Landy, I thought I was reading what I sent to SPanky (by the way all, SPanky did ask to have things sent to him directly, but I know that sometimes we like to speak to the group on the touchy feely stuff). You and I are mirror images of a one-man-band, newly-established SRO with incredulousness from faculty. I did the same thing -- got to know them and what their goals are and where they saw themselves in 1-5 years. I NEVER asked "what can I do for you?" or "have you used our search engine to find things?" If it came up, great. That was not the meaning of my visit. I used an analogy: the psychologist Harlow did that well known experiment on the nature of love and monkeys. When presented with two "mothers" -- one that was wire and cold, but provided food and the other that was soft, but no food -- the monkeys went time and again to the "comforting" mother. If all we do is feed the monkeys, it is no wonder that all we get are crazy monkeys to work with! I'm not inferring that faculty are monkeys (Lord knows that identify myself as howler monkey!), but I think you get the point. Faculty need that understanding and nurturing. They of course need to be pointed down the right path (which is of course our job), but without that human factor, it is the proverbial red-tape DMV teller view they will have of us. Jeanne http://www.ncf.edu/orps/ "Get your facts first, and then you can distort them as much as you please." -- Mark Twain "Everybody gets so much information all day long that they lose their common sense." -- Gertrude Stein -----Original Message----- From: Research Administration List [mailto:xxxxxx@HRINET.ORG] On Behalf Of Johnson, Landy (Director of Grant Development) Sent: Wednesday, April 12, 2006 11:14 AM To: xxxxxx@HRINET.ORG Subject: Re: [RESADM-L] Relevance First of all, Spanky's link worked fine for me (just for the record). Second of all, though all the philosophical discussion is interesting, I seem to be hearing "there's nothing we can do" rather than suggestions for actually doing something. (Maybe I'm having a cranky day.) The following post is lengthy, but contains actual suggestions that might be useful, so please bear with me. A year ago, I was the first appointee to run a newly-established, one-person research office (there had been a part-time "grant writer" a few years ago, who mostly worked for Institutional Advancement, but then she left). I took advantage of my newness to interview all department heads, and put out the word to faculty that I need to know what they do in order to be able to let them know when a great grant opportunity comes along. I created a web site for my office, with links to a faculty publications list (maintained by someone else) and with a list of recent awards. To the extent that I can find the time (maybe once a week) I attend department seminars or other events that will give me a better idea of what's going on intellectually in my institution. I even showed up in someone's class when he had a guest speaker. This demonstration of interest has a huge impact, and one starts to be seen as a colleague rather than a clerk. It is just as important for post-award people as for pre-award; asking the see the finished product of a research effort, or attending a seminar or event related to the dissemination of the results, reinforces one's role as someone who insures the quality of the intellectual output of the institution (a good way to describe oneself to the President, rather than just "I help faculty"), just like a doctor who insists the patient return for follow-up. My most recent endeavor is a Faculty Grantsmanship Colloquium on August 27th at which three of the most grant-prolific professors will speak about how they began obtaining grants, how they develop partnerships with other institutions, and how they roll from one grant to another. Special invitations have been sent to the 27 faculty who were just awarded internal $1,000-$3,000 Faculty Development Grants (managed by the Provost's office, not by me) since an "outside" grant should be their next step. A more general invitation has been sent to the entire faculty. The event should provide useful information to those who are early in their career, and it gives very much needed recognition to those who have been pursuing grants for years. I will speak for about five minutes at the beginning of the event. The College's Faculty Development Committee is very much on board. (I got to know the Faculty Development Committee Chair because I attend the Faculty Senate meetings.) This model of operation is one that perhaps is only doable at a small school, though I would certainly encourage all the staff at larger research offices to see the faculty with whom they work as a "stable" of talent for whom they are an agent. Give them the star treatment and you will be reflected in their glory. Landy __________________________ Landy C. Johnson, MPA, Ph.D. Director of Grant Development Research Office Assumption College, Alumni Hall 024 500 Salisbury St. Worcester, MA 01609-1296 (508)767-7666 xxxxxx@assumption.edu ********************* ====================================================================== 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") ====================================================================== ====================================================================== 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") ======================================================================
