NORDP 2018 Annual Research Development Conference

Concurrent Session 3
Wednesday, May 9, 2018, 9:15–10:15 a.m.

Resiliency in RD: Tools to Reduce Stress and Find Balance

Room: Potomac I  •  Pillar: Professional Development

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Presenters

  • Joanna Downer, Duke University School of Medicine

Description

Many Research Development professionals face nearly constant stress due to our repeated work on extremely complex projects conducted under significant deadline pressure; others of us face stress due to the comprehensiveness of services we offer, perhaps trying to provide all things to all people at all times. Couple these work responsibilities with personality traits such as being “helpers” or having difficulty saying “no”, and with the demands of life outside of work, and it’s clear that Research Development professionals are likely to experience chronic stress and an accompanying sense of poor work-life balance. The purpose of this interactive session is to understand and identify participants’ own contributors to stress, explore a robust “tool-kit” for reducing stress and regaining work-life balance as Research Development professionals, establish a specific plan of action to reassign or reduce our own stressors in both the short- and long-term, introduce participants to mindfulness-based stress reduction practices, and empower participants to make continued improvements in work-life balance over time. This session is aimed at NORDP members who are ready to make changes to improve their work-life balance while maintaining high work standards.


Sparking Partnerships and Fanning the Flames of Collaboration: Diverse Team Approaches

Room: Potomac II  •  Pillar: RD Fundamentals

Presenters

  • Page Sorensen, University of California San Francisco
  • Missy Jenkins, University of University of Tennessee, Knoxville
  • Nathan Meier, University of Nebraska–Lincoln

Description

Funding agencies are increasingly focused on addressing complex scientific questions that require collaboration between experts from multiple disciplines. As a result, research development professionals need a variety of strategies at their disposal to catalyze interdisciplinary conversations, assemble research teams, and enhance teams’ competitiveness for extramural funding. This panel presentation shines a light on effective methods for building and supporting new research teams. It features fruitful initiatives used by a major biomedical research center and two comprehensive, land-grant universities (one an EPSCoR institution). Panelists with a range of research development experience will focus on aspects of team building essential to advance team science: 1) convening researchers to spark collaborations and 2) supporting teams once they form. Presenting a combination of process and qualitative/quantitative outcome data, panelists will describe three initiatives, which others may adopt in whole or in part, to build and support research teams. These include: team building symposia designed by the University of California, San Francisco to unite investigators around specific research topics that are conducive to, and likely to benefit from, collaborative projects; the University of Tennessee’s FUSION event series, which brings researchers from multiple disciplines together for one day around a specific topic; and a year-long approach modelled after the Ideas Lab methodology used at the University of Nebraska to build teams in preparation for an emerging area of federal investment. The diverse organizations and perspectives represented by the panelists makes this presentation applicable to a broad audience.


Collaborator or Competitor: Being Good Neighbors in Research Development

Room: Potomac III  •  Pillar: LDRD

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Presenters

  • Claudia Scholz, Spelman College
  • Sheila McClure, Morehouse School of Medicine
  • Triscia Hendrickson, Morehouse College
  • Lisa Wilson, Clark Atlanta University
  • Travis Patton, Clark Atlanta University

Description

The Atlanta University Center is a consortium of four adjacent institutions. Clark Atlanta University is a PhD-granting institution. Morehouse and Spelman Colleges are single-sex undergraduate colleges. Morehouse School of Medicine grants PhDs, Masters, MPHs and MDs and has extensive research facilities. All four institutions are classified as historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). The high level of variation in institution size, research capability, faculty teaching load and administrative support within this group makes it challenging to find appropriate ways to collaborate on research development initiatives. Significant turnover in personnel at all four institutions is another source of difficulty in maintaining and growing this collaboration. The “sibling rivalry” and perception of competition is an additional obstacle to collaboration. Since late 2016, the research development and sponsored programs staff of the four institutions have met monthly to discuss areas of collaboration. The group developed a grant-writing workshop, mentored faculty writing groups, coordinated funder site visits, and engaged in shared staff development. This panel will offer lessons and strategies for organizational research development activities that span institution size, type, mission and resource levels. The panel will share advice about communicating the value of such collaborations to faculty and to senior leadership who might view other institutions as competitors. The panel will lead attendees in developing an inventory of collaboration case studies to share with the NORDP community.


Thing 1 and Thing 2: Advancing RD Wearing 1 Tall Hat

Room: Potomac IV  •  Pillar: Professional Development

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Presenters

  • Jocelyn Webber, University of Michigan
  • Stephanie Hensel, University of Michigan

Description

Research development professionals often find themselves wearing multiple hats. For some these “hats” can be very tall. For example, at small institutions or in small units within large institutions, professionals who are serving as research administrators may also serve in the research development role. On the flip side, RD professionals may also find themselves serving as research administrators or even project managers simultaneously. Obviously, no one person or even small office can do everything, but there is great benefit to intentionally forming a model strategically developed for your distinctive situation.

This session aims to share strategies and tools for balancing multiple roles, integrating RD strategies into RA activities while creating a seamless and effective support system for faculty. Participants will hear challenges, benefits and creative approaches in two different small units. Through these perspectives the presenters will share their models for success while serving in multiple roles. Fellow NORDP members serving in multiple roles are invited to attend, as we share experiences, activities and tools that create impact for faculty success while also advancing the RD profession.


Practical Strategies for Facilitating Innovative Research

Room: Potomac V  •  Pillar: RD Fundamentals

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Presenters

  • Donnalyn Roxey, Knowinnovation
  • Andy Burnett, Knowinnovation

Description

Facilitating any meeting requires a set of skills. A good facilitator will be able to listen to all voices, keep the group on track, summarize content, and re-plan on the fly. Facilitating a research innovation meeting demands those same skills and more. Not only does one need to know the key creative tools, but one must also be able to demonstrate the skills and attitudes, that one needs the participants to embody.

This interactive session provides participants with a few basic fundamental concepts of creative collaboration and gives key process tools and strategies to engage academics and support innovative output. Participants experience and practice with activities that can be incorporated into their own innovation process, or just used to make their day-to-day meetings more productive.


Trends in Funder Program Evaluation (and What These Trends Mean for the RD Professional)

Room: Potomac VI  •  Pillar: Funder Updates

Presenters

  • Jeff Horon, Clarivate Analytics

Description

Research Development Professionals have long understood that resilience requires adaptation in a changing research environment. Beyond merely surviving, those who thrive in new environments will be those who adapt the fastest and in ways that are consistent with funder requirements. Research Development efforts do not happen overnight, so the most successful will be those who can connect emerging trends in funder program evaluation to their own efforts.

This presentation provides a survey of trends in the federal funding climate toward increased return on investment requirements and the implicit need to quantify these measures, as well as trends among private/nonprofit funders. Funders are reaching increasing levels of sophistication in their abilities to quantify and measure outputs and outcomes resulting from research investments. It serves Research Development Professionals to understand these emerging capabilities and interests.

Funders increasingly use Logic Models that trace Inputs through Activites to Outputs and resulting Outcomes, which Output and Outcome measures upon which funders are basing evaluations, and measures corresponding to various stages of research (basic, HIBAR, and applied; translational in biomedical contexts).

Research Development Professionals and funders have shared mutual interests in effective tracking of award impact, career progress of career development award recipients/trainees, and an overall understanding of cascading impact outcomes from research funding. This session explores efforts at multiple federal and private/nonprofit funders to link funding to broader economic, research, and societal impact then links these changes to how Research Development Professionals can be resilient via responsiveness to current funding program requirements, beginning to capture data relevant to future program requirements, as well as investing effort in opportunities most likely to receive continued or new funder support in the future.


National Research Mentoring Network, NORDP and You

Room: Tidewater 2  •  Pillar: Professional Development

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Presenters

  • Christina Papke, Texas A&M University
  • Jennifer Glass, Eastern Michigan University
  • NRMN rep TBA

Description

Mentoring is a professional responsibility and is recognized as a vital component of professional development and faculty support. In our growing field of Research Development, NORDP is committed to fostering a culture of mentoring, both within the organization and at member institutions. As funding agency priorities and paylines continue to evolve, promoting a culture of mentoring is crucial for developing resiliency to adapt - and thrive - in the midst of an ever-changing research landscape.

This presentation seeks to 1) equip participants with resources, information, and ideas from both the National Research Mentoring Network and NORDP; and 2) engage participants in a broader discussion of how to maximize these resources to facilitate mentoring for both RD professionals and faculty at their home institutions.

The NORDP mentoring program fosters meaningful and sustained professional relationships driven by the needs of the program participants and built on a foundation of reciprocity. To support members, the NORDP Mentoring Committee strives for best practices and partnerships.

The mission of National Research Mentoring Network (NRMN) is to provide researchers across all career stages in the biomedical field with evidence-based mentorship and professional development programming that emphasizes the benefits and challenges of diversity, inclusivity and culture. Examples of programming include mentor training, mentor facilitator training, mentee facilitator training, and intensive grant writing coaching groups for junior faculty and postdocs writing NIH-style grant proposals. NRMN also offers guided virtue mentoring, research-related professional development webinars, and networking opportunities.

Participants will come away with an understanding of mentoring resources available for themselves and their institutions, and can self-identify to be a part of an exciting professional collaboration.


Perspectives from Federal Agencies NEH and IMLS

Room: Roosevelt, 3rd floor

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Presenters

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