Pam . . .We hired a proposal development specialist in January whose sole responsibility is to work with faculty on the development of their proposals. I think this is working beautifully, and faculty who have used the service, absolutely love this kind of support. The person does not write the proposal for them, but rather, sits downs and discusses the project with them, sometimes outlines the program solicitation, gathers institutional data, sets deadlines for the faculty for drafts, and sends the drafts back and forth until the final project is as good as it can get, given the deadline. As director, OSP here at a predominantly undergraduate institution, I found myself spending an inordinate amount of time working with faculty on rewrites of their proposals. This was necessary if the proposal was to be competitive. It was a service that the deans and department chairs felt was extremely important to their faculty. When it became obvious that this continued level of support was not going to be possible, given all the other responsibilities of my job, they lobbied to have a position funded within this office to provide technical writing assistance. We have not had time yet to see if this service results in more funded proposals, but I do know that the proposals going out are much, much improved, and more competitive. The person we hired is excellent, works with all disciplines, and knows how to work with a wide range of personalities. We never take credit for the proposals, but I receive accolades on a daily basis from faculty about the capabilities and service orientation of the writer. Most of our faculty do not have the background, expertise, or confidence to be savy about proposal writing, and more are being pushed to seek external funding as part of their promotion and tenure consideration. This service has helped tremendously in getting faculty to come to us in a more timely mannner, and I think we will see that we will receive more awards than previously. I might add that we do provide proposal development workshops for all faculty, but this one-on-one- intensive experience goes a long way to spike their learning curve! Jackie >>> xxxxxx@USFCA.EDU 10/15/04 1:40:47 PM >>> Dear everyone, I entered the world of research development and administration as a proposal writer for the administrative agent for a group of 28 public school districts. I enjoyed writing proposals for the school districts because I was writing about things in my field of study and interest, and the people I worked for needed this kind of help. When I moved to a sponsored projects' office in a university environment I realized that my responsibilities were more complex. I had to help novice faculty learn how to write a proposal without writing it for them. I had to help faculty with experience in writing proposals focus on the important narrative while I took care of the forms, budgets and other administrative hassles. I was taught by a wise colleague at the time that if the faculty member's proposal got funded and attributed their success to me...I had failed. The goal was to help the faculty member feel that they were the "star" of their own show--not me. (Although it was okay if the faculty member bought me a drink or something!) This brings me to the issue of hiring a grant writer to help faculty with proposals. I think this is a terrible idea, except for large institutional proposals such as the Title 3 application. I worry that my attitude is due to the fact that I have always worked--prior to my current position--in mature research institutions. My job now is to help a university that is just getting started get on the right road--a task that is both enjoyable and challenging! Lately the issue of hiring proposal writers has come up more and more. I am interested in hearing from people that have advice on if and when an outside proposal writer has a place in the growth of a university. I do not want to create faculty that always look to someone else to write their proposals, but also I do not want to be RIGID!!!! Any thoughts? BTW--course loads here have recently been reduced. Pamela F. Miller, Ph.D. Director, Office of Sponsored Projects The University of San Francisco 2130 Fulton Street San Francisco, CA 94117-1080 TEL 415-422-5368 FAX 415-422-6222 EMAIL xxxxxx@usfca.edu "The abuse of greatness is, when it disjoins Remorse from power." Brutus, Act 2, Scene 1 Julius Caesar. ====================================================================== Instructions on how to use the RESADM-L Mailing List, including subscription information and a web-searchable archive, are available via our web site at http://www.hrinet.org (click on "Listserv Lists") ====================================================================== Jacqueline Givens Director, Office of Sponsored Programs Kennesaw State University 1000 Chastain Road, #0111 Kennesaw, Georgia 30144-5591 PHONE: (770) 423-6036 FAX: (770) 499-3620 WEBSITE: http://www.kennesaw.edu/osp ====================================================================== Instructions on how to use the RESADM-L Mailing List, including subscription information and a web-searchable archive, are available via our web site at http://www.hrinet.org (click on "Listserv Lists") ======================================================================
