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Mentoring East Asian Women Scientists and Engineers — Presentation from Karen Mancl

Enrico Bonnello: I’m a Professor in Plant Pathology and have been here for 16 years now. I’ve mentored several of my colleagues through the years.

Hazel Morrow Jones: I did not have a lot of experience being mentored, but as a faculty member I mentored a lot of students and some of my junior colleagues. As Director of the Women’s Place, I saw a lot of faculty who were in crisis mode.

Please don’t assume that you do or do not know all kinds of things. Sometimes you may think “I ought to know that, everyone else does!” But that’s probably not true. It’s okay to ask! That could be anything from how P&T works, to how to teach a lecture class, to anything.

Mentoring is not a one way thing. It’s a back and forth between two people. You should show the mentor what they will gain from you. I ask people, “Would you be a mentor?” and people say “Oh I couldn’t, I don’t know enough,” but you’ve gotten this far by knowing what you do and that is helpful to people!

Most importantly: everyone says you should have a mentor. Sit and think clearly about what you want from a mentor. It’s not a silver bullet. It doesn’t automatically make you successful. Think about who you know and what you want from that. It’s okay to have a lot of mentors. You may have one for teaching, one for support, one who can critique grants. Think about what you want from it and don’t limit yourself. They don’t have to be from your own unit or even your own college.

Set boundaries and talk about expectations from both sides so you both know what you’re getting into to.

The word mentor sound daunting, like you need to be perfect and it will take a lot of your time. But it’s okay to meet up just a few times to talk about teaching, or ask them if they would look over a grant.

Karen Mancl: I was the first woman hired in our department. A project I came up with was to explore mid-carrier low productivity. People in the department are tenured, mid-career, and you don’t do much. So I decided to study that. I learned that a lot of this low productivity was set up with the way they were mentored. So I’ve been involved in developing new mentoring models that keep people productive.

The minority group I have been working with are East Asian women. Mentoring is not an Asian concept. It’s not a part of their career development. It’s very western. So if you bring someone in your program and they come from a culture that doesn’t have experience mentoring then they are at a disadvantage.

The challenges in mentoring are two fold: one is cross gender because not only are East Asian women a minority, women are a minority in science and engineering. And also cross race mentoring…

We gathered data through oral histories and interviewed six women from different colleges. We asked them if the programs developed for mentoring women and minorities are effective.

Transition to minority status: these East Asian women were not minorities at home, but they had essentially no mentoring while in Asia. Because of this, these women are very independent and rely heavily on advice from friends.

In most of these departments, they were told by their department chair that they needed to have mentors.

Women mentors can be role models and can provide psycho-social mentoring about handling issues outside of work.

Five out of six of the interviewees found women mentors, but three had to find them outside of their department.

The most important thing we found within mentoring was goal setting. Setting long-term goals and personal missions. A goal is not getting tenure, it is just a step along the way.

Recommendations:

1. Assign mentors
2. If you set up a mentoring team, let at least one mentor be a woman
3. Include work/life balance
4. Strategic planning and goal setting

Enrico B.: In my department we’re now moving towards a more structured process. We expect the committee to meet with a mentee formally.

Question: What do units and departments do to help build the skills needed to be a mentor?

Karen M.: How I start out, for the first six months we develop their long term planning by meeting once a month. Then it backs off to once or twice a quarter or so.

One of my mentees said that I gave them a lot of energy after we met. Other mentors make me feel like I have a lot of stuff I need to do.

Hazel M.J.: It’s so easy for a mentor to fall into the trap of giving very general advice… Ex: “you need to publish more,” so it’s helpful to have someone who helps sort out the specifics of your plan.

Enrico B.: I have informal discussions with mentees all the time. We get lunch together to discuss issues. From my perspective I’m concerned about mentees burning out. They are focused on the fear of failing at tenure. So sometimes I have to tell them to do a little less.

Karen M.: I started mentoring when I was an untenured assistant professor. I’ve also mentored people who are older than me or who have more experience. It’s more typical, but that’s not necessarily a requirement.

Hazel M.J.: There are informal mentoring opportunities like peer to peer, etc.

Question: There are a lot of ramifications for new graduate students coming from Asia who don’t have mentoring. Do you have any advice?

Karen M.: Once they have the opportunity to have a mentor and learn how powerful it can be they really take off. You just need to be more transparent about it. When I inform people that they are my mentor, they look surprised. You need to be formal at the beginning

There were two big worries when the protege was East Asian: one is that they’re going to bother the mentor because the mentor is so busy, but no. I tell them that they need to come to me and set up a lunch to let me know what they need.

Another fear is that they will be taken advantage of by the mentor. They think of it as being an assistant and they will be doing all their work.

I have to open thing up so that people know they can talk to me about their personal life, etc.

Enrico B.: Ultimately your ability to mentor is tied to just being on your job and your life experience.

In our program we’re establishing annual retreats for our graduate students that have professionals regarding stress and mental health. Basically put yourself in the person’s shoes.

Karen M.: We asked our interviewees who helped them make their decisions to go to school, etc., but it was always their friends or they figured it out on their own. It wasn’t their teachers, etc. because of the culture in East Asia.

Question: What is the difference between advising and mentoring?

Hazel M.J.: A post doc should have additional mentors besides just the advisor. Figure out what kinds of things you want to talk to people about and hear thoughts from … Advisors may be good contacts to help set you up with people. 

Karen M.: In order to be productive in reaching your personal goals you need a balanced core. There are four components to this and only one is your career, the other three fall into psycho-social mentoring. One is family, what are your goals and objectives for your family? The second is your part in a community, what is your vision of yourself in your community (a.k.a. your social life)? What strategies do you need to develop? The third is yourself. This is the part that is most neglected. In terms of health and well being, appearance, exercise, etc. in terms of being the kind of person you want to appear and the kind of person you want to be yourself.

I talk to my proteges to see if these areas are balanced.

Enrico B.: There’s a tendency to put enormous pressure on your career, so I do try to present them with a strong sense of balance. It’s critical. But young faculty feel like they cannot take any time off this extreme focus on productivity and “making it” as a faculty member. It’s difficult to convince them that they won’t be losing anything.

Karen M.: When you have that balanced core you’re much more productive. A good test is if you go home and complain about work something is out of balance.

Hazel M.J.: Some of our senior faculty may not believe in this work-life balance and thus that is why seniority doesn’t always make the best mentors.

Question: If there is already a culture of that, how do we begin t o let people know that it is okay to have a balance? How do you shift the culture so that it can be work life balance?

Karen M.: Whether or not you get tenure is not important to me. As long as you make progress on your goals and mission in life. If you’re not doing that, then that is a failure. Seem of my protégées have left Ohio State because they have found that they aren’t in the right job.

Hazel M.J.: Having a good culture as a whole, working on policies and procedures, getting people to understand that everyone is a human being and they have a life and will work best when there is a balance.

So when a full professor has to go home because their child is sick, not giving them a problem about it because that is what you should do and that is okay.

The university’s policy is taking time off the tenure clock for birth of a child. In some departments that’s okay, in other departments some people are afraid to use it because they are worried about what others will think.

Question: Do you have a lot of information or fact sheet about mentoring?

Karen M.: I did start writing a series of fact sheets.

Question: What should the mentee be doing?

Karen M.: When I first started this research, the predominant mentoring model was climbing the model to success. That particular mentoring model came out of the 1950s industrial movement, finding the rising stars and helping them get to the top as fast as possible.

Then in the 1980s, it was the balancing work and family model for women and men who should DO IT ALL.

My mentoring model: instead of it being a climb or having a big plate you have to balance, mine is when you’re young, strong and talented you’re not at the bottom of the mountain you’re at the top! You have so many opportunities! I ask, where do you want to leave your legacy? Then we write a mission and look at those four core values looking at your vision for each area. You’re not burdened by a climb, you’re accumulating things, relationships, contacts, projects etc.

Sometimes you get bumped off track and you’re not rolling in the right direction, but we meet and get back on track. Even when you’re not accumulating or things are getting slower, you’re still rolling.

Most people don’t know their mission because no one asked them.

Hazel M.J.: Has any one refused to do this or come up with a mission for their life?

Karen M.: Yes, this person disappeared for awhile and wasn’t ready, but they did come back… Some people just want you to tell them what to do: How do I get tenure, etc?

Enrico B.: It’s important to choose your mentor as someone you can talk to and have an actual conversation with rather than just getting instructions from. I have a general idea of what it takes to be “successful.”

Karen M.: A lot of people are pushed into their jobs by well-meaning adults at a young age… “You need to do this or that, you can’t do this because you’re a girl,” etc. So when preparing our five year plan, it becomes clear that they are on the wrong path. Our focus becomes preparing them to make a move.

Enrico B.: The informal conversations are the spark for formal, deeper conversations.

Hazel M.J.: I don’t think there are short cuts with human relationships. Why are we in such a hurry?

Enrico B.: Even if I tell some of my mentees to have a balance and take it easy, I don’t know if they will listen to me. All we can do is keep saying it. Many young professionals feel guilty if they don’t fill every minute of every day working

Hazel M.J.: And, at the same time, are carrying guilt for the things they are not doing at home or spending time with their family.

Working with the Private Sector – Presentation from Shauna Brummet (Please use the attached presentation to follow along in the notes).

Shauna Brummet: Some of you are aware of BioHio Research Park. We’re a non-profit separate from OSU. We have directors from the university on the board as well as from industry.

We have an incubator facility where we have start up companies. The focus areas for BioHio are the same as those of the college.

The purpose of today’s meeting is working with the private sector, so in my mind, the goal of public-private partnership is to bring together technology, talent and resources.

Ohio Soybean Council, etc. are examples of producer organizations AND part of the private sector. One of the biggest things we look for is funding. It’s harder to get federal grants now. Very often we look to companies to support our R&D.

There are a lot of things a business partner can bring that we might not have here, new equipment, etc. and they can help you increase your reach.

What makes a good academic partner to the private sector?

One of the first ways a company will engage with our University is through our students and student jobs and internships or post docs.

More and more academics all over the world are reaching out to companies for sources of revenue. You need to treat the company or non-profit as a customer. If you think of yourself as a vendor, what does that company want? They want someone who understands their business, who understands product development and understands there is more that goes on after you do the basic research. They also appreciate people who understand market needs.

One of the biggest mistakes we make as a University is not valuing our people, assets, etc enough. You need to play up what you do. Our brand as a University is very strong.

We’ve got to successfully hand over the developments we make to some entity that will take it to the marketplace. It doesn’t mean making a product and selling it. Taking it to the marketplace could be our Extension, helping farmers and producers. Not everything is a product that gets sold.

Building a culture of innovation fits with our University discovery themes. We should provide processes and resources that support the activities of moving your technologies into use from very early stages. These are things that Annette and Hilary can help with. They are resources. We provide processes and help so you don’t have to do it all! But if you are intentional from the start, you will be much more ready to partner.

Innovation and invention are not the same thing.

Invention uses money and resources to create knowledge.
Innovation uses knowledge to create money and resources.

Know How is something the University can license. How you do something that may not be suitable for a patent or something you don’t want to patent because it gets into the public sector, but the knowledge of how to do something can be licensed and generate revenue.

The key assets that we bring to our partners are all of the staff and the students. These are the most of the things we have developed.

Annette Ratcliff: Who knows what TCO does?

Comment: Helping with the legal aspects of commercialization.

Annette: We handle all the intellectual property for the University. Patents, inventions, trade secrets, know hows, etc. things that aren’t patents but still valuable information.

Our office is also responsible for marketing the know hows and patents to industry partners. We help you match up with industry partners

Our primary function is to translate the research through licensing arrangements. We also support relationships with industry partners.

We also handle confidentiality agreements and material transfer agreements.

Whatever is contained in a patent becomes public knowledge. Protecting trade secrets allows this information to stay secret. At a University, we don’t typically keep things as trade secrets, but a company may have a trade secret they need to disclose to someone at the University in order for them to do research.

Patents: What is eligible for patent protection? It has to be novel, useful and non-obvious.

Non-obvious means that for someone skilled in the art, it cannot be obvious to that person. You have to overcome information that is widely known.

Public disclosure: Anything that’s in the public space can preclude you from being able to file your patents.

University routes to commercialization: We help start companies for faculty and develop companies around technology developed.

Licensing: Exclusive and non-exclusive.

TCO handles inventions so if you create something you can disclose that to us. We can tell you if it’s patentable and what commercial partners might be interested.

Confidentiality Disclosure Agreements are important when you want to talk to a colleague about your research. Under this agreement, both parties are agreeing to confidentiality, a legal way to protect the information and who has access to it. Under a CDA it is not considered publicly disclosed like a patent.

Material Transfer Agreements are important … It dictates what the ownership is and what you can do with that material, and how the value is shared.

Hilary Price: I am primarily a Development Officer, and my main goal is to bring in philanthropic support for the college. I’ve been in this role for about two years. I help the college think about our engagements with the private sector. I work mainly in the philanthropic area, but not solely. Corporations don’t just view us through the lens of philanthropy they view us as a big picture.

How I work with faculty: this takes on two primary ways…. A corporation will come to me and say they’re interested in funding research, hiring students, etc.

The other way is for faculty to come to me and let me know that they’re looking for funding, and I help them find the best way to do it. I tend to work with a wide range of private sector partners.

Ohio Soybean Council is our largest contributor to the college. They are engaged in all different levels with us.

We tend to have a good problem, in that there are endless opportunities.

I can help you think through how to raise money through private industry. I can make introductions with private industry or help float ideas, I also help with thinking about strategy. We are a good place to start. We can help provide a picture of what an organizations involvement with the college and university are.

I would encourage you to think through a philanthropic route. I view myself as a facilitator and a bridge, you are all the experts.

Question: What are the potential pitfalls of public-private partnerships?

Shauna: Not being clear in expectations and responsibilities of what OSU is expected to do.

Hilary: We’ve been accused of times at not always following through. When we’re engaging we need to set up expectations, missions, deadlines, reporting processes in place. That is incredibly important. Academia moves a little bit slower.

Annette: Communicating often and frequently helps. If you’re running behind, be upfront about the challenges you are facing. It creates trust in a partnership when you do this.

There are two other main offices on campus at the University-level that help engage: The Office of Sponsored Programs are your primary contacts.

The second office is the Industry Liaison Office. Who is the University currently engaging with and do those needs align with what you’re working with? All of our offices work closely together with one another.

Question: Regarding preparing students with an entrepreneurial skill set… Do you have recommendations on guiding students to get some of those resources?

Shauna: There is the iCORPS program, there is a commercialization class, e-innovation seminar series is great for graduate students, but undergraduates are welcome to that as well. The department of Ag Engineering is doing a hackathon this fall — TCO is working with us on that. It’s a terrific opportunity for students to work through a potential problem, develop an idea and pitch the idea to a panel of judges.

Annette: Through the  TCO office there is a student coordinator who will work with students.

Leadership & Team Development: Implications of your Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)

Jeff King: Our behaviors are just the tip of the iceberg. We don’t always think about what’s below the surface, what’s driving those behaviors. We sometimes just react, but we need to take a step back. We need to become more conscious about what’s below the surface. Then, we can be more intentional rather than just acting on preference.

You’ve been gifted with your personality. It’s how you use it, it’s not good or bad. The MBTI is not a competency test, it’s letting you know your preferences. Your behavior is under your own free will.

We explore our source of energy, gathering facts and information, making decisions, and how we function in the outside world.

It’s not about competence it’s about clarity. If your assessment is closer to the middle it just means you are more balanced in those traits.

Your personality is said to be determined at birth and which becomes more defined in our teen years. However, sometimes you will test differently than in the past.

You should take the test as your “shoes off self,” but sometimes what’s going on in our lives can influence that.

You may have developed and refined your non-preferred traits as well.

When we’re in stressful situations, we don’t think about our go-to type. How do I approach things from a different perspective?

I’ll go through each of the pairs and discuss the implications of them to you as a leader and what it means when working in teams.

We all use BOTH preferences.

What are the implications in groups for the different preferences of introvert and extrovert?

Knowledge about ourselves is power to give more attention to these things. So that we’re not reacting based on only emotion.

Extroverts are going to have a tendency to answer more quickly. Extroverts come up with the answer through talking and thinking out loud. Introverts like to think through their idea before they say it outloud.

A strategy can be letting everyone have a chance to talk. You can also ask someone, “tell me what you’re thinking.” This can help encourage an introvert speak out.

Framing your comments is helpful for introverts too. Saying “I haven’t completely thought through this, but this is what’s going through my mind…” helps the person you’re talking with know where you are coming from. It helps people hear how I frame and understand my comment. It’s a little safety net; here’s how I want you to hear my comments.

As you ask for comments in class or meetings, wait a few seconds. Pause, be silent and allow someone to think and share. Introverts are thinking through things, but you have to become comfortable with silence.

Question: As an introvert, are there strategies to jump into conversations more quickly?

Jeff K.: What can help is if you know what topics are going to be discussed. Send out agendas ahead of time so that introverts have time to think through things. Make sure the group knows you would like to think things over. Over time you will become more comfortable in sharing.

The “E” and the “I” differences will show up the quickest. As you get to know someone or a team, when you’ve been around that group for awhile you notice less difference. But the differences are more pronounced when you are working with a new group or a new class.

If you see someone not contributing don’t assume that they aren’t interested. They may still be thinking through it. Make sure you call on people.

Comment: I’m learning to work with extroverts as an introvert and I know that they talk to think, but sometimes that amount of information is overwhelming for me. How do I better manage that?

Jeff K.: You are getting your energy taken away. This is where we need to better appreciate the differences. Ask them, “I’ve heard this before, but can you help me better understand X, Y or Z?” We prefer to operate from our own level of comfort, but as a leader we need to operate where others are at.

The overall population is 50/50 E/I split. We need to be careful about putting good and bad labels on either.

Comment: The idea of encouraging people to participate, I find that hard to do over video linking. It’s harder to speak up and interrupt the conversation that way.

Jeff K.: Yes I’ve tried to get more intentional about directly addressing people at the other site, and knowing their names. When you’re on a conference phone call it’s even harder, so you need to ask them who would like to share their perspective. Sometimes they don’t answer right away, but if it’s silent, let it be a little longer, don’t immediately jump to the next topic. Become comfortable with the silence.

The next pair is the perceiving function, sensing vs intuition. You have a preference, but you do use both!

Comment: As an N, I can get a little impatient with an S in meetings because they want to go over every little detail.

Comment: In research, S-types will be good at processing the data.

Jeff K.: You have to do both, you can’t pick and choose one or the other. Sometimes the details I know today as an S, limit what I can know or think about in the future. I know to seek out someone with an N-type to get new information and think a little differently.

When you truly trust something you come across more boldly and don’t see the other side, so you have to consider both

How will giving directions look different if you are an S vs an N?

S-types will like detailed directions. If you’re leading a meeting, share what you’re trying to accomplish today and then go into agenda items. That way you introduce it to both sides.

People can look at the same facts and figures, but be interpreting them differently.

If you’re leading a group you may need to do a time out to bring the future and what we know today together. There’s not a wrong answer, they’re just different perspectives.

75% sensing, 25% intuitive in the overall population.

Next is the judging function – how we make decisions. Both are rational ways to make decisions.

It’s not that T-types don’t care, but sometimes they come across that way because they are thinking more about logic-based items.

Question: Is this generational? Because I have found that millennials want more appreciation?

Jeff K.: Everyone likes to be appreciated! It is how we like to be appreciated, regardless of generations. It Is your starting point…

Comment: Sometimes if you show emotion or a passion it can be put into a good or bad box.

Jeff K.: T-types will think more about the impact on the organization or process, F-types will think more about the impact on people. This an create conflict, so how do we think about both?

The general population is 50/50 on T and F, but 60% of females are F and the opposite for males. This is one where there is a gendered difference.

This is one of the most critical differences when dealing with conflict.

If you’re an F-type working with a group of T-types, they’re going to look at relationships differently, but it’s not always bad. It’s just a different approach.

Judging vs proving. How do we organize things around us?

We’ve gone from a time where we all do our own work and combine it at the end. We now need to collaborate more and more to create new ideas, but you have a conflicting deadline stress. So the best thing to do is to agree to a deadline. We can’t use our personality type as an excuse for why we didn’t do something, so that is why we need to talk and negotiate deadlines.

There are different types of organization!

“We don’t see things as they are, we see things as we are.”

Developing Impact Statements for OARDC Programs

Glossary of Impact Terms

Communicating Research, Extension & Teaching Outcomes

Dave Benfield, OARDC: No matter what kind of publication you have to write, most of us are trained researchers or Extension personnel and we write in a scientific language. But now, we have to think about how we get our message out to a different audience.

Lori Kaser is not here today, but provides more information about impact statements in the handout. What she wanted to indicate is that we do use impact statements for your departmental reviews. One is related to discipline, one is related to mission and one is interdisciplinary.

Impact statements are a critical reporting medium. They’re utilized more and more by programs to justify spending to legislators. It’s a good elevator speech as well.

Ken Martin, OSU Extension: Just as OARDC asks for impact statements, Extension asks for nine impact statements over four areas. Advancing employment and income, enhancing agriculture and the environment, preparing youth for success, and strengthening families and communities.

Often times you see these impact statements in the OARDC and Extension quad-folds.

Jerry Bigham, OARDC: I think it was in 2005 when the college first started requiring impact statements. It forced our faculty, across a broad range of interests, to write something in a way that as a Director I could understand and use for information requested by the college, and to create one-pagers for people who visit the college or department. It may be a potential donor.

The first thing that comes up when you introduce yourself to a group is telling people what you do… Can you relate what you do at a lay level so that legislators can understand what you do?

One of the biggest concerns I had working with faculty on these is, this is research and is in progress and I’m not sure what the impacts are. You can say “potential impacts” and that gives an outcome and suggests what potential impacts may come of that.

Mark Erbaugh: The RFPs that we are responding to are increasingly requesting impact statements as part of the proposal. It’s good to have an impact in mind as you go into this and implement the project. You’ll have a much more robust form of impact. Lay the groundwork and build that into what you’re doing.

Dave B.: The other part of this relates to federal reporting. Early on, you were introduced to Hatch Act, which funds our experiment station and the Smith Lever Act, which funds Extension. I’ll let Terry talk about how we utilize those. Every year most of you will have some kind of project under one of these acts. The Hatch Act doesn’t fund individual projects, but it does fund your salary. You may not get project money from Hatch, but you are getting your salary money. So that’s why we require you have to have those projects and why we require reporting on those projects.

Terry Snoddy, Fiscal Office: We’ve been talking broadly about impact statements, and I want to reiterate that we are on a two year budget cycle with the state. About 70% of our funding  comes from the state on the research and Extension line items. They are very important to us because they make up a big portion of our funding. During our budget cycle, we meet with state reps and talk about what we do. It’s an educational process and these impact statements are very important for that.

With our federal reporting, we have research capacity funds. We get about $8 million from the federal government. There are few strings attached, but we have to tell them how we’re spending it. We spend this more on faculty salaries, so in order to do that we need to set up a Hatch project. This is different than stuff that goes through OSP because they are administered out of our college directly.

What’s required of a faculty? You need to have a Hatch project if you are paid by OARDC. We give new faculty about a one year grace period to get this up and running. This is where you get into a system called REEport. Susan Dimit in Wooster helps with this.

We try to set this up 10/1 through 9/30. These are five year projects and at the end of five years you get a new project. You set the project related to the research you’re already doing. At the end of the five years, you’re required to do a final report. Another way to meet this requirement is being a co-PI on someone else’s Hatch.

There’s a lot of reporting we do back to USDA. We do financial reporting, there’s also a Plan of Work process which is a rolling five year view of what we’re going to do. When you’re doing your Hatch project, you identify knowledge areas.

If you’re joining a multi-state project, every institution needs to have their own project at their institution to report their results. You need to create a project in REEport that goes along with that so you can report your piece. Typically, if you want to travel to multi-state meetings, there are dollars n the system to do that.

Question: How does Central State impact this?

Terry S.: In the McIntire Stennis program, they got a piece of the funding that we typically get. It’s not a huge amount. For the bigger piece of the funding, which is the Hatch funds, the 1890s get their own funding.

In a few years, only one Plan of Work will be submitted including Central State and OSU.

Ken M.: We have to report Extension multi-state as well. They’re also interested in integrated projects–meaning research and Extension combined. They are putting an emphasis on this in Washington as well.

Terry S.: We’re required to spend 25% of our funds on integrated activities. So if you’re research and Extension appointment, your salary is integrated.

Dave B.: You don’t have to write a 20 page proposal for a Hatch project, but it should be in enough detail so that a program officer has an idea of what you’re going to be doing and how you’re going to get your results.

Terry S.: If you’re a new faculty member with a research appointment, get in touch with your department or with Susan who is knowledgeable about REEport and how to get set up in the system.

Dave B.: More and more federal agencies are required to show accountability for the dollars you receive and what you’re doing with the tax payer dollars.

Hatch projects and reports shouldn’t take an inordinate amount of your time if you plan ahead and have the information available.

PowerPoint Presentation from Martha Filipic and Tracy Turner

CFAES Communications Resources: Ready When You Are

Martha Filipic: We wanted to start with a video to show you what happens when an interview goes badly [link within PowerPoint presentation]. It’s kind of dated, but it illustrates a few things about what can go wrong if you let them go wrong.

Tracy Turner: You never want to be in a position where you feel attacked or feel defensive and make the situation worse, so we’re here to give you some tactics.

Martha F.: Why work with the media at all? It’s still important even in this day and age. Media is not dead–it is struggling financially–but an article in the Cleveland Plain Dealer or the Columbus Dispatch reaches hundreds of thousands of people, and even more in their online sources. That’s a lot more than you could reach on your own on social media or otherwise.

If you’re not used to working with the media, it’s important to know where they are coming from and what they want.

Tracy T.: They want information and they want to report it accurately, not take a stand on anything. Not all media is that way.

Martha F.: The most important thing to a reporter is to be accurate. If they get something wrong, it ruins their credibility as a professional.

Tracy T.: Reporters try to get viewpoints in the story and strive for balance, and that’s why you get opposing views in coverage. When someone in an interview says no comment, then only “point A” gets across. It puts them in a bad position. Your name will still appear in the paper, but it will say you said no comment and it looks like you have something to hide. Even if you don’t like the questions that you’re getting, the journalist is trying to get both viewpoints in the story — that’s why they’re asking.

Martha F.: There is no truth out there. All there is are people’s perspectives and that’s what you can do as a reporter. It’s not their job to determine who’s telling the truth, it’s their job to report what the people are saying.

Reporters will ask for human interest or human interest questions, they may ask a poultry scientist “do you personally buy cage free eggs?” but you can respond to questions in ways that the reporter isn’t getting at.

Tracy T.: I was at the Columbus Dispatch for 12 years. They look for a “real person” voice… They want a real person who is impacted by whatever is happening in the story.

We also have to talk about brevity. Most stories are short, so during the interview get to the point. Time and space are money and most people don’t read the whole story, they read the headlines and first paragraph.

Come up with key points you want to get across in the interview and hone in on those points. Keep repeating them so that what you want to get across comes across.

Martha F.: Be brief and concise and make sure that you know what the reporter is looking for. And please understand the media’s deadlines. They need to get things out as quickly as possible. Especially with things online, things just move quicker. It’s a constant news cycle. Try to respond as soon as you can.

Tips for working with the media: 

Respond quickly to a reporter’s contact. Imagine your computer isn’t working… You contact IT and then you wait because you can’t work. That is what a reporters whole day is like. Just contact them and let them know what time you can talk. If you’re the first person to talk to them for a story, you set the tone for the story which helps your case.

Tracy T.: If someone calls you, it’s okay to ask them what the story is about and what the questions are. You can let them know that you will call them back. You can ask for a few minutes to gather your thoughts and set a time to call them back.

Martha F.: Make sure you use that time to figure out what your key messages are. If you don’t know what your key messages are, the reporter isn’t going to know what your key messages are. Then, you can always revert to your key messages no matter what the questions are.

Tracy T.: You can redirect questions. Journalists will have leading questions. Most of the time, the reporter is going in with an idea of what the story already is. Even if you don’t answer the question directly, it’s okay. Just stick to your key talking points.

Martha F.: There are times when you’re very comfortable with the story, you can answer questions directly. Absolutely. This is about if you’re uncomfortable with a question or if you know there are specific things you want out there. There are ways to do this diplomatically. We’re not politicians, we’re scientists and academics.

Tracy T.: Know your reporters. You can Google them, find out what they write about, what are their key issues, what’s their writing style. You can find out if this is something you want to be a part of.

Martha F.: You should expect “stupid” questions. Reporters don’t have your expertise. You’re the expert. They’re relying on you. Reporters are taught to ask for a way for readers to understand, at a sixth grade level. One way to get you to respond in a basic way is to ask a very basic question.

Tracy T.: Remember, their ultimate goal is to make sure that they get things right.

NEVER say no comment. It gets in the paper and makes you look like you have something to hide.

Martha F.: Instead you can say “I think you’re talking to the wrong person” or “I’m not sure that I’m the person to address that.”

No comment is a red flag to reporters and to readers.

Do not ask to review the story. Most news organizations will not allow this. If you’re nervous about an interview, you can say “I’m not sure if I was articulate today, could you send me the quotes you’re going to use from me? I just want to make sure that I got it right.” It’s worth a shot especially if you’re worried about it.

Tracy T.: If they are unable to do that, you can send them an email and say “just to reiterate, this is what I meant…”

Be cautious, reporters can be friendly, but they are not your friends. There is no “off the record.”

Martha F.: Don’t fall for the “silent treatment” when they are sent during pauses in conversation. Be comfortable with the silence and wait for the reporter to ask the next question. It’s a technique that some reporters use.

Tracy T.: Abrasive questions… Unless you’re a politician or something, the story isn’t about you as an individual. Some stories have hard questions that need to be answered. Be grateful and remember that they’re not attacking you as an individual, they want your perspective as an expert.

Watch out for Jekyll and Hyde and be professional no matter what. They’re going to be friendly and make people comfortable and then ask the hard questions.

Martha F.: If you respond by getting angry or losing it, maybe you’re under stress or there is tension. Don’t do it because it just makes you look bad. Rarely does it make the reporter look bad. This will sit with you.

Tracy T.: The interview isn’t over until it’s over. The banter, the small talk, just because you don’t see them writing things down, just because the camera isn’t pointing at you doesn’t mean the camera isn’t on. Most reporters aren’t trying to trap you.

Martha F.: If you feel like you’re on the spot, take a deep breath before answering the next question. Keep your response short and talk slowly.

Don’t dwell too much on the question. Your goal is NOT to answer all the questions, but to address the question and respond with your perspective. Never portray anger or defensiveness it just makes you look bad.

Tracy T.: When the interviewer asks if there’s anything else you’d like to add, reiterate your main points. Even if they don’t ask that question, you can tell them towards the end, “I just want to reiterate my main points.”

Martha F.: If you have an interview live on the radio, we can help or coach you, we can go over your key messages, etc.

Tracy T.: If you have something you are working on, we can do an interview with you and write the story. We will send the story back to you and then we will send it out to the media. We’re in-house media so our goal is to make you comfortable with what we send out.

We also have a faculty experts list that goes out to the media, so you can be added to this list if you’re comfortable talking about your field.

Steve Slack: I get called fairly frequently and the first thing I want to know is who is calling me and what the topic is. If I don’t know who the person is, I will go online and check that out. I will usually also call communications to ask them what they know about the person or who they’re representing. If I know what the topic is, I write out my points and have it on a note in front of me and I try to stay to that. If you start talking at length they have to summarize that. Is better to have a short, pointed statement because then its harder to be misquoted.

The point about getting back quickly… It is important to our organization. It reflects on the whole organization. I never say anything to them that I wouldn’t want to appear in print because no matter how much you trust them you just never know.

The most difficult thing is when you meet the reporter and meet them in a different venue. What you think is casual conversation, might be a story.

Question: What are best practices to get our own research publicized a bit more?

Martha F.: Something that might be important to you might not be newsworthy to the media world. But if you have something of larger interest, give us a call. We can write up a news release. That’s our job … to figure out what’s newsworthy and put it into language that the media will respond with.

Tracy T.: Something unusual is good for us. Chat with us about your rearech. We will flesh it out. If you want to be on that experts list, we’ll respond with a news release that says we have these experts in X, Y or Z so if you’re working on a story, call our expert in this field.

Martha F.: What is the problem we’re addressing and what is the solution you’re proposing? We have to make sure that what we put out is of interest to the media. We don’t want to look too internally focused.

Tracy T.: Reporters are looking for interesting or unusual tidbits even if it’s not huge or ground breaking research.