Sustaining Your Writing Pipeline When Research Funding is Scarce

Sally L. Grapin, Montclair State University

For many scholars, grant funding is an important component of maintaining an active research program. Cuts in federal funding for research in the social sciences, education, and other disciplines have been sweeping, stalling important projects and ultimately threatening school psychologists’ ability to provide a range of academic, behavioral and mental health services in schools. For faculty charged with maintaining active research agendas, this may also mean a significant interruption to publication pipelines, which can be problematic for junior faculty who must demonstrate productivity in order to obtain tenure.

Given that grant funding from major federal agencies likely will continue to be limited under the current federal administration, junior faculty may need to find ways to maintain their publication pipelines until they are able to resume their planned research activities. Below we offer some suggestions for maintaining an active writing pipeline in the absence of critical grant funding.

Support community partners.

First and foremost, it is important to acknowledge the tremendous impact that cuts to federal funding have had on children, families and school communities. Many of the grant dollars that were terminated had been allocated to provide much needed mental and behavioral health services to school-age youth; as such, schools are coping with a significant loss of resources. This is an important time to support communities that have experienced these losses, and attending carefully to their needs will be important. While some school districts may wish to pause their relations with research teams, others may still be seeking support. Consider some ways that you can support these districts in light of funding cuts. For instance, providing consultation, professional development, or other resources (support through practicum student placements) may be helpful to schools as they navigate these difficult times.

Initiate writing projects that require minimal funding.

There are many types of research and scholarship that require minimal funding. These projects can be helpful in preparing for future, larger-scale projects if and when funding returns. Some examples are as follows:

• Systematic reviews and meta-analyses may be particularly helpful for taking stock of existing work in a given research area. They can also be helpful for reconciling similar studies with conflicting results. While meta-analyses can be time-consuming and require considerable labor on the part of research teams, data collection is often done through online databases typically accessible through university libraries. These types of research projects can be very helpful in summarizing existing work and helping scholars consider future directions for their work.
• Conceptual or other non-empirical articles, or articles focused on advancing new frameworks, perspectives, ideas, or theories, also require minimal financial resources. These articles are important forms of scholarship that can set the stage for subsequent empirical work. Some recent prominent examples include Malone (2024), Sabnis and Proctor (2022), and Fallon et al. (2023).
• Secondary data analysis involves conducting analyses on existing large-scale data sets. Large-scale secondary data analysis can allow researchers with minimal research support to engage in potentially rigorous studies that would not otherwise be possible without substantial research funding (Sullivan et al., 2020). A three-part primer on secondary data analysis that addresses considerations for researchers, practitioners, and dissemination and consumption of research findings in popular media can be found in the NASP Communiqué.Books and book chapters can also be good prospects for projects when funding is limited. Given their time-intensive nature, book projects may be ideal when there are long-term lulls in research funding. A recent ECF blog post described considerations for developing edited books.
• Guest editing a special issue is an important form of service and scholarship. These types of projects allow scholars to integrate emerging scholarship from a range of authors along a particular theme. A recent ECF blog post offered some tips for serving as an action editor. Additional guidance on guest editing special issues has also been published in the NASP Communiqué.

Find creative ways to secure resources, engage participants, and build research teams.

Although federal funding may be limited, there may be other outlets for securing research funds. For example, although likely to become competitive in this climate, foundation funding as well as university seed funding may be available. Notably, several years ago the ECF published a blog post on working with university giving to secure funding, which early career faculty may find particularly helpful in this climate.

When funding is unavailable to engage participants and/or research team members, scholars may find other ways to ensure that these individuals are appropriately and fairly compensated. For example, undergraduate and graduate student workers who need course credit (e.g., free electives) toward their respective degrees may be interested in completing independent studies in research labs. Similarly, research participants may be interested in other forms of compensation (e.g., professional development for participants who are school personnel; graduate school consultation sessions for undergraduate student participants).

General tips for maintaining research productivity.

The ECF has developed several blog posts with tips for staying productive, including tips related to developing productive research partnerships, planning research activities for the first year of academia, and structuring writing time. We encourage you to explore these posts. In general, staying connected with colleagues is also important. Although resources may be constrained for everyone, groups of faculty members may be able to pool resources to accomplish certain projects. Additionally, staying connected through activities such as writing accountability groups can help you feel grounded and keep your research agenda moving forward during uncertain times. Finally, talking with others about how they are handling the situation can be helpful, as it may give you some ideas about to how to move forward yourself.

How have you maintained your productivity in light of cuts to grant funding? Please comment below!

Considerations when Applying for a Fulbright Award

Kathleen B. Aspiranti, Associate Professor, University of Kentucky

In the fall of 2021, I embarked on a journey to complete a Fulbright award at Eötvös Loránd University in Budapest, Hungary. When I began my position at my current university in 2019, I soon met three colleagues in my field who had recently completed Fulbright awards: one to Southeast Asia, one to Finland, and one to Hungary. Through conversations with these colleagues, I learned that although all three had very different focuses for their projects they all had amazing experiences, would recommend the Fulbright program to others, and would most definitely do it again. After encouragement from these colleagues, I decided that I would apply for a Fulbright. But where to start? Below I discuss some considerations when applying for a Fulbright award.

Where do I want to go? The Fulbright program partners with over 135 countries across the world, which can be quite overwhelming as you can only apply for one Fulbright award at a time. An important part of the application is to highlight the specific award that you are applying for and why you need to be in that geographic location to complete your project. For this reason, many Fulbrighters have a specific reason to apply for an award located in a certain country based on ongoing research or professional goals. For instance, perhaps you already have a connection with a research lab in Myanmar working on a specific research question. Or maybe you have always been interested in how the education system in Singapore compares to that in the United States.

The catalog of current Fulbright awards lists all of the available awards for the upcoming cycle. Each award specifies the requested discipline. In some instances, the title of the award will specify the discipline. In others, the award will be titled ‘All Disciplines’, but then at the bottom of the Award Details page there will be a list of specific disciplines that will be considered. Some awards even specify areas of interest, for example, in one case within the discipline of Education the award is really interested in the areas of Higher Education Administration or Curriculum Development. By filtering through the countries and the disciplines, your choices narrow significantly. For me, there was an award for Hungary titled Education and Psychology, which was perfect for school psychologists. I had no previous connections to Hungary but I was able to tailor my application to my match to the specific award, my contribution to the host institution, and my desire to learn more about the country.

Awards for some countries are more competitive than others. Countries such as Australia, the United Kingdom, and France typically get a lot of applicants, but they also have more awards available. Countries such as Hungary, Romania, and Serbia typically have fewer applicants, but they also offer fewer awards. The award I applied for only grants two awards per year, but the number of applicants received for each award are not published.

What do I want to do? There are four main Fulbright activities: Research, Teaching, Teaching/Research, or Professional Projects. In research, you are conducting a specific research project. This could take place in a lab, school, using secondary data, or archival data. There should be a tangible outcome such as a journal article as a culmination of the Fulbright. For a research award, it is preferable to already have a relationship with collaborators in the host country to make it easier to conduct research. If you want to do a research-based Fulbright, think about the time and resources needed to make the project happen from beginning to end. With the applied school-based focus of my research, it was not feasible to obtain IRB permission from both my university and the host institution, find a willing site, obtain permission and parental consent, and complete a research project all in one semester.

A teaching activity Fulbright requires teaching classes, usually two per semester, as well as providing guest lectures, workshops, and seminars. My Fulbright was a Teaching award, and I taught two graduate-level courses in English, attended conferences and workshops, visited and observed in several primary schools, and provided eight guest lectures/workshops. I also had the opportunity to consult with several graduate students on their theses.

A teaching/research Fulbright combines both the research and teaching responsibilities, although the teaching load would be lessened. For a professional projects Fulbright, you would engage in various activities in your area of expertise. This could include serving as a consultant, gaining practical experience, or visiting scholars and practitioners in the field. The professional project can vary, but the primary focus is not either research or teaching.

How long is my project? Typically, Fulbright scholar awards are either one or two semesters, varying from four to nine months. This usually depends on the award and the country. In Hungary, all scholar awards are four months, whereas all student awards are nine months. In other countries (such as Czech Republic), the applicant is given the option of award length based on the specific award. Some awards have the option of a flex grant, where scholars can propose multiple stays in the host country of one to three months over the course of two to three years. This may be useful for someone doing a longitudinal study who would want to return to the country for short periods of time. It is important to ensure that your award length is long enough to be able to accomplish what you have planned for your project.

But what about funding? It is daunting to think about continuing payments on responsibilities from home (such as house or car payments) while having to pay living expenses in a separate country. All Fulbright awards will provide some sort of funds to complete the program. This typically includes a monthly stipend and may also include a housing allowance, travel allowance, and extra allowance for dependents. In some cases, the university will provide housing; in other cases you will need to find your own place to live.

Many scholars will complete a Fulbright during a sabbatical to alleviate concerns about funding. If that is not possible, speak with your administration about creative solutions. My administration was very supportive of the Fulbright award and agreed to supplement the Fulbright stipend with additional funds to match my current salary. Have conversations with your institution about funding and coverage of your current responsibilities prior to applying for the Fulbright; you don’t want to get stuck in a financial bind.

What if I have a family? Many Fulbrighters complete their award alone, but plenty others bring their family along! This is definitely a personal consideration, but if you have a partner that can travel it can be a wonderful experience for them. My entire family came for the Fulbright, including my partner and our three preschool/elementary school aged children. It was very daunting to organize everything and there were many more logistics to consider when bringing a family, but it was a wonderful experience for our family. We collaborated with our public school and while we technically homeschooled our kids while in Hungary, their teachers would email us the lesson plans each week and we would work from those to ensure our kids were on track when returning to school. In Hungary there were a few Fulbrighters who travelled with their partners and there was one other family; the Hungarian Fulbright Commission and the other Fulbrighters were very supportive of the families and our children still talk about the other Fulbrighters they met.

What else do I need to consider? By carefully reviewing the Award Details for each award, some awards specify the host institutions that are approved for that particular award or will provide a list of potential institutions in the country who can host that award. If you want to work with a particular institution make sure they are authorized as a host institution. The Award Details will also tell you if a letter of invitation from the host country is required. In my case, a letter of invitation was recommended but not required; I obtained a letter by cold-emailing the chair of the department at the university I wanted to host me. This allowed me to show the committee that there was a university who valued my expertise and wanted to host me. Some countries do not allow you to contact the universities in advance, for example, awards in Bhutan indicate that a letter of invitation should not be sought.

Many Fulbrights can be completed without any additional language expertise. The Award Details will let you know if another language is required or if English is sufficient. In many cases, there is no need to be proficient (or even know a word) of the host language. I didn’t know any Hungarian prior to applying, and my current Hungarian is very rudimentary. All the courses I taught were in English and the majority of my students were Erasmus students (foreign students in Hungary for an exchange semester/year). There are several other types of Fulbright awards in addition to the traditional Fulbright Scholar award. These include the International Education Administrators award, Distinguished Scholar awards, Postdoctoral awards, Student awards, and English Teaching Assistant awards.

On the Fulbright Scholar Directory | Fulbright Scholar Program (fulbrightscholars.org) website, you can search by person, host country, home institution, discipline, and other filters to learn about past Fullbrighters. It is highly beneficial to hear about the experiences of other Fullbrighters as you determine the specifics of your application. Each university should also have a Fullbright liaison through their international center that will be able to connect you with Fullbrighters at your own institution.

Is it worth it? The unanimous vote from me, my family, my colleagues who have been on Fulbright, and the other Fulbrighters from my semester in Hungary would be yes, the Fulbright experience is definitely an experience that will not be forgotten. The best advice I can give is to make the most of the Fulbright experience and immerse yourself in the host country’s culture. Learn at least the basics of the language and experience the country’s food, music, history, and holiday traditions. Visit the local markets, playgrounds, ruin pubs, hillside wineries, and ride public transportation. The Hungarian Fulbright Commission sponsored excursions at least monthly for all the Fulbrighters with trips to historical sites, experienced guides, and special customs such as traditional gingerbread decorating. Talk to people and learn from those that live in the country. We were able to get to know the other scholars and students within the program, none of which had expertise in psychology or education but were studying other fascinating areas specific to Hungary. Our building landlord was wonderful and brought our children holiday treats while trying to teach them Hungarian.

Finally, make sure to explore! This was the first time I had been out of the country for an extended amount of time and the first time I was fully immersed in a different culture. On the weekends we visited many different cities and towns within Hungary and the surrounding countries, most of which were easily accessible by train. Although the Fulbright awards limit the amount of time during your actual award time period that you are allowed to spend out of the country, we took several longer trips before the Fulbright started, after the Fulbright ended, and during the university’s fall break week to visit other countries and explore more of Eastern and Western Europe. Overall, the Fulbright was an incredible experience that I would recommend to anyone wanting to immerse themselves in another culture while working on a special project related to school psychology.

What intrigues you about obtaining a Fullbright? How might this experience benefit you as an early career scholar?

NASP 2019 Save the Date! (and APA 2018 Handout)

The SSSP ECF is excited to announce the following NASP 2019 sessions and events:SS014 - Hitting the Ground Running: Maximizing Your First Years in Academia (special session)Tuesday, February 263:00-4:50 pmHyatt Regency Atlanta, Atrium/International Tower, Conference Center LL3, Peidmont RoomTarget audience: prospective faculty and individuals who have recently started or will soon be starting a faculty position.Format: 1-hour symposium followed by discussion in breakout groupsPA344 - Academic Parenthood: Perspectives from Early Mid and Senior Faculty MembersWednesday, February 27th4:30-5:20 pmHyatt Regency Atlanta Atrium/International/Conference Center Level LL3/MariettaTarget audience: prospective faculty, graduate students considering academic careers, pre and post tenure academics, faculty membersFormat: Panel Presentation with Q & ASY054 – Straight Talk about Faculty Careers: Opportunities and Strategies for Success (symposium)Thursday, February 288:00-9:20 amAtlanta Marriott Marquis, Atrium Level, A701Target audience: prospective faculty, including practicing school psychologists and graduate students, who would like to learn more about the diversity of faculty/graduate educator career options and opportunities in school psychology.Format: Symposium with Q&AEarly Career Faculty Lunch & Networking (free!)Thursday, February 2811:30 am - 1:00 pmTin Lizzy’s DowntownTarget audience: new and pre-tenure faculty, including those recently hired who’ll start their positions in the fall. You are welcome to join for all or part of the event.RSVP: https://ucdenver.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_82nDuNw5zWq4aS9SY017 - Methods Matter: The Promise of Empirical Research to Inform PracticeThursday, February 283:30pm - 4:50 pmAtlanta Marriott Marquis, Atrium Level, A701Target audience: prospective faculty, early career faculty, practicing schoolpsychologists, and graduate students who are interested in translating research to practice. Special emphasis will be placed on helping early career researchers ensure their research is understood by applied audiences and strategies to translate their research to practice.Format: Symposium with Q&AAlso, thank you to everyone who joined us at APA 2018 for the symposium, Acquiring Foundation and Non-traditional Grant Funds. You can download the handout here.

Working with University Giving for Funding Opportunities

February 18, 2018

Daniel L. Gadke & Kasee K. Stratton; Mississippi State UniversityA part of an academic’s role is to find and secure funding. The ability to acquire funding may often play a large role in a scholar’s ability to earn tenure and promotions; however, many academics struggle with acquiring funding throughout their careers. Von Hippel and Von Hippel (2015) reported primary investigators put approximately 116 hours into each proposal and co-primary investigators account for approximately 55 hours in, with only about 3 to 20% of proposals being awarded across many agencies (e.g., IES, NIH, NSF). This is a great deal of time and effort for a low rate of return. With recurring news of federal budget cuts, limited funds, and programs drying up, it is unlikely we will see an upswing in the number of grants funded in the near future.Aside from the competitive nature of the granting world, many early career faculty have difficulty acquiring mentorship on the topic, despite the importance of establishing a track record of funding early in their careers. Fortunately, there are other avenues of funding available outside major scientific granting bodies. Here, we are going to explore one of those avenues: working with your university or college’s department of giving.University Giving All universities have a mechanism for soliciting funds, whether that be from private donors interested in a cause, corporations, or alumni. This mechanism may be called different things depending on the university you work for. Here, at Mississippi State, it is referred to as the Mississippi State University (MSU) Foundation (http://www.msufoundation.com); at my alma mater, Illinois State University, it is University Advancement (https://giving.illinoisstate.edu).  Elsewhere, it may be referred to as development, stewardship, endowments, or donor relations offices. Often, universities have a representative from this mechanism whose role is to work with your college to acquire funds.Given your place of employment, there are a number of ways you may be able to work with your university’s advancement unit to find funds to support your program, students, career, research, etc. Examples may include, scholarships, gifts-in-kind, or establishing a fund where monetary funds and donations can be placed. At MSU, this is referred to as an advancement fund. Let’s consider some important points and examples for working with your university’s advancement mechanism:Understanding giving at your university. Before doing anything, meet with a representative from your university’s giving unit. Given there is so much variance across universities, it is important to understand how the unit is able to provide support to you and your program. In some cases, there may need to be a minimum fund/donation amount (e.g., $5,000) to start, in others you might be given an account number and can start finding funding sources at a later time, and at some universities this may not even be a possibility. Here at MSU, any faculty member with an initiative can start an advancement fund and solicit donations start asking their family members to make charitable donations to if they want. Regardless, understanding this mechanism is essential to moving forward. Fortunately, one of my faculty mentors was fluent in working university giving and passed little nuggets of wisdom down to me. My first week on the job, I reached out to learn more about our College of Education’s giving representative.Educating your giving unit on school psychology. School psychology can be a confusing world for many; however, most of the things school psychologists do are attractive to donors, private giving entities, etc. Helping kids with academics, behavior concerns, various disabilities, trauma, working with English language learners, and so on; school psychologists are problem solvers who improve outcomes for children and their families in any number of ways. The representative is going to need to understand this and what it is you are doing to make that impact. Universities are regularly looking for ways to promote themselves, approach donors, and receive good PR. This could include highlighting your lab on autism, trauma, or school climate.What can university giving help with. University giving units can help in a variety of ways. Many may have ideas of private donors or foundations that may be interested in your work. They can also help coordinate fundraising and giving efforts. They might be able to coordinate a calling day or mailings to alumni from your program or college to let them know about the opportunity to support an initiative. If you run a fundraiser (e.g., a 5K walk/run, sale, etc.) they can promote and help with fund collection. On big university and nationwide giving days (e.g., Giving Tuesday; November 27, 2018), they can promote your campaign on a large scale as one of universities options of ways to give. Coordinating these events through your giving unit helps ensure all donors are also provided with appropriate tax paperwork. They can help write to organizations or corporations who have giving units, who may be interested in giving to you. For example, we wrote to a local steel mill with a foundation about the services we provide to children and were awarded $50,000. University units of giving are motivated to provide support for a number of reasons, one is they often get a cut of funds raised; here is it 5% off the top for any amount.Mississippi State has created a video to promote donations to our clinic, and created a commercial that was put out on the SEC network along with an entire campaign to promote one of our research labs on CHARGE Syndrome.How to pursue funds. There are a number of ways you can pursue funds to place in a university giving account. At MSU, we have done this a number of ways. First, consider simple fundraisers. We have 5Ks, t-shirt sales, work with local business to have days when portions of sales go to the fund. We have worked with student organizations to help coordinate these events, which has been wildly successful. Our universities Panhellenic Council does a great deal of fundraising for our Autism and Developmental Disabilities Clinic/School Psychology Service Center. Secondly, most large corporations have foundation branches that focus on giving to local initiatives and causes. Consider targeting these. As mentioned before, we wrote a small (i.e., 5 page) proposal of what we do to a local steel mill and received what will hopefully turn into reoccurring funds. Third, we have worked with actual state Foundations to receive funds. Finally, we’ve worked to attract private donors who are interested in supporting your work. While it took several years for us to get momentum and learn how to best cultivate a relationship with our MSU Foundation, in the last 6 months we have received around $200,000 in gifts from fundraising, corporate, and private donors, which require little front end effort and are often reoccurring.What can these funds be used for? This is an important question to ask your university giving arm, as it may vary. Here, there are little  estrictions on the use of the funds as long as they are supporting ourinitiative in some capacity; however, donors may restrict their use (e.g., have to use to pay for a graduate assistant). We have used funds to support students as graduate assistants, cover research materials, cover clinic and program overhead, cover the cost of travel for program related activities. Recently, we were even given funds to renovate a space on our campus to expand our clinical training. Given much of our research is tied to our clinical work, having a thriving training clinic only enhances our opportunities for research. Perhaps most importantly, these funds are protected by your university’s giving unit; our department head, dean, provost, etc. cannot touch the funds for any reason, only the account holder (i.e., you!).

Resources from NASP Funding Symposium and EC Meeting

February 29, 2016

It was wonderful seeing so many early career faculty at NASP! Thank you to Ed Shapiro, Rob Volpe, Erin Dowdy, and Katie Eklund for presenting in the ECF’s NASP Symposium, Strategies for Securing Funding as an Early Career Scholar! And thanks to all of the early career scholars who attended. Below are several useful websites and resources mentioned during the session. If you know of other great resources, please feel free to share via the comments. Websites to Explore for Funding Opportunities

1. Your university – Take advantage of internal grant opportunities to support pilot projects and develop your research program in order to increase your competitiveness for external funding.
2. General sites for both pre-doctoral and post-doctoral scholar

• gov
• Community of Scholars
• APA Awards, Grants, and Scholarships
• AERA Fellowships and Research Grants
• Science’s Where to Search for Grant Funding(also includes advice on grant writing)
• SocialPsychology Network’s Sources for Research Funding

3. For Graduate Students

• NASP Awards, Grants, and Scholarships
• UCLAGrad Student Funding Search Engine

4. Select Non-Profits That Administer Research Grants and Fellowships

• MacArthur Foundation
• The Spencer Foundation
• William T. Grant Foundation
• Lumina Foundation
• Ford Foundation
• Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
• Joyce Foundation
• The Teagle Foundation
• The Chicago Community Trust
• The Foundation Center

5. Other Resources on Grant Writing

• Nancy Guerra’s Preparing Research Proposals in Psychology: The Graduate Student Guide to Funding
• The Chronicle of Higher Education: Debunking Some Myths about Grant Writing
• UW-Madison’s List of Grant Proposal Writing Resources
• TAMIU’s Grant Writing Resources

Thank you to all the new faculty who participated in the Early Career Faculty meeting at NASP on Thursday, February 11. Below is the resource list discussed during the meeting. We look forward to seeing you all—and many new faces—next year!General Early Career Scholar Resources

• Akin-Little, A., Bray, M., Eckert, T. L, & Kehle, T.J. (2004). The perceptions of academic women in school psychology: A national survey. School Psychology Quarterly,19, 327-341. doi: 10.1521/scpq.19.4.327.53404
• Ammerman, C. & Tseng, V. (2011). Maximizing mentoring: A guide for building strong relationships.New York, NY: William T. Grant.
• Bain, K. (2004). What the best college teachers do. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
• Berstein, D. A. & Lucas, S. G. (2004). Tips for effective teaching. In J. M. Darley, M. P. Zanna & H. L. Roediger (Eds.), The complete academic: A career guide 2^ndedition (pp. 79-115). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
• Boice, R. (2000). Advice for new faculty members. New York: Pearson.
• Darley, J. M., Zanna, M. P. & Roediger, H. L. (Eds.). (2004) The complete academic: A career guide2nd edition. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
• Grapin, S. L., Kranzler, J. H., & Daley, M. L. (2012). Scholarly productivity and impact of school psychology faculty in APA-accredited programs. Psychology in the Schools, 50,87-101. doi: 10.1002/pits.21658
• Harris, B., & Sullivan, A. L. (2012). Faculty roles: A primer for students and professionals interested in careers in academia.NASP Communiqué, 41(2), 20-21.
• Harris, B., & Sullivan, A. L. (2013). Work-life balance in academic careers. The School Psychologist, 67(2), 23-26.
• Lucas, C. J., & Murry, J. W. (2002). New faculty: A practical guide for academic beginners. New York: Palgrave.
• Martínez, R. S., Floyd, R. G., & Erichsen, L .W. (2011). Strategies and attributes of highly productive scholars and contributors to the school psychology literature: Recommendations for increasing scholarly productivity. Journal of School Psychology, 49,691–720.  doi: 10.1016/j.jsp.2011.10.003
• McKeachie, W. (Ed.). (2003). Teaching tips(10th ed.). New York: Houghton Mifflin.
• Schoenfeld, A. C., & Magnan, R. (1994). Mentor in a manual: Climbing the academic ladder to tenure. Madison, WI: Magna Publications.
• Silva, P. (2007). How to write a lot. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.Ward, L. & Wolf-Wendel, L. (2012). Academic motherhood: How faculty manage work and family. New Brunswick, New Jersey: Rutgers University Press.

Follow Up to the ECF Sessions at the 2014 NASP Conference

February 26, 2014

The Early Career Forum had a productive week at the NASP Convention. Thanks to everyone who contributed to the ECF session and to all the participants who attended the sessions. Interested individuals can access handouts and information on the presenters each of our sessions below.Our first activity of the conference was the panel, Dollars and Sense: Advice for Early Career Scholars on Grantsmanship, featured four distinguished speakers: Edith Arrington, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation New Connections; Jacquelyn Buckley, Institute of Education Sciences; James Griffin, National Institutes of Health; and  Jessica Hoffman, Northeastern University. The panelists provided guidance on current federal and foundation funding opportunities, and strategies for navigating the funding process and developing compelling proposals.Next, Rob Volpe, Amy Briesch, Julia Ogg, and Maria Rogers led a conversation hour, Developing and Sustaining Research Collaborations. Participants engaged in an informal discussion surrounding how to foster productive research partnerships with peers and students.The session, Academic Motherhood: Perspectives from Early Mid and Senior Career Faculty, was a resounding success. Panelists Bryn Harris, University of Colorado Denver; Jessica Hoffman, Northeastern University; Shannon Suldo, PhD, University of South Florida; Beth Doll, University of Nebraska Lincoln discussed strategies for navigating the tenure clock, increasing research productivity, teaching strategies, negotiating parental leave, and forming supportive systems while parenting.In the symposium, Straight Talk about Faculty Careers: Preparing for the Role,Bryn Harris, University of Colorado Denver; Amanda L. Sullivan, University of Minnesota; Janine Jones, University of Washington; Jamie Zibulsky, Fairleigh Dickinson University, discussed the variety of career opportunities available to prospective faculty in school psychology, the common roles and expectations of faculty in different types of institutions, and strategies in which graduate students and practitioners can engage to prepare themselves for this career track.In the final offering of this conference, Making Mentoring Work for You: Advising and Collaborating with Students, ECF Committeemembers Amanda Sullivan and Rob Volpe, with Amy Briesch provided an overview of various faculty roles in mentoring and advising, tools for facilitating positive mentoring relationships with students, and strategies for initiating and maintaining productive rewarding individual and group mentoring relationships. Rob also discussed how to develop a research team, complete with a team website for recruiting and dissemination.We think these sessions were successful, but we’d love to hear from participants. What worked? What didn’t? What topics would you like us to address in the future? Please let us know!