YES!  to Mike, Joni, Carolyn.....

Support for faculty is the goal...not writing the grants.  And, you get what you pay for.

I'm not going to tell my salary or list my responsibilities (I still haven't figured out what I'm supposed to be doing), but I run what is termed a "grant support" office.  My activities include pointing to funding sources, interpreting guidelines, strategizing grantseeking, holding anxious hands, reading proposals, editing proposals, and....taking the lead, occasionally, in writing an application.  [I do not get involved in institutional approvals of applications.  I work with the faculty, not the sponsored projects command.]

My motto in assisting faculty is "Get it done on your own".  Partly because I'm lazy and have a small staff but mostly because developing good grantsmanship comes from learning the ropes down in the muck and writing a great application almost always requires strong PI involvement and significant input from knowledgeable colleagues.  Generic grantwriters MAY do an OK job for some/few institutional program type proposals, but when the leadership of the proposed project is important and when the topic being explored is complex, with crucial subtle arguments, the PI needs to be doing most of the writing.  I look over shoulders, provide an extra set of eyes, play anal 8th grade English teacher, and inject principles of grantsmanship when needed.  But if I find myself myself constructing sentences and paragraphs, I already have serious doubts about success.

Charlie

At 09:24 AM 6/29/2005, you wrote:
>Showing my bias-- I think "grantwriter" positions are destined to fail and an overall bad idea.  It's almost impossible to have a hit rate that satisfies anyone unless the writer is tasked in a very small disciplinary area.  "twere me, I'd be looking for a technical writer/editor to support the faculty doing their own work-- "grantwrters" are like sports coaches, heroes when they win and criticized when they don't.  Editorial assistance is seen differently and the responsibility stays where it belongs, on the researcher (or grad assistant).
>
>Spanky

Charles B. Hathaway, Ph.D., Director
Office of Grant Support
Albert Einstein College of Medicine
1300 Morris Park Avenue
Bronx, NY 10461-1975
Phone: 718 430-3642     Fax: 718 430-8822
email: xxxxxx@aecom.yu.edu
http://www.aecom.yu.edu/ogs

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