors

Kayla holds an MA in Museum Studies from NYU and as an undergraduate, studied English and Art History at Cornell University. Within NORDP, she is a member-at-large of the Creative Arts, Social Science, and Humanities affinity group and the co-chair of the Membership Services Committee.

As an undergrad, Kayla wanted to be an arts journalist or critic, however, after a couple of lackluster media internships, she realized that wasn’t her path. A summer job working at the university art museum led her to a career at the intersection of arts management and philanthropy. Before joining UT Austin in 2021, she spent 15 years both in-house and as a consultant to arts and cultural organizations and artists, specializing in grants, communications, and project management. She has worked at the Asian Art Museum (San Francisco), The Museum of Modern Art (New York City), and other museums, galleries, and grant-makers in the U.S. and in Asia.

During a seven-year tenure with MoMA, she led the grants portfolio and administered the internal Wallis Annenberg Fund for Innovation in Contemporary Art together with leadership at the museum and at the Annenberg Foundation. The cutting-edge projects supported by this fund were deemed unlikey to receive external funding, often pushing the boundaries of what was possible to present in a public institutional space. Kayla credits this experience with honing her ability to break any concieveable proposal down to component parts for review, and to steward a diverse group of stakeholders to “get to yes.”

All these experiences led her to her first “capital R” Research Development position at UT Austin and a niche that suits her skills and abilities both as a writer and administrator and as a people person. In her current role, she works to earn trust from arts and humanities faculty members who may have had a range of experiences with the research enterprise. She is inspired by the opportunity to advocate for these faculty, and by the importance and impact of their work.

Here are some questions from the Career story that went unanswered: 

Q. How big is your office? How many RD staff members work with you in support of the faculty?

A: I sit in UT Austin’s central Office of the Vice President for Research, Scholarship, and Creative Endeavors. Our Research Development team has about 20 staff members, including program staff for our three grand challenges, an operations and events team, limited submissions and competitive intelligence specialists, research administrators, and more. I’m part of a cohort of three other Research Development Officers, including our Deputy VP for Research and fearless leader, Jennifer Lyon Gardner.

Q: What should other universities do to better support arts & humanities faculty in research funding?

A: If you are serious about fostering a culture of arts and humanities research, there must be an investment in infrastructure like post-award support at the local level. Central offices should consider if their offerings truly serve all disciplines, and think about their terminology. Do you really need to ask for a biosketch when any short bio will do, or use the term team science when you mean team research? Not all art and humanities scholars are going to be interested in pursuing external funding. Find those that are already doing this work (perhaps outside of the university), those who want to do this work, and those who are curious about it.

Q: Are there other staff members (not in the central office) who support these faculty with research development? How do you coordinate with them?

A: Local support for arts and humanities research varies widely across UT Austin’s 19 colleges and schools. I work very closely with college-level research administrators, associate deans of research, and staff in units like our Humanities Institute, as well as foundation relations and development. Some of these colleagues serve formally or informally as research development specialists in their college, and in other cases I am more hands-on. My role entails a large amount of internal coordination and relationship-building! However, it’s been so helpful to have a birds-eye view of what’s happening across campus: I can connect RAs who are supporting PIs on the same opportunity, introduce potential collaborators, or refer folks to resources available in another college.

Kayla would love to answer any questions you have for her, so please feel free to email her at kayla.dryden@austin.utexas.edu

To listen to her full interview by the career/kindle team, please click on this link ((you must log in as a NORDP member to access): MC LMS – NORDP LEAD presents: “Career Stories” – Kayla Dryden – January 10, 2024