The campus will remain closed until 12 noon Thursday, 02/13/25. Students should log into Canvas for specific class information from their instructors. Please contact event organizers for information on specific activities. Normal operations will resume at 12pm on Thursday.

Building a bigger, better university research infrastructure is goal of LTU event

Professional and Workplace Development
June 6, 2024

SOUTHFIELD—Building a bigger, better research infrastructure at Michigan’s universities is the goal of a conference to be held June 18-19 at Lawrence Technological University.

Thanks to funding from the National Science Foundation, the event is free to all participants.

The event, called BRINK—Building Research Infrastructure, Networks, and Knowledge—will feature keynote presentations and breakout sessions with experts from across the country. BRINK makes use of novel engagement, analysis, and planning techniques developed by Matthew Cole and Jacqueline Stavros, faculty in the LTU College of Business and Information Technology.

Research administration and development professionals from more than a dozen institutions of higher education have already signed up for the event. To sign up for the conference visit https://www.eventbrite.com/e/brink-conference-june-18-19-2024-tickets-857273186177

The program is funded by the NSF’s Growing Research Access for Nationally Transformative Equity and Diversity (GRANTED) initiative.

The aims for attendees are:

* Develop techniques of positive engagement to facilitate conversations and strategic change in research development;
* Provide interaction with colleagues who can support attendees in building research administrative infrastructure, networks, and knowledge beyond the conference;
* Spur more universities to participate in NSF’s GRANTED initiative for nationally transformative and scalable models for research infrastructure; and
* Have attendees leave with a plan, strategy and capability to grow their organization’s research capacity.

GRANTED is an investment by NSF in the capacity of emerging research institutions and a recognition of the impact that organizational infrastructure has on faculty to engage in translational and applied research on a larger scale. Typically, most smaller institutions of higher learning have only a handful of staffers working on securing research funding—and some have none at all.

“We are providing a free certification study session,” said Kathryn Wrench, LTU executive director of sponsored research. “The certification is typically held by administrators at larger universities. We’re making it available to everyone, and providing continuing mentoring support for the certifying credential. On the first day, research professionals will receive training on community outreach, cross-institutional partnership, and working most effectively to support faculty. On day two, NSF will join us for a grant writing session.”

BRINK’s intended audience is research managers, research assistants, and training and development specialists—primarily from small institutions, but also open to other colleges and universities—replicating a network of educational institutions in Florida called the Florida Research Development Alliance, a partner in the NSF grant.

The event will establish the Michigan Research Administration and Development (MiRAD) Network, a group of higher education officials who will share best practices to make smaller colleges and universities more effective at securing and administering grants. MiRAD is a grass-roots effort to connect diverse research professionals to develop strong mentoring and professional relationships. MiRAD’s philosophy is to share best practices, resources, and opportunities across Michigan’s growing research enterprise. MiRAD also publishes a monthly newsletter called The Beacon. To sign up for The Beacon, visit this link.

Added Cole, interim dean of the LTU College of Business and Information Technology: “We intend to provide research support infrastructure among private and small public institutions. We want to train research administrators and research development staff to communicate effectively with the stakeholders at their institutions—with faculty, but also other administrators and those outside of their institutions, to build a strategic plan to increase research, unique approaches to grant writing, or other skills that may be valuable to their institutions.”

The training will use the Appreciative Inquiry and SOAR (Strengths, Opportunities, Aspirations and Results) techniques developed by LTU business professor Jacqueline Stavros.

Appreciative Inquiry is a strengths-based, positive approach to leadership development and organization and societal change. It distinguishes itself from other change models by focusing on the best of what is and could be in a team or organization, and using that as a platform to build future directions.

SOAR takes Appreciative Inquiry and applies it to strategic thinking, planning, and leading that invites any person at any level in an organization to create strategy and strategic plans through shared conversations, collaboration, and a commitment to action (www.soar-strategy.com). SOAR invites stakeholders into a conversation about: Strengths, what the organization does well; Opportunities, what are the possibilities and innovations; and Aspirations, what gives people purposeful work that reflects what they value. Finally, SOAR encourages conversations about Results that are meaningful and measurable. SOAR has helped individuals, teams, and entrepreneurs in for-profit, non-profit, government, and Fortune 500 organizations all over the world.

“The training workshops will teach attendees how to use SOAR to think and plan strategically about the practices and processes within their respective research enterprises,” Stavros said. “RAD professionals will have the skill sets necessary for building strategic capacity in the research enterprise, such as communication, emotional intelligence, time management, teamwork, and strategic thinking and planning.”

Stavros is the co-author of several best-selling business books on AI and SOAR, including “Conversations Worth Having: Using Appreciative Inquiry to Fuel Productive and Meaningful Engagement,” and “Learning to SOAR: Creating Strategy that Inspires Innovation and Engagement.” Attendees will reserve copies of these books.

Lawrence Technological University is one of only 13 private, technological, comprehensive doctoral universities in the United States. Located in Southfield, Mich., LTU was founded in 1932 and offers more than 100 programs through its Colleges of Architecture and Design, Arts and Sciences, Business and Information Technology, Engineering, and Health Sciences, as well as Specs@LTU as part of its growing Center for Professional Development. PayScale lists Lawrence Tech among the nation’s top 11 percent of universities for alumni salaries. Forbes and The Wall Street Journal rank LTU among the nation’s top 10 percent. U.S. News and World Report list it in the top tier of the best Midwest colleges. Students benefit from small class sizes and a real-world, hands-on, “theory and practice” education with an emphasis on leadership. Activities on Lawrence Tech’s 107-acre campus include more than 60 student organizations and NAIA varsity sports.

» Document Viewer

Use Your Cell Phone as a Document Camera in Zoom

  • What you will need to have and do
  • Download the mobile Zoom app (either App Store or Google Play)
  • Have your phone plugged in
  • Set up video stand phone holder

From Computer

Log in and start your Zoom session with participants

From Phone

  • Start the Zoom session on your phone app (suggest setting your phone to “Do not disturb” since your phone screen will be seen in Zoom)
  • Type in the Meeting ID and Join
  • Do not use phone audio option to avoid feedback
  • Select “share content” and “screen” to share your cell phone’s screen in your Zoom session
  • Select “start broadcast” from Zoom app. The home screen of your cell phone is now being shared with your participants.

To use your cell phone as a makeshift document camera

  • Open (swipe to switch apps) and select the camera app on your phone
  • Start in photo mode and aim the camera at whatever materials you would like to share
  • This is where you will have to position what you want to share to get the best view – but you will see ‘how you are doing’ in the main Zoom session.