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Lane 217: Professional Outreach to Academic Leaders

IAIP Research
outreach--n-renaud-concordia

Lane 217: Professional Outreach to Academic Leaders

Parent Issue: miadisabelle/Etuaptmumk-RSM#216
Child Issue: miadisabelle/Etuaptmumk-RSM#217
Date: 2026-06-01

Research Focus

Relational vs. transactional engagement frameworks for academic institutional outreach.

Key Findings

1. Relational vs. Transactional Engagement

Research shows collaborative relationships outperform transactional ones on satisfaction, performance, and trust metrics. The key distinction: transactional asks "What can you do for me?" while relational invests in the relationship itself.

Implication for Nicolas: Frame the conversation as peer inquiry into decolonized AI and Indigenous technology, not as a pitch for resources or institutional partnership.

2. Relational Accountability as Core Framework

Recent Indigenous leadership research (Washington 2025; Wildcat & Voth 2023) establishes relational accountability—responsibility to relationships and community—as a governance principle.

Implication for Nicolas: Position the platform as accountable to Indigenous knowledge systems, not extractive of them. This signals epistemological alignment.

3. Institutional Integration Requires Relational Capacity

Faculty engagement in community-engaged scholarship depends less on individual enthusiasm and more on institutional support, funding models, and reward systems. Yet research shows that without relational infrastructure, engagement remains fragile.

Implication for Nicolas: The conversation should acknowledge Concordia's existing capacity while exploring what institutional conditions would support deeper collaboration.

4. Trust as the Strongest Predictor of Partnership Success

Across all partnership research, trust outweighs all other variables. Trust is built through: clear shared intent, transparency about constraints, demonstrated understanding of the partner's context, and integrity (saying what you'll do, doing what you say).

Implication for Nicolas: Build trust first through intellectual generosity—demonstrate you've studied his work, understand Concordia's media program mission, and respect the complexity of institutionalizing decolonial research.

Sources