Getting the Most Out of
Your Advisory Board’s
Expertise
Michelle Cirillo, University of Delaware
Zandra de Araujo, University of Missouri
Beth Herbel-Eisenmann, Michigan State &
National Science Foundation
1. Name & Affiliation
2. Have you run an
advisory board?
3. Have you served on
an advisory board
(e.g., 1 - Zandra
University of Missouri,
2 - Yes, 3 - Yes)
IN CHAT
Poll
Join at
Slido.com
#45433
One Question, Two Words
● The two words that best describe my experience(s) with
advisory board meetings are _______ and ________ .
What Does NSF Say About
Advisory Board Meetings?
Advisory Boards are Part of Project Evaluation...
Merit Review Criteria:
● When evaluating NSF proposals, reviewers will be asked to consider
what the proposers want to do, why they want to do it, how they plan
to do it, how they will know if they succeed, and what benefits could
accrue if the project is successful.
● These issues apply both to the technical aspects of the proposal and
the way in which the project may make broader contributions.
Proposal
Review
Proposal
Review
Is the plan for carrying out the proposed
activities well-reasoned, well-organized,
and based on a sound rationale?
Does the plan incorporate a mechanism to
assess success?
What Might an Evaluation Plan Look Like?
Advisory Board Model
Expert Evaluator Model
AND/OR
Why Advisory Board Meetings?
● From the writing of the proposal, Advisory Boards and Board Meetings
should be carefully considered and thoughtfully planned.
● Advisory Board Meetings (ABMs) are not a performance. They are also
not to be taken lightly!
● ABMs should be a space for constructive feedback, assessment, and
even vulnerability.
Key Question
How can you make
the most of your
grant advisors’
expertise in guiding
your project?
Considering Meeting Structure
What might be some various
ways to organize an
Advisory Board meeting?
Ahead of the meeting
● Send a brief reminder about the primary focus and goals of the
grant
● Send some brief information related to aspects of the project
you want feedback on
● Provide any manuscripts or publications for them to read
● Explicitly identify goals for the AB meeting
At the Meeting itself: Most Common
Presentations by the PIs/coPIs
● Provide context
● Early on: describe the work and get
feedback on the proposed plan
● Later: can report on a range of
aspects of the grant work for
feedback and discussion
At the Meeting: Bring in Individual or Small Groups
● Have targeted discussion based on that person’s expertise, as needed in the
grant work
● Have an AB member take part in speaker series so they also get to interact
with colleagues
● Discuss a particular article you are working on that the Advisor can provide
feedback on
● Get to know the advisors better and allow them to get to know your work
better
○ Tenure & promotion letters (depending on your university’s criteria)
○ Networking for RAs
At the Meeting: Bring in all Advisors
● Have a roundtable session where
different project team members
report on different parts of the project
● Have the RAs present the work they
are interested in from the project for
discussion
● Have participants do a poster session
to share
At the Meeting: Bring in all Advisors
● Do some of the activities you are
developing/using so the AB can see
what the experience is like & provide
feedback
● Have AB attend part of the actual grant
work (e.g., visit classrooms, sit in on the
professional development with
teachers, focus group discussions)
At the Meeting: Bring in all Advisors
● Share an issue/tension that has
come up in the work to discuss and
brainstorm possible ways of
handling it
What if we get rid of advisory board meetings?
What if we get rid of advisory board meetings?
● Allows for novel approaches to evaluation
What if we get rid of advisory board meetings?
● Allows for novel approaches to evaluation
● Focus on targeted feedback
What if we get rid of advisory board meetings?
● Allows for novel approaches to evaluation
● Focus on targeted feedback
● Develop shared resources for approaches
What if we get rid of advisory board meetings?
● Allows for novel approaches to evaluation
● Focus on targeted feedback
● Develop shared resources for approaches
Articulate questions,
ideas, and provide
summary
What if we get rid of advisory board meetings?
● Allows for novel approaches to evaluation
● Focus on targeted feedback
● Develop shared resources for approaches
Articulate questions,
ideas, and provide
summary
Request written
feedback and
commentary
What if we get rid of advisory board meetings?
● Allows for novel approaches to evaluation
● Focus on targeted feedback
● Develop shared resources for approaches
Articulate questions,
ideas, and provide
summary
Request written
feedback and
commentary
Synchronous meeting
to debrief and followup
What if we get rid of advisory board meetings?
●
●
●
●
Allows for novel approaches to evaluation
Focus on targeted feedback
Develop shared resources for approaches
Considerations for adequate compensation
What if we get rid of advisory board meetings?
●
●
●
●
●
Allows for novel approaches to evaluation
Focus on targeted feedback
Develop shared resources for approaches
Considerations for adequate compensation
More environmentally responsible
Breakout Rooms
● Introduce yourselves by sharing your two words from earlier regarding ABs
● Discuss the following question and add thoughts to the Padlet
(https://padlet.com/zandradearaujo/rqrdz76gfxka0tsl)
○ What are some challenges you have had or anticipate regarding AB?
Other Considerations
In writing proposals...
Often Advisory Board members are listed and their expertise is described, but...
● Little/no details about how their expertise will be drawn on
● When they may be utilized and why
● Alignment between goals and how they will be drawn on to ensure quality
Considerations when selecting people
● Expertise: range of constructs, methods, writing, partnerships, etc.
● Vulnerability - need people who can support improvement and/or when
things might go wrong
What’s Gone Well…
● Getting Pointed Feedback
● Providing 2-Page Summaries
● Requesting Written Feedback
● Following up on Feedback via Zoom
● Involving the full team
(Zandra)
What’s NOT Gone Well…
(Zandra)
● I miss the rich conversations of the larger group
● Working without clear expectations
● Not being compensated for work
● Lack of clear, planned questions
● Adequate time to experience an activity or understand the approach
What’s Gone Well…
(Michelle)
● Identifying people with varying expertise
● Breakout groups (in-person) to work on giving feedback of different artifacts
● Having students/post-docs give the presentations
● Hosting dinner in my home on Day 1
What’s NOT Gone Well…
(Michelle)
● Considering stipends and time spent outside of meetings
● Considering travel budget outside of meetings
● Could Use Improvement - Doing a good job orienting AB members to the
work and progress on the work
● Sending out grant proposal in advance rather than something more up-to-
date
Thoughts from Jim Hiebert,
University of Delaware
On Providing Background and Context
●
●
●
“As a PI, I am always surprised at how far the project team has
progressed in our thinking when we begin consulting with advisory
panel members.
No matter how smart they are, it seems to often take a day to catch
them up with where we are and provide enough context for the
questions we pose to generate helpful advice.
It can be difficult to anticipate what background and history they need
but they always seem to need more than I expect.”
Thoughts from Jim Hiebert,
University of Delaware
On Meeting In-Person
● “If we invite the entire panel for a traditional 2-day on site meeting, I will
spend more time thinking about and preparing digestible, brief documents
that help members get up to speed about targeted issues we want help with
and less time preparing and giving live presentations for the panel.
● Alternatively, if I felt risky, I might think of a question or two relevant to the
goals of the project (but at a grander level) that require little background
preparation by the panel but could generate an interesting discussion
among the members from which I might be able to steal some ideas...
Questions? Thoughts? Other Suggestions?