Shifting from Applicant to Influencer: Recommendations for Increasing Extramural Funding Success from the Federal Relations-Research Development Interface

Michael Straub Author

04/07/2022 Added

13 Plays

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Presented by Nathan Meier, assistant vice chancellor for research, and Jessie Herrmann, director of federal relations

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[00:00:06.000]So, hello and welcome to this short presentation
[00:00:08.360]focused on shifting from applicant to influencer
[00:00:11.310]recommendations for increasing extramural funding success
[00:00:15.140]from the Federal Relations Research Development Interface.
[00:00:18.650]My name is Nathan Meier
[00:00:19.930]and I serve as the Assistant Vice Chancellor For Research
[00:00:22.370]at the University of Nebraska Lincoln.
[00:00:25.310]And I'm Jessie Herrmann,
[00:00:26.400]Director Of Federal relations at Nebraska.
[00:00:29.110]We wanna spend the next few minutes
[00:00:30.830]exploring opportunities for professionals
[00:00:33.330]from our two camps,
[00:00:34.700]federal relations and research development,
[00:00:37.070]to partner and help faculty and organizations
[00:00:39.720]shift their approaches towards external funding.
[00:00:42.490]Specifically, we wanna outline what it looks like
[00:00:44.930]to move from applicant to influencer
[00:00:47.600]and why this reorientation is important.
[00:00:50.240]We also wanna recommend some ways
[00:00:52.030]for federal relations and research development
[00:00:54.690]to partner in this work and consider the different context
[00:00:57.850]in which the potential for influencer work exists.
[00:01:01.910]And so the key takeaways from our discussion
[00:01:04.120]will be some big picture recommendations you may use
[00:01:07.180]to better position your faculty
[00:01:09.250]in organizational funding portfolios on an upward trend.
[00:01:13.090]So let's get started.
[00:01:14.590]First, as you all know,
[00:01:16.120]external funding is an action oriented, team based business
[00:01:19.960]and we want to begin
[00:01:21.360]by defining two important types of contributors.
[00:01:24.350]First, an applicant is someone
[00:01:25.990]who makes a formal application for something,
[00:01:28.330]like a job or a scholarly project.
[00:01:30.870]And an influencer is someone
[00:01:32.700]who inspires or guides the action of others.
[00:01:36.560]Our hypothesis is that
[00:01:38.120]a robust, healthy external funding portfolio
[00:01:41.100]is supported by applicants and influencers.
[00:01:44.800]So what defines success as an influencer
[00:01:47.520]in the external funding space?
[00:01:49.640]Well, we'd suggest the following examples.
[00:01:51.850]First establishing individual faculty
[00:01:54.980]or organizational capacity to help shape agency decisions
[00:01:58.880]during the budget formulation
[00:02:00.630]or request for proposal preparation stage.
[00:02:04.160]Second, having congressional committee staff
[00:02:06.640]become familiar with distinctive organizational capabilities
[00:02:10.310]and call on individual researchers for their expertise.
[00:02:14.290]Next securing trusted advisor status
[00:02:17.240]with legislators and policy makers.
[00:02:19.780]And finally suggesting new novel opportunities
[00:02:22.810]to help advance a member's agenda.
[00:02:25.370]Why is influencer work important?
[00:02:27.398]Well in our experience, taking influencer approach
[00:02:30.570]can yield a number of positive outcomes
[00:02:32.990]including growing knowledge and capacity at an organization
[00:02:37.610]or leveraging its distinctive expertise and experience,
[00:02:40.893]advancing cross sector
[00:02:42.720]university government collaboration and partnerships,
[00:02:45.817]exercising public sector leadership
[00:02:48.240]to proactively address emerging challenges and opportunities
[00:02:52.200]and finally,
[00:02:53.100]creating opportunities and collaborations
[00:02:55.010]within an organization.
[00:02:57.440]And so influencer work also is important
[00:02:59.600]because our organizations have a trusted brand
[00:03:02.740]with significant national and often global market reach.
[00:03:07.440]Federal agencies and private funders are key customers
[00:03:10.400]so it is important to keep our value propositions
[00:03:12.790]top of mind.
[00:03:14.140]We cannot assume that government partners or policy makers
[00:03:16.810]understand our organizations,
[00:03:18.750]and this is especially the case
[00:03:20.190]for those of us working at universities,
[00:03:22.450]nor do they fully appreciate
[00:03:23.740]our research and scholarly capabilities,
[00:03:26.016]or get how our work aligns with and can support theirs.
[00:03:30.510]And it's super important not to leave other organizations
[00:03:33.680]to have the run of defining
[00:03:35.250]federal policy and funding priorities
[00:03:37.940]that materially impact our missions.
[00:03:40.450]If we do, it is at our peril and very likely
[00:03:43.550]that others will influence Congress and their agencies
[00:03:46.633]to shape policy and funding issues to their advantage.
[00:03:50.809]So now that we have established that context,
[00:03:52.950]here are five of our top recommendations
[00:03:56.390]from moving from applicant to influencer.
[00:03:59.720]So first, set trends by following them.
[00:04:02.930]Federal priorities happen to change from year to year,
[00:04:05.530]administration to administration and Congress to Congress.
[00:04:08.810]So it's always important to develop
[00:04:10.460]broad forward looking program initiatives
[00:04:12.980]that are supported by clearly defined objectives
[00:04:15.350]that sync up with congressional priorities
[00:04:17.810]and federal budget realities.
[00:04:19.920]The is a key to capitalize
[00:04:21.590]on the federal appropriations process.
[00:04:24.460]Second, we hope you don't sweat the small stuff.
[00:04:27.200]Not all trends stick
[00:04:28.600]and some influencers end up getting trolled.
[00:04:31.110]Maintaining focus and message will strengthen the appeal
[00:04:33.820]of your organization's programs and initiatives over time,
[00:04:37.170]especially if they can be generalizable across
[00:04:39.870]or extend to to other similar organizations or regions.
[00:04:44.093]Third, don't go it alone, collaborate and cross promote.
[00:04:48.480]So in the long run,
[00:04:49.313]it will be beneficial to enlist and bring along
[00:04:51.660]other significant partners, public and private
[00:04:54.640]to help shape your organization's priorities and programs
[00:04:57.890]and to testify about how they will benefit from them.
[00:05:00.420]Fourth, build trust.
[00:05:02.020]Organizations looking to move the needle
[00:05:04.080]on federal legislative priorities
[00:05:06.160]must be realistic about what of their projects
[00:05:08.590]are shovel ready
[00:05:09.590]and they must be able to articulate
[00:05:11.230]why it is worth spending valuable political capital
[00:05:14.140]and investing taxpayer funds.
[00:05:16.560]Congressional members will want to know
[00:05:18.340]what they might be buying.
[00:05:19.890]And we'd suggest three questions
[00:05:21.880]to help you identify projects that are gonna pass muster.
[00:05:25.630]First, does the faculty member or team have a track record,
[00:05:28.930]and are they committed to a long term,
[00:05:31.100]federally aligned program of work?
[00:05:33.630]Second, is there an existing agency relationship
[00:05:37.180]and does your organization have a way to catch the money.
[00:05:40.950]Third, would the pro project be sustainable
[00:05:43.530]and yield measurable economic impact
[00:05:45.910]or create a distinctive organizational capability.
[00:05:49.360]You should be prepared to communicate the answers
[00:05:51.700]to these three questions simply, clearly, and often.
[00:05:55.540]And this is especially the case
[00:05:56.960]when you're dealing with young, busy congressional staffers.
[00:06:01.120]And five influencers are at the table.
[00:06:03.920]So you wanna be strategic and open to faculty appointments
[00:06:07.080]to federal service or working group opportunities.
[00:06:10.070]Help organizational leaders and faculty
[00:06:12.140]be nominated to or apply for membership
[00:06:14.890]on major national commissions and advisory boards,
[00:06:17.820]but don't allow advisory board service to be the only step.
[00:06:21.000]Appointee should work with other board members
[00:06:22.880]to identify emerging research and policy priorities,
[00:06:26.210]as well as meaningful opportunities
[00:06:27.900]for faculty or organizational leaders
[00:06:30.550]to provide comments in response to an agency based request,
[00:06:33.570]or information, or congressional testimony.
[00:06:37.070]And so we hope this set of recommendations
[00:06:39.230]has given you some ideas about how your organization
[00:06:42.170]can shift or enhance its approach
[00:06:44.720]toward the pursuit of external funding.
[00:06:46.810]Having opportunities to move the ball
[00:06:49.080]rather than just to defend the goal are exciting
[00:06:52.490]and an excellent place
[00:06:53.660]for our professional community to contribute.
[00:06:56.570]From where Jesse sit,
[00:06:58.210]research development professionals
[00:06:59.950]can be key partners in this work
[00:07:01.810]and they are essential collaborators
[00:07:03.360]to the federal relations colleagues at our organizations.
[00:07:07.320]Yeah, for example, you know
[00:07:08.360]we'd encourage research development
[00:07:09.880]and federal relations folks to meet regularly,
[00:07:12.620]discuss things like agency or program officer outreach,
[00:07:17.090]up and coming researchers
[00:07:18.510]or breakthrough projects on your campus
[00:07:20.640]that may be of federal interest.
[00:07:22.860]Emerging agency priorities
[00:07:24.650]and how they align with organizational capabilities,
[00:07:28.430]and opportunities to nominate faculty or leadership
[00:07:31.240]to federal advisory groups.
[00:07:33.760]So we hope you found
[00:07:34.620]the information and ideas we shared helpful.
[00:07:37.600]If you would like to learn more or ask questions,
[00:07:40.340]we're happy to have a conversation with you.
[00:07:42.330]You can find contact information for Jesse and me
[00:07:45.420]by going online and visiting the staff directory
[00:07:48.900]available research.unl.edu.
[00:07:52.030]Thanks so much.

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Shifting from Applicant to Influencer: Recommendations for Increasing Extramural Funding Success from the Federal Relations-Research Development Interface

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