For Gwen Marchand, learning through research and then developing ways to share those findings to impact the community beyond the confines of academia has been “the best job in the world." She came to that realization first as an individual researcher. Now, as associate vice president for research, she hopes to help others find that same kind of fulfillment.

When Marchand stepped into her new role over the summer, she brought with her a wealth of experience in research strategy, grant management, and interdisciplinary collaboration. She previously served as interim AVP and has helped identify and address research challenges and restructured key offices.

Along with overseeing various special projects, she leads the teams in the: 

• Office of Sponsored Programs, which handles grant-related support on campus
• Office of Research Integrity, which covers research security, compliance, and protections (including animal care and human subjects programs) and the research misconduct program
• Office of Clinical Trials

Marchand began her journey at UNLV in 2008 as an assistant professor of educational psychology in the College of Education, and quickly distinguished herself through her work on complex systems in education, motivation, and methodology, which has been published in top education journals such as Educational Psychologist and the Journal of Educational Psychology. 

She led or contributed to over $22 million in successful applications for extramural funding from a range of sources, including the National Science Foundation and National Institutes of Health. Her research focuses on effectively supporting students in science, evaluation, and assessment of biomedical research infrastructure. She then went on to lead the UNLV Center for Research, Evaluation, and Assessment and served as the college’s associate dean for research and sponsored projects.

She now works together with Vice President of Research David Hatchett to empower faculty to explore and implement knowledge acquired through interdisciplinary research. 

Could you tell us about some of your current projects?

At UNLV, we don’t have a dedicated research development office, which is unusual for a university of our size, so we’re building that structure in various ways. I serve as the acting chair for the Council for Centers, Institutes, Museums, and Labs, which advises on governance for those groups, and we're working on updating the reporting process. 

Additionally, I'm a fellow with the APLU Council on Research, a professional development program for individuals in VP-level research roles. My fellowship project focuses on understanding different research development models and how we can support our university centers more effectively, using insights gained from this fellowship to create sustainable support structures for interdisciplinary teams.

Speaking of interdisciplinary research, we have eight development areas on campus, each at different stages of growth. We’ve observed that as these teams evolve, they could benefit from support in grant development, writing, and expert consultation — resources we currently lack in-house. I discussed this need with the [UNLV President Keith E. Whitfield], who offered funding to support a competition to help advanced teams accelerate their work. Our vice president for research, Dave Hatchett, also pledged matching funds. Finalists pitched their ideas at the Interdisciplinary Research Symposium in October, where we had skill-building sessions, research presentations, and collaboration opportunities. It’s an exciting time with a lot happening!

How does UNLV’s status as an R1 Carnegie research university influence the goals and strategies of the Division of Research?

I think our R1 status is significant, but what matters more is having a faculty and student body that are truly driven to grow and develop. This drive may relate to our R1 status, as it attracts individuals eager to pursue high-quality research. We've always had dedicated researchers, but now we have an expanded faculty with a solid understanding of what it takes to be competitive and to be a good regional partner.

Achieving R1 status has opened up opportunities for recruitment and collaborations with other research-intensive institutions. It’s given us a chance to assess what’s needed to support high-quality, impactful research across all disciplines and to meet our growing demands. Our research growth has been rapid, and that calls for rethinking and enhancing some of our services to allow faculty and students to work more efficiently and productively, regardless of their field.

Our role is to look at the broader university landscape and ensure we’re providing the right support so they can thrive and succeed. R1 status reflects the direction UNLV was already heading, and while there’s a reciprocal relationship between that status and the talent we attract, it’s our work and momentum that brought us here. This momentum continues, and I don’t see it slowing down.

Additionally, our status as a Minority-Serving Institution with designations as an Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-Serving Institution (AANAPISI) and a Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI), has contributed to increased partnerships, particularly with other Hispanic-serving research institutions and regional partners who see us as adaptable and innovative. Geographically and socioculturally, we’re in a unique position in the country, and our growing visibility invites mutually beneficial partnerships that can benefit our academic community and the people we serve in Southern Nevada.

This increased visibility and collaboration are reshaping how we think about our services and the strategic priorities UNLV needs to keep growing in research. 

What inspired you to get into your field? Can you share more about your research expertise that centers on the motivational development of school-aged children? 

Sure, that’s a funny question because a couple of years ago, my son's teacher asked me to speak on Career Day about being a professor. I wondered how to explain it to fourth or fifth graders, and I think it comes down to this: I get to explore questions that genuinely interest me. As a faculty member and researcher, I have access to tools, experts, and collaborators with skills that complement my own. I can investigate topics important to me, my field, and my community, and hopefully contribute knowledge that others can use to make a positive impact. For me, that freedom and flexibility make this the best job in the world.

My field is motivation and engagement, which ties in here. I've always been curious about why people do what they do and how learning environments interact with individual needs to create growth opportunities. Growing up, I remember my grandmother, the child of immigrants, telling me about her experiences in school as a young girl who didn’t speak English and was terrified to ask for help. This inspired my interest in understanding how educational settings can foster or limit curiosity and learning, and how they shape paths for individual growth.

This blend of studying motivation, engagement, and collaboration in research environments has naturally led me to roles like director, ADR, and now AVP. I want to help others answer the questions that matter to them, remove administrative barriers, and ensure they have the resources they need.

Tell me about an a-ha moment in your career — a time when your perspective shifted and shaped where you are today. 

Early in my career at UNLV, I had an ambitious research agenda and it touched upon several different research topics. I felt tension between producing research quickly through shorter-term studies to meet tenure and promotion expectations and my interest in studying processes that unfold over time in real-world educational settings. Through a series of collaborations that began while I was an assistant professor, I recognized that positive and productive collaborations were a critical avenue to be able to engage in multiple projects that I felt were impactful and aligned with my professional goals. 

Through these collaborative projects, my work has been influential in several areas. I advanced a complex systems framework for studying educational phenomena that allows researchers to more authentically capture the dynamic and contextualized nature of human learning experiences. I developed a program to help teachers modify their instructional practices to better support student motivation in middle school science classrooms that have been adopted by schools and have demonstrated how to translate theory into practice. And, I have embraced unique and novel methodological approaches that have been recognized and used in evaluation and education research. The generative nature of these collaborations has led to significant extramural funding, publications in top education journals, special issue editorships, and practice impacts. 

This impact would likely not have been possible without the investment of time and energy I put into fostering and building professional collaborations. So, I think my “a-ha” moment was related to understanding that collaborative research partnerships take time, energy, and care to build something sustainable and productive, but they are worth that attention. Since then, I’ve dedicated my career to projects that foster teamwork and support others in doing the work they’re genuinely passionate about. This sense has extended to my approach to leadership and team building more generally.

As a parent, what does work-life balance look like for you?

I have two kids, a 14-year-old and a 12-year-old, and I couldn't be prouder of them. They’re amazing boys — always helpful and patient. Honestly, I don’t know if I have a work-life balance exactly, but I do try to find joy every day. My kids bring me so much joy, and work sometimes does too. 

My former dean was incredibly supportive, allowing me to prioritize my kids when needed, and Dave (Hatchett) is also great at giving me the flexibility I need to be there for them. I feel fortunate to have a work environment that, despite the demands of both work and parenting, is understanding of each. It allows me to be as present as I can be at work when I’m here, and at home when I’m with my family.

There’s some overlap between work and home life, but I have very patient and supportive people in my life, and that makes a huge difference. My kids and I have open, honest conversations. We talk a lot, and I hope that seeing me as a professional trying to find balance gives them an understanding of what that looks like. I try to keep a positive outlook, find joy in the little moments, and make sure to communicate openly about what’s going on. It helps.

What’s the last big project you completed and how did you celebrate/decompress afterward?

My projects seem never-ending, so it’s hard to know when to say they're "done." I just wrapped up an NSF grant I’d been working on for six years, including a couple of no-cost extensions. That was a huge project, and finishing it is something to celebrate, though the next round of grant submissions is already on the horizon.

Honestly, sometimes it’s about taking a moment to recognize an accomplishment, even if it's just sitting with my partner and saying, "Hey, nice work! This paper was published" or "This went well."  Acknowledging it out loud helps, and then we might have a nice dinner or a glass of wine. I love to cook, so we’ll do a lot of that as a way to mark the moment. 

When that big project ended, my research team and I "celebrated" by jumping right into writing another grant. I don’t tend to have big celebrations; instead, I just take a moment to feel that “OK, cool” feeling.

I do tend to clean my office at these milestones — almost like a ritual. It’s something I used to do at the end of each semester, and I’ve found myself doing it when I finish a big project too. Somehow, putting aside the artifacts of the semester or project gives me a sense of a fresh, organized start, even though there’s always a never-ending to-do list waiting for me.

Tell us about an object in your office and what it represents to you.

When I was a kid, whenever I asked my mom a question she didn’t know the answer to, or if I asked her to predict something, she’d always say, “I don’t know — my crystal ball is cloudy right now.” That phrase stuck with me, so now I keep a small crystal ball in my office. It’s a smoky quartz sphere, naturally cloudy, and it’s become a tradition for me to give one as a gift to my PhD students when they graduate. 

I explain to them — and I even gave one to Dave as a Christmas gift last year — that we’re often asked to project into the unknown, to know things that aren’t yet knowable. Instead of getting anxious about this, we can rely on our skills.

I tell my students, “You’ve graduated with a PhD; you can rely on the knowledge and abilities you have. Right now, you know more about your topic than anyone else in the world. Rely on that, because the crystal ball is always going to be a bit cloudy. You won’t know the future, but you can trust yourself and your skills to make informed decisions moving forward.”

So, I keep that crystal ball in my office as a reminder of my mom’s words and to embrace the unknown.