Re: Grant Writer in a Sponsored Programs office? Charlie Hathaway 02 May 2007 11:41 EST

A "grant writer" in an academic setting will not be doing what the same position does at a small non-profit.  In the latter case, the person would likely write whole grants.  At a university I would envision a more broad position and hire accordingly.  Clearly, the writer's background outside of writing needs to be considered based on what kinds of proposals you anticipate.  (Remember, science majors tend to know more about economics and history than English majors know about physics).

Also...working with faculty on grants can mean everything from turning glop into English to last minute tweeking.  In all cases, your person will need to have enough charm to tell a lazy but capable PhD to do more work and tell an over-confident department chair that he/she might consider letting the writer add a little polish.  This flexibility becomes key because it permits the writer to adjust to peak flow.  A detailed job description will either be 20 pages long or amended in a week.

CH

At 11:36 AM 5/2/2007, you wrote:
>Our administration has offered us the opportunity to hire a Grant Writer to work from our Research and Sponsored Programs office. We are a medium sized office in a state University looking to jump start faculty enthusiasm and increase our number of grant submissions, however, we have some hesitations that faculty members will actually utilize and seek assistance from someone in this position. We are worried about their potential work flow and assigned duties, we do not need any assistance in pre or post award management.
>
>Our questions are the following:
>
>  1. Do you know of any Grant Writers under the umbrella of a Sponsored
>     Programs office and if so:
>         * What are their assigned duties?
>         * How is their work flow?
>  2. If you had to hire someone as a Grant Writer in a Sponsored
>     Program office and did not need help with pre-award
>     administration,  what would be your "dream job" for this person?
>  3. Do you have a specific job description you would be willing to
>     share with us?
>
>Any other thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
>Thank you,
>Megan
>
>--
>Megan E. Delaney
>Pre-Award Officer
>Research and Sponsored Programs
>Montclair State University
>College Hall Room 307
>Montclair, NJ 07043
>Phone: (973) 655-6923
>Fax: (973) 655-5150
>http://www.montclair.edu/pages/orsp/
>
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