The Relational Coordination Research Collaborative Transitions to the University of New Hampshire

February 16, 2021

On February 1, the Relational Coordination Research Collaborative transitioned from the Heller School to the Institute for Excellence in Health and Social Systems (IEHSS) at the University of New Hampshire’s College of Health and Human Services. This move coincides with the adoption of a new name and website: the Relational Coordination Collaborative (RCC).

Founded in 2011 by Jody Hoffer Gittell at Brandeis University, the RCC’s mission is to foster the development and application of relational coordination (RC) theory, research and practice to improve the lives of others by improving organizational performance. Lainie Loveless has transitioned to the University of New Hampshire as the Director of the Relational Coordination Collaborative (RCC) and will join the IEHSS leadership team. The RCC at UNH will focus on translating RC research into practice in health and social systems. Professor Gittell will continue teaching and leading innovative research extending the use and application of relational coordination at the Heller School and will provide content expertise on various UNH engagements.

“In its early years at the Heller School, the RCC developed a broad network of partners and has delivered key insights to the field of organizational behavior on the value and practice of relational coordination,” says Cindy Parks Thomas, PhD’01, associate dean for research at the Heller School. “We look forward to many years of continued collaboration with the RCC at its new home at the University of New Hampshire.”

“After 10 years of growing RC research and practice around the world from our home base at Heller and Brandeis University, I am eager to hand off to a new leadership team,” says Gittell. “Our wonderful colleague Lainie Loveless will bring her engineering and collaboration talents to lead the RCC more solidly into the world of practical impact, supported by Margie Godfrey and the IEHSS at UNH, and our dedicated advisory board led by Kathy McDonald at Johns Hopkins. I am excited for my research leadership role to continue.”

The RCC, led by Lainie Loveless, will continue to be a global community of leaders, researchers, practitioners and change agents sharing ideas and interventions to apply the transformational approach of relational coordination in their work. RCC at UNH will focus on translating RC research into practice in health and social systems and evaluation.