R&I’s Internal Newsletter
OPEN Book is a monthly electronic newsletter that highlights upcoming activities, office news, and accomplishments. To read the current or previous OPEN Book newsletters, go to research.unl.edu/open. The OPEN Book newsletter is sent on the last day of the month.
News and Upcoming Events
OPEN Forum – Focused on R&I’s Vision, Mission, Values, Goals and the Path to AAU – Register Now
R&I’s Spring OPEN Forum will be held on Tuesday, May 14, 2024, 8:15-10:00 a.m. at the Cather Dining Complex at 530 N 17th Street in meeting room Red Cloud A.
The presentation will focus on R&I’s Vision, Mission, Values, Goals, and the Path to AAU. Sherri Jones, Interim Vice Chancellor will give a high-level presentation on our vision, mission, values, functions, and goals. Becky Zavala, Assistant Vice Chancellor will follow with some information on the AAU membership indicators and the importance of becoming a university of AAU stature.
A continental breakfast will be served at 8:15 a.m. The program will begin around 8:45 and will conclude by 10:00. Please RSVP your attendance plansby May 7.
A regular feature at our OPEN Forum is to take time to celebrate our colleagues. Please submit a kudo to a colleague that will be shared at the event and in the OPEN Book Newsletter.
OPEN Forum is a quarterly meeting for all R&I staff; it is an opportunity to gather with colleagues, have fun, and learn about an important aspect of the office. If you have questions regarding the OPEN Forum contact Becky Carter.
Nebraska Research Enterprise Apprenticeship Program (NREAP)
The need for a diverse workforce pipeline dedicated to cultivating talent across research administration is critical for sustaining our field. Recognizing this demand and the importance of developing research administration talent, R&I is proudly initiating a new research enterprise apprenticeship program. The Nebraska Research Enterprise Apprenticeship Program (NREAP) is an apprenticeship-to-career experience that provides undergraduate students foundational knowledge, hands-on work experience, soft skills cultivation, and job placement coaching across the research enterprise spectrum – sponsored programs, research communications, research compliance, institutional animal care, research development, project management, and research finance.
Apprentices will spend the fall semester learning the basics of research administration concepts. In the spring, apprentices will be placed in one of the seven R&I units for more specialized training and hands-on experience. A goal of the program is to serve as a pathway to full-time employment within R&I or other support offices at UNL after graduation.
The program is being led by the Project Management Office with Elyse Watson as the program manager. They are extending offers to students this week and will welcome them in early September.
HealthierU Spring Event
The UNL Employee Wellness program – HealthierU – is hosting its annual Spring Wellness Event on April 11, 11:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. in the Nebraska East Union, Great Plains Room. This year’s theme is Spring Cleaning: out with the old and in with the new wellness habits! The focus of the event is to provide employees with hands-on activities and workstations to engage in innovative well-being habits that they can implement in their everyday lives.
Learning and Development
UNL Professional Development Series
The Office of Diversity and Inclusion and UNL Human Resources Office offers a professional development series. Seminar topics include Sexual Misconduct Response for Faculty and Staff; Engage the Room: Strategies for Effective Presentations; Pronouns 101; Fierce Conversations and Sustaining an Ecology of Validation at UNL. More information and registration can be found at:
https://events.unl.edu/search/?q=Professional+Development+Series.
All-Staff Conference Registration Opens April 8th
The Annual UNL All-Staff Conference will be held on May 20th & 21st at the Nebraska East Union. This year, interested participants can choose between in-person or virtual registration. Registration officially opens on April 8th.
Annual Required Training and Compliance Review – Reminder to complete by April 24, 2024
The Office of Research and Innovation (R&I) is committed to being an outstanding workplace. Complying with University of Nebraska policies and maintaining records helps enhance R&I’s effectiveness as an organization and is an important piece of employees’ learning and development.
Beginning this spring, R&I will send each employee (regular, temp, on-call) reminders of these annual to-do items to ensure everyone is current on required training and following university policies. This is a team effort to ensure that our unit follows the most current requirements, which enhances R&I’s ability to provide excellent, high-quality support services to the Nebraska research community.
Please take time to review each area, complete the information requested, and sign the document by April 24, 2024. It should take less than 10 minutes to complete the review. Please start by creating a review. The review will be routed to your supervisor and R&I leadership.
If you have any questions regarding this review, please contact Becky Carter, R&I Organizational Development Specialist.
Welcome New R&I Team Members
My name is Ashley Stengel and I’m excited to join the Project Management Office team. I earned my Ph.D. in Interdisciplinary Life Sciences from UNL in 2022 and was working as a postdoctoral research associate in Agronomy & Horticulture before joining R&I.
My wife and I are adventurers at heart, and love spending time at the Lincoln Children’s Zoo, visiting the great outdoor spaces throughout Nebraska, and playing board games – especially those that require strategy and computational thinking!
I started working for R&I originally as a student worker way back in 2007. Once I graduated with my BA, I officially started full time with R&I in 2011. I’ve held various positions supporting research and R&I over the years. For the past two years, I have been working as an Awards Coordinator for the Office of Sponsored Programs at UNO. I’m excited to be back in a new role that will help me support the growth of research. I grew up on a farm – where my parents still live – so you will likely find me doing outside activities or helping out on the farm on weekends.
Farewells
Suzanne Spiehs‘ last day with Industry Relations will be April 10. If you need assistance, please contact Ryan Anderson.
KUDOS to Our Colleagues
Animal Care Technician Stefanie Kremer passed her ALAT exam!
Congratulations to Animal Care Technician Stefanie Kremer (IACP Service Center Animal Care Team) on passing her ALAT exam! The American Association for Laboratory Animal Science (AALAS) has a 3-tier certification program for the development of Animal Care Technicians. This program was developed to recognize professional achievement and provide an authoritative endorsement of a technician’s level of competence in laboratory animal technology. The ALAT (Assistant Laboratory Animal Technician) certification is the first tier and it focuses on animal husbandry, health and welfare in addition to basic IACUC knowledge. Great work, Stef!
Dr. Kelly Heath was inducted into the Nebraska Hall of Agricultural Achievement
From the award citation:
Kelly is an outstanding leader and contributor to the advancement of veterinary medicine and research with animals. Kelly has made a tremendous, positive impact on the UNL Institutional Animal Care Program and the infrastructure that supports research, education, and extension programs with animals at UNL. His collaborative approach and excellent customer service transformed the culture of research compliance at UNL and developed positive relationships between UNL faculty and university administrators responsible for ensuring compliance with federal and university regulatory policies associated with the use of animals in research. Kelly also provides a tremendous amount of service to the veterinary profession, the UNL research community, and scientists at the USDA ARS US Meat Animal Research Center in Clay Center, NE. He provides exceptional mentorship to young veterinary professionals – many of whom are now successful veterinarians in private practice in Nebraska, Iowa, and South Dakota. He routinely volunteers to give specialized, technical lectures on Feedlot Health, Cow-Calf Health, and Veterinary Ethics for undergraduate, graduate, and veterinary students at UNL.
Do you know someone who should join our team? Share these opportunities!
Research Technician, Research, application review date begins, 5/1/2024
Research Assistant (Part-Time), Center for Brain, Biology & Behavior, application review date begins, 4/1/2024
Research Assistant Professor, Center for Brain, Biology & Behavior, application review date begins, 5/31/2024
The Month in Pictures
Research Compliance Services team tour new College of Engineering spaces
Welcome to the world, baby Layne Louise Kosena
NU System Export Control Group tour UNMC Davis Global Center/iEXCEL
The NU Export Control group, including Erik Schulz, Kaela Evans, and Sara Quinn (Research Compliance Services) attended a meeting at UNMC on March 19th with an agent from the federal Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS). These visits have been conducted annually since 2023. Given the depth and breadth of the research and areas applicable to Export Control, UNL and the other NU campuses were one of the few University programs from across the country selected to participate in the BIS Academic Outreach Initiative. The annual meetings focus on engagement, briefings, and mutual training and understanding.
Governor Pillen visited Nebraska Innovation Campus
Spring Break Memories in the Making
Pi Day Celebration
Vectis welding robot welds Nebraska N
Pepper finds forever home with Aurora Kenworthy
Two R&I teammates are also teammates with No Coast Roller Derby
Grant Writer’s Workshop hosted 120 participants
Vinh Phan (MERC) accepted Research Associate position after graduation
As a soon-to-be graduate this May, he recently accepted an offer to join the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond as a Research Associate (RA). Vinh will join a cohort of fellow research associates participating in the Richmond Fed’s RA program. He will support multiple respectable economists on their projects and contribute to policy work for the regional Federal Reserve. Vinh will gain hands-on experience with large datasets, and statistical modeling, and learn real-world economic applications. He hopes this experience will provide a strong foundation for future professional or academic endeavors as he plans to pursue a doctoral degree in economics. We wish Vinh the best in his post bac journey!
Handbell Choir includes MERC’s Jenn Rutt
Jenn Rutt (MERC) plays in the First Plymouth Ringers Handbell Choir. This group is celebrating 50 years of ringing the weekend of April 6-7, with the main concert being held at First Plymouth Church (20th & D Streets) at 7pm. Everyone is welcome!
OPEN Book Submissions
If you enjoyed the news and photos, please consider sharing some for the next OPEN Book Newsletter.
Thank you to the OPEN Book reporters:
Mardi Bonner (Office of Sponsored Programs)
Megan Ebbers (Institutional Animal Care Program)
Tisha Gilreath Mullen (Office of Proposal Development)
Nova Gocchi Carrasco (Methodology and Evaluation Research Core)
Brooke Goedert (Nebraska Innovation Campus)
Mari Greer (Vice Chancellor’s Office)
Casey Lundberg (NUtech Ventures)
Suzanne Spiehs (Industry Relations)
Sara Quinn (Research Compliance Services), and
Ashley Washburn (Research Communications).
If you have anything you would like to include in the monthly OPEN Book newsletter, please reach out to one of these reporters or send it directly to Becky Carter (Vice Chancellor’s Office).
