A philosophical query: what do you do when a faculty/staff person brings you a
proposal which you are virtually certain will not be funded?  Maybe it's a
not-very-good proposal headed for stiff competition, maybe it's a good proposal
headed for the wrong place, maybe it's an okay proposal a year or two behind
its time.

In any case, how honest are you with the writer?  Do you propose alterations,
maybe offer to edit/rewrite yourself?  Do you offer to search for other, more
likely, sources of funding?  How do you avoid causing terminal discouragement?

Bill Campbell
Director, Grants & Research
University of Wisconsin-River Falls