In what ways did the partnership change the way you think about your own organization’s approach to BI or BI support? In what ways did individual PIs learn or improve their practice? How did you or your organization learn or improve your BI practice?

The UNM-Explora partnership has contributed to a culture change within the University of New Mexico using Broader Impacts as a focal point of that transition. In the past, PIs at UNM, particularly those in their earliest years, have often had the perception that they are on their own when developing grant proposals. This self-production has generally included broader impacts development. They have either built their own relationships with broader impacts partners or if that is not applicable given time constraints or lack of awareness regarding potential partners, they write a generalizable statement within the required section of the proposal and include a letter of collaboration received at the last moment from a prospective partner if at all possible. This system may strengthen a faculty’s ability to perform independently, but it often leads to poor proposal reviews and can contribute to burn out. Since its inception, this BID partnership has introduced PIs to alternative options that prepare them to create more comprehensively developed broader impacts plans with an overall lower cost of personal effort. We have provided workshops, helped coordinate annual cohorts of NSF CAREER candidates, and met one-on-one with PIs. We have done the majority of these activities as a team in order to convey the same voice and shared ideals regardless of the face. Our workshops have reached over 100 faculty and researchers and we have met one-on-one or in small groups with another couple dozen. Even though we have not developed BI plans with all these people, these opportunities have definitely increased the number of people on campus who now naturally associate broader impacts plans and their development with the Faculty Research Development Office and Explora.

Our main mission has been to convey the benefit of increasing the time researchers take to develop BI plans prior to submission and the notion that they do not have to develop partnerships, broader impacts plans, or narratives alone. Increasing the amount of time focused on the development of broader impacts plans has (1) given PIs the opportunity to define their Broader Impacts Identities, (2) provided more opportunities to meet with UNM Faculty Research Development Officers to discuss research and broader impacts objectives, (3) allowed meeting to be facilitated with Explora or other potential broader impacts partners, as needed, to develop a realistic plan that fits within the proposed budget, is meaningful to the research, and can be done within the proposed timeline. Doing so has allowed PIs to effectively design the BI plan that best fits their research, personality, and budget. Thus, PIs are increasing the capacity of their proposed broader impacts; and they are increasing the number of developed external partnerships prior to submission, meaning that they will be prepared to begin implementation as soon as awarded. Once a plan has been designed, the PI works with the Faculty Research Development Office and the BI partner, if applicable, to write their narrative. These steps have formulated into a working business model that we will continue to utilize going forward but are prepared to modify as needed given the particular needs of the PI and their BI objectives.

How have you worked to understand each other? When did you struggle or fail to understand one another? How did you navigate the culture and language code-switching necessary to work across organizations? How did you establish clarity around goals, timelines and roles? How did you build trust within the partnership?

A central theme of the UNM-Explora partnership has been building relationships and trust with PIs and administrative support services (like UNM Advance). The Faculty Research Development Office (FRDO) has orchestrated a CAREER cohort, which gathers NSF CAREER proposers in a community support model to provide peer reviewed editing, develop partnerships, gain skills, and network with other faculty. Both partners are represented in the cohort so participating faculty have continued support from both sides and are thus treated as equals. Because of this faculty finds value not just in the academic support of UNM but in the Broader Impact support of Explora.

This partnership has also cohosted NSF Proposal Workshops for a broader faculty audience. Workshops have focused on skill development and resource awareness including: broader impacts design, logic model development, and building partnerships as well as panel discussions from successful awardees and understanding the NSF proposal process. These workshops (and the CAREER cohort) not just provide support to academics at UNM, but they’ve also helped provide a community of collaboration rather than competition, and have helped this partnership cultivate a network of communication.