By Yael Mayer, Business Administrator, McC Center for Synthetic Biology, NURAP President 2019-current
Firstly and belatedly, Welcome to FY20, NURAP! My name is Yael Mayer and I am NURAP’s FY20 President. This is a very exciting role for me and I look forward to meeting more of you as the year progresses. NU-RAP has been, and still is, a great resource and support network for me and it is my honor to serve as President this year. NURAP added 4 new steering committee members for FY20: Belinda Beach, Catherine Cotter, Nga Du and Katherine Stastny. We are thrilled to welcome them to our team and if they are in your area, please feel free to reach out to them with any NURAP related questions.
In addition to my new role as President, Maria Galent is NURAP’s Vice-President and Katherine Stastny is NURAP’s Secretary. They are both equally as excited as I am to lead and support the NURAP steering committee as well as the larger NURAP community. As with any of our members, we are avail-able for any questions or comments you may have regarding NURAP and look forward to hearing your feedback.
Last year was a year of growth for NURAP. NURAP piloted a mentoring program that focused on pairing junior research administrators with senior research administrators across the university. The program had participants from 3 different schools and 10 different departments. This effort was a great success for NURAP and we hope to continue with another, more robust, mentoring program in the near future.
NURAP’s programming subcommittee hosted many well attended NURAP@noon sessions. Some of last year’s programming included: Export Controls, Human Research Subject payments, and Reconciliations Best Practices. We look forward to seeing you at the next NURAP@noon.
The membership subcommittee oversaw the management of NURAP’s travel awards. These financial assistance awards support NURAP members who wish to attend a research administration conference. NURAP is committed to supporting the professional development of NURAP members.
The continuing education subcommittee hosted the biennial CRA study sessions; open to the entire NURAP community with a specific focus on preparing for the CRA exam. Sessions were held weekly from January to May and included presentations on Intellectual Property, Compliance and COI, Contracts and FARs, IRB, IACUC, and Audits to name a few. Sessions will be held again in FY21.
The communication and outreach subcommittee revamped the NURAP website and the very newsletter you are reading. Our website and newsletters build community across the university and help people understand the vast expertise and opportunities within Northwestern’s RA enterprise.
NURAP is excited to find new ways of supporting the NURAP community in FY20. We hope that you will partner with us in this effort and reach out with any feedback.
Sincerely,
Yael Mayer, CRA
President, Northwestern University Research Administration Professionals