On April 14, Presidential Engagement and Partnerships Professor Melani Duffrin (NIU College of Health and Human Sciences) led a Brown Bag Lecture for faculty focused on practical strategies that faculty can use to transform their research and create invaluable experiences for students – and she delivered!
Presidential Engagement and Partnerships Professor Melani Duffrin, NIU College of Health and Human Sciences
Melani asked a simple but provocative question – what if your teaching and service were connected to, even integrated with, your research so that efforts in one area benefitted all three? Her pragmatic approach to time management offers real solutions to faculty who feel like their research, teaching and service are all separate endeavors that compete for time and attention.
True to Melani’s hands-on approach, participants engaged in writing/thinking activities, going through the following steps:
- Step 1: Identify. Identify one current research question or project you’re working on, and reflect: What course(s) could this connect to?
- Step 2: Connect. How could students meaningfully engage in this work?
- Step 3: Design. What would this look like as a course activity or assignment?
- Step 4: Identify funding opportunities. What part of your idea is fundable?
- Step 5: Plan for dissemination. Where could you present this work, and who is your target audience?
- Step 6: Plan for publication. What could this turn into, and what outlet would be a good fit?
Melani’s key message was simple but impactful: Stop adding more work – start aligning the work you already do.
The time spent planning at the outset can result in efficiency gains, amplified productivity and the elusive work/life balance we all seek.
If you missed Professor Duffrin’s presentation, please reach out to Jeannine East at jeast@niu.edu for access to the recorded session.
We’re also planning a hands-on, live workshop with Melani for Spring 2026. Join our community engagement mailing list for alerts for this event and other professional development activities.
Melani Duffrin, 2026
