Maybe my ENTJ approach to life will help. Realize it's okay that no
one (except for maybe my sister) is an expert in everything. You
don't have to know the fields of molecular biology, international
law, Spanish history, and teacher education in any given day. I'm
not above dragging out the search keywords (for SPIN, for example)
and have the faculty member suggest terms. I've also asked faculty to
spend time in my office doing their searches with me. So often they
want funding for some very specific project, but the sponsors provide
only very general information. I also beg for help from my coworkers
when I'm not coming up with what I think I should be (and they beg
right back when it's their turn). Still, sometimes faculty aren't
happy with their search results. When they call to complain (which
is better than going away mad, never to be seen again), I ask them to
provide me a written project summary if they haven't already
(writing stuff down helps focus their ideas) and we also talk over
the project in detail again. And sometimes there just aren't a lot
of logical sources, and maybe our jobs then turn toward helping the
researcher think about the project in broader terms. Would you like
to hear the story of the faculty member I worked with who was upset
that I'd come up with *only* nine funding sources for her ancient
Persian poetry project? Nine. And I couldn't make her understand that
was GOOD.

-Marcia Zuzolo

> As an INFP in the world of research administration, I could use
> some help with this subject. I have trouble "distilling" faculty
> ideas for proposals down to terms that I can use in searching for
> appropriate funding sources.

Marcia Landen Zuzolo
Sponsored Research Services
Bryan Hall Room 1
Indiana University
Bloomington, IN 47405
812-855-0516 (voice)
812-855-9943 (fax)
xxxxxx@indiana.edu

Education is igniting a flame, not filling a well. (Socrates)