Kim Cotzias 
Author: Lisa Hanasono, Ph.D. In the NCFDD’s Faculty Success Program (FSP), we invite academics to think of their lives as a book with many chapters. Each chapter represents a specific time period in a person’s life such as their graduate school years, a post doc period, life as an early career scholar, becoming parents of … Read more
Author: NCFDD For many institutions, faculty funding success is treated as an individual achievement. A strong proposal is a reflection of the scholar’s creativity, discipline, and persistence. While these qualities matter, they do not operate in isolation. Even the most skilled researchers thrive when they work within a system that provides clarity, structure, and opportunities … Read more
Author: NCFDD At the beginning of each semester, many faculty set thoughtful goals. Finish a manuscript. Restart a stalled grant proposal. Make visible progress on a long-delayed project. The intentions are sincere, and the stakes feel real. Yet as the weeks pass, those plans often slip beneath the weight of teaching, meetings, service, and daily … Read more
Author: NCFDD Faculty rarely overhaul their grant strategy because of a single failed submission. More often, it is a steady pattern. You work hard but your proposals feel rushed. You generate strong ideas but struggle to shape them into a compelling narrative. You know funding is essential, but the process feels fragmented, unpredictable, and more … Read more
Author: NCFDD Academic life is often portrayed as collaborative, intellectual, and community driven. In reality, many faculty describe it as isolating from the earliest stages of graduate school through the years leading to tenure. The pressure to perform, the expectation to manage everything independently, and the lack of built-in peer support can make even the … Read more
Author: NCFDD As another semester closes, faculty often find themselves stretched thin, managing heavy workloads and the emotional demands of academic life. In her live NCFDD workshop Planning for Rest and Recovery: An Agile End-of-Year Reflection, Dr. Rebecca Pope-Ruark invited faculty to pause and reflect, to consider what it means to end the year with … Read more
Author: Rebecca Pope-Ruark I spend a lot of my time teaching faculty and academic leaders about burnout, which the World Health Organization (2019) defines as “a syndrome resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed.” It has three characteristics: exhaustion, depersonalization or cynicism toward those you work with, and real or perceived … Read more
Author: NCFDD Burnout in higher education is widespread and deeply felt. Faculty are teaching, mentoring, researching, and serving their institutions all at once. The workload rarely slows down, and many academics find themselves running on empty long before the semester ends. What was once fulfilling can start to feel like survival. Recognizing burnout is not … Read more
Author: NCFDD As the academic year winds down, many faculty find themselves running on momentum alone. The instinct is to push through the final deadlines, answer the last emails, and turn immediately to what comes next. But real progress often starts with a pause. Reflection is not about slowing down for its own sake. It … Read more
Author: NCFDD Securing research funding has always required persistence, but for many faculty, the process now feels increasingly solitary and increasingly uncertain. Traditional sources of support, like federal grants, are harder to access. Research offices are overextended. And the work of identifying funders, tailoring proposals, and navigating institutional requirements often falls squarely on individual shoulders. The result? … Read more