The NORDP Consultants Program is partnering with the Center for Enhancing Research Capacity for MSIs, which is led by the City University of New York (CUNY) John Jay College of Criminal Justice (NIJ-CERC-MSIs-JJC) and funded by the National Institute of Justice (NIJ), an institute within the Department of Justice.
NIJ-CERC-MSIs-JJC aims to bolster the research infrastructure and capabilities of MSIs within criminal justice. The center’s mission is threefold: to increase MSIs’ competitiveness in research, to support the growth of research funding for MSI investigators, and to broaden the community of MSI researchers engaged in addressing criminal and juvenile justice issues.
“We are delighted to partner with the NORDP Consultants Program and leverage the program’s expertise strengthening research infrastructure,” said Dr. Joel Capellen, Associate Professor of Criminal Justice at John Jay College and principal investigator of NIJ-CERC-MSIs-JJC, “together, we hope to not only support criminal justice researchers but also research enterprise leaders, who are critical to the supporting research infrastructure.”
The NORDP Consultants Program will leverage its expertise in a new collaborative initiative called the Research Enterprise Administrators and Leaders (REAL) Cohort, a one-year cohort program that will provide a forum for research enterprise leaders to engage with peers and national experts to explore topics relevant to strengthening the MSI research enterprise. Research enterprise leaders interested in participating in this virtual program can apply here by September 17, 2025.
The NSF GRANTED program funded an expansion of the NORDP Consultants cohort model one year ago to partner with Minority-Serving and Emerging Research Institutions (MSIs and ERIs) to grow research activity and capacity. In the past 12 months, the program has made significant progress on the project’s objectives.
New Consultants Joined
This summer, the program welcomed four new consultants: Amy Carrol, University of Rhode Island, Faye Farmer, Arizona State University, Jorja Kimball, Texas A&M University, and Claudia Scholz, University of Virginia. These individuals join 22 existing consultants bringing the pool of active NORDP Consultants to 26.
Cohort 2 and 3 Launched
Cohort 2 launched in January of 2024 with the City College of New York, NY (AANAPISI, HSI, ERI), Clark Atlanta University, GA (HBCU, ERI), Kean University, NJ (HSI, ERI), and Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, TX (HSI, ERI). Each partnering institution successfully completed the first two phases, intake and collaborative planning, of the three-phase engagement framework and has transitioned into the implementation phase. In collaboration with their consultants, partners are making plans for the research infrastructure investment provided as a part of the GRANTED-funded expansion. In September, the program kicked off Cohort 3 with Hawai’i Pacific University, HI (ANNH, AANAPISI, ERI), Kentucky State University, KY (HBCU, ERI), McMurry University, TX (HSI, ERI), and University of West Alabama, AL (PBI, ERI). The next call for MSI partners will be disseminated in early 2025.
1st NORDP Consultants Program Cohort Annual Meeting
Attendees at the 1st NORDP Consultants Program Cohort Annual Meeting
In September 2024, the NORDP Consultants Program hosted its 1st Annual Meeting in Miami Gardens, FL at Florida Memorial University’s campus, drawing nearly 40 participants from eight institutions of higher education that are or have been partners in the NORDP Consultants Program. The theme for the event was building and sustaining research culture. The multi-day event provided a platform for knowledge exchange, networking, and collaboration, focusing on advancing research development initiatives and strengthening aspects of the research ecosystem. Several members of the NORDP Consultants Program presented alongside MSI partners on a wide range of topics, including a socio-ecological approach to the research ecosystem, assessing research culture, balancing institutional commitment with indirect costs, facilities and administration costs, and reinvestment strategies. Additionally, Michele McGuirl from the National Institute for General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) provided an overview of resources available for ERIs through NIGMS.
EMERGE Resource Library
The NORDP Consultants Program also launched the Equipping Minoritized and Emerging Research Institutions to Grow their Enterprises (EMERGE) Resource Library. The EMERGE Resource Library is the first national library of collaboratively written and peer-reviewed plain language research enterprise guides, tools, and other resources that center the voice, perspective, and expertise of MSIs and ERIs. The program is currently calling for authors to join the next sprint to develop additional resources. Prospective authors can register for the October 9, 20204 interest meeting here and submit a short expression of interest here.
Japera Hemming, NORDP Consultants Program Credit / AJ Shorter Photography
Since its establishment in 2021, the NORDP Consultants Program has worked with 172 institutions, including 73 MSIs, and supported participating institutions in securing more than $90M through its cohort, embedded proposal support, and partner-initiated models. This includes $10.5M from the Advancing Research Capacity at HBCUs – a program referenced by President Biden during his remarks at HBCU Week – and the first successful partner-initiated proposal Identifying Needs and Building Research Capacity at an Historically-Black University led by Delaware State University (NIH – UC2GM157743).
The NORDP Consultants Program is support by Schmidt Futures, the National Science Foundation, and the National Institutes of Health (ITE-2303003, MCB-2236057, OIA-2331578, ITE-2350104, OIA-2337236, UC2GM157743).
NORDP News 