I'd agree with Bill Campbell's three qualifications. Especially request
writing samples - some people who call themselves "grant writers"
understand the mechanics but aren't really very good writers of a
compelling case for support. Look for very thorough, positively stated,
and clearly written sample proposals. (I know this all may seem obvoius,
but in our business, we have to remember to state the obvious, right?!)
Good Luck!
At 09:55 AM 12/3/98 -0500, you wrote:
>Theresa, I think you should look for three major qualifications:
>
>--Ability to work collaboratively with faculty/staff at Radford. This
>probably means a well-controlled ego; the writer must be able to submerge
>his/her own ego and defer, at least some of the time, to others. Previous
>faculty experience, at Radford or elsewhere, might help. (But can also
lead to
>other problems; former faculty sometimes prefer to think that they are
present
>faculty, not staff.)
>
>--Ability to write sound, coherent, persuasive proposals, using the ideas and
>data of others.
>
>--Ability to meet deadlines. Some good writers can't do this--fatal, of
>course, in the grants business.
>
>These abilities are hard to assess by looking at credentials. I suggest you
>request samples of proposals, speak to former/current co-workers, and
impose a
>6 or 12 month trial period.
>
>I think you'll attract two sorts of candidates: writers who can adapt to
higher
>education projects and educators who can write. Your faculty are more likely
>to accept educators, I suspect. If the proposals this person will write are
>research proposals or highly discipline-specific, that's an important
>criterion. If, on the other hand, they are institution-wide (TRIO or Title
>III, for instance), it's not so important.
>
>Good luck!
>
>Bill Campbell
>Director, Grants & Research
>University of Wisconsin-River Falls
>
>
>=============================================================================
>
>
Diana Thompson Vincelli
Associate Director
Corporate & Foundation Relations
101 Maryland Hall
University of Richmond, VA 23173
804.289.8005; FAX: 804.287.6491
xxxxxx@richmond.edu
http://www.richmond.edu/~grants
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