 |
Julie C. Kong, Director of Research Services in the Dean’s Office
at the School of Public Health, and APAC member. |
Julie
C. Kong Sees APAC as Advocate for APs
By Katherine
Vega
JULIE
C. KONG, the Director of
Research Services in the Dean’s Office at the School of Public Health, has
spent more than half her life at UIC. “UIC is one of those places that many
people such as myself keep coming back to!” said Kong.
AFTER
RECEIVING
her degree in in nutrition and dietetics from the College of Applied Health
Sciences and working as a dietitian, she came back as a teaching assistant in
the Department of Nutrition and Medical Dietetics in 1984 and became an
instructor and the Coordinator of the Undergraduate Dietetics Program the
following year.
KONG
SERVED
in other roles outside of UIC but came back again to become the Administrative
Director of the first UIC Cancer Center in 1996. “In 1999, I came to the School
of Public Health to start the pre-awards research office,” she said. Kong has
been there ever since.
THE
SCHOOL
of Public Health’s Office of Research Services, an office with a staff of three
pre-awards sponsored project specialists, helps pre-award researchers get their
proposals organized and submitted to federal and non-profit organizations. This
may sound like a broad set of tasks—and it is.
KONG’S
OFFICE
provides “full-service proposal development for faculty and students,” she
said. In addition to hosting grant workshops and searching for funding
opportunities, the Office of Research Services also organizes the Annual SPH
Research Day. “We have a diverse set of other responsibilities…such as writing
and organizing the content for the research section of the College’s website,
managing the scientific peer review process, running the College’s Seed Funding
Competition and poster office, and analyzing the research activities of the
college,” said Kong.
“MY
GOAL
is to continue to advance research in the college and support the development
of my staff, who are the foundation of the office,” Kong said. “It is critical
for pre-awards research offices to be visionary and develop new strategies to
expand their enterprise to further support faculty.”
OFFICES
SUCH as
Research Services are crucial to providing investigators the means to grow
their research portfolio. A strong administrative backing of that process is
essential to innovation and exploration, according to Kong. “The field of
research administration has really progressed over the past few years,” she
said. “In particular, having a pre-awards research office provides endless
possibilities in creating something ‘new.’”
“THERE
ARE new relationships that are being
fostered for collaborations, the training of new investigators on how to prepare their first grant proposal, and
the developing of new initiatives for
the college,” she continued.
FOR
KONG,
joining APAC was an easy decision. “APAC is valuable because they are the
advocate for the interests of all Academic Professionals,” she said. She also
appreciates what APAC represents to her. A fan of both acronyms and
advancement, she believes that “Activism is Positive and Affects
Change.”
KONG
KNOWS
that staff members are some of the most important members of the UIC community,
and this translates to her work with APAC. “I am currently part of the
Professional Development Committee because I enjoy supporting the personal and
professional growth of one of our campus’ most valuable resources—our staff,”
she said.
KONG’S
STAFF
of pre-awards sponsored projects specialists are Academic Professionals. “As
research administrators, it is essential that they have the resources to grow
in their careers so that their talents can be further enhanced for their jobs,”
said Kong.
“UIC
HAS
many wonderful and hard-working Academic Professionals and APAC works extremely
hard to recognize and retain these professionals,” she concluded.
