NAACLS Program Advocacy Survey

Share Your Success Story for Our Advocacy Session

As a valued member of the NAACLS community, we are excited to invite you to contribute to an important Program Advocacy project. At the upcoming March 2024 Clinical Laboratory Educator’s Conference, Board President, Robert Cottrell, and I will present a session titled, “Advocate for Success: Leveraging Data and Strategy to Secure Essential Faculty Resources”.

We would love to feature your personal stories of successfully garnering support to build, grow, sustain, or enhance your program—whether by securing additional faculty, equipment, space, or other resources. Your experiences can inspire and guide others striving to achieve similar goals.

Leading up to our session at CLEC, we plan to publish a series of articles highlighting these stories on the NAACLS News. The articles will include tips, strategies for communicating with administration, and actionable advice to help programs achieve greater success.

If you're interested in sharing your experience, please complete the brief survey below by January 15th. Your insights will not only enrich our session but also help strengthen advocacy efforts across the NAACLS community.

Thank you!
Marisa James, NAACLS Chief Executive Officer

1. Who did you advocate to?
(For example, in a hospital setting, this might be your Laboratory Director or Vice President. In a university or college setting, it could be a Dean or Department Chair.)

2. What resources or support did you secure?

3. What data or metrics were most persuasive in making your case?
(For example, student enrollment trends, patient outcomes, financial projections, etc.)

4. What challenges did you face during the advocacy process, and how did you overcome them?

5. How did you tailor your approach to resonate with the decision-maker’s priorities or concerns?

6. Were there any external factors (e.g., accreditation requirements, community needs, budget cycles) that helped strengthen your case?

7. Did you involve others in your advocacy efforts?
(For example, did you collaborate with colleagues, students, or external stakeholders to build your case?)

8. What was the timeline for your advocacy efforts, from initiation to success?
(This will help others manage expectations and plan their efforts effectively.)

9. Have the resources or support you secured had the intended impact? If so, how do you measure the impact of your advocacy efforts?
(This demonstrates the value of advocacy and provides validation for similar efforts?)

10. What is the best advice you’ve received for advocating for your program?

11. What lessons did you learn from the process that you would share with others advocating for similar support?

12. Is there someone else we should send this survey to who had to “fight” for resources and won?