Minutes
11/17/05	04/21/05	03/10/05	11/09/04

Notes from 2nd Gathering of Qualitative Interest Group
3/10/05, Room 252, College of Nursing

A small, but enthusiastic group convened for the second quarterly gathering of our Qualitative Research Interest Group. The group debriefed & shared dialogue on several topics, including:

• Our website, the Qualitative Café, named by Dr. Eileen Thomas & created/maintained by Jane Erlandson! Consensus is that the website looks appealing & interesting, is easy to use, & is responsive to information interested site visitors wish to add, such as upcoming events, changes to our interest grid, etc. Jane attended the meeting, so was able to answer questions and listen to suggestions regarding possible future features of the website. A welcome addition, coming soon to the website, will be a qualitative bibliography. Dr. Cindy Mendelson will share the bib she created for her nursing PhD class on qualitative research, & others with useful entries for that bib are welcome to send the information to Jane Erlandson, whose contact info is on the website. Jane will soon add a link to the bibliography, making access easy for interested students & faculty. Plans to make the site more interactive are possible at a later date, when we hope to have additional human resources available to help maintain & monitor the interaction. This might include a formal list server, replacing the current informal system that we have. However, for now, the interest grid containing individual contact info will serve as the conduit for direct communication.

• Our Brown Bag sessions: the first brown bag was successful, & the second one is planned for April 21 in HSSB 168, 12-1PM. See the website for the details of content; Dr. Barb Hooper (from OT) is facilitating that brown bag. Participants agreed that it is a valuable use of our time to plan time for discussing specific research projects or proposals, whatever stage they may be in, especially regarding methodology, criteria for rigor, etc. We especially appreciate the varied perspectives emerging from across the disciplines and research experiences of participants. Possible future topics mentioned for brown bags included mixed methods approaches to research, specific topics from qualitative experts on the main UNM campus (outside HSC), & qualitative software packages.

• Meetings: Given the intense schedules that all of us face, we agreed that in the future, we will plan just ONE substantive meeting per semester for this group—once in spring, once in fall. Then 1-2 brown bag sessions will also be planned for each semester, & one brown bag or other “learning session” planned for sometime during the summer term. Those present concurred that the best time for all of these gatherings would be Thursdays, 12-1PM, in rotating locations at the HSC. We also welcome participation from any of the faculty/students interested in qualitative research/thinking from main campus. Jennifer agreed to contact Angela Heisel, publicity staff person for UNM HSC, to help get the word out more efficiently to the entire UNM community. Angela’s name will be added to our email list, as well, to keep her aware of our happenings

• Jennifer agreed to explore/contact possible qualitative experts for a summer 2005 brown bag or learning session for interested faculty/students. She will follow up and communicate more details about this in the coming weeks

Enthusiasm remains high for the work, thinking, & shared learning supported by this great group of qualitative thinkers & researchers. Congruent with our decision at this meeting, another substantive planning meeting for the group will be scheduled for fall semester, & will be well publicized so that all interested faculty & students can take part. In the meantime, we invite all to the upcoming brown bag session on April 21, & we welcome the contacts to individuals whose names appear on the website interest grid. Happy Springtime & thanks for your energy for this qualitative interest group!

Respectfully submitted,
Jennifer Averill