Grant Seeking in Higher Education E-Book

Mary M. Licklider

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Bildung
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 500

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2012

Beschreibung

Written for anyone in higher education who is responsible for submitting and running a grant-funded project, Grant Seeking in Higher Education offers a hands-on resource for developing and managing the grant process from start to finish. Step by step, the authors will help you to identify and sort through potential sponsors, tap into campus support that is already in place, and prepare to write a targeted grant proposal that can generate results. Once you have completed the research, the book outlines the keys to writing a winning proposal, including an effective proposal narrative, thorough budget, and readable proposal package. To give grant seekers an extra edge, the book contains a toolkit of tested materials. These proven tools--templates, examples, and cheat sheets--are designed to help you approach your project as a grants professional would. Grant Seeking in Higher Education also spotlights the need for academic leaders to create a campuswide culture that fosters efficient and effective grant seeking. Praise for Grant Seeking in Higher Education "This book realistically provides great advice on proposal development and grants management. Additionally, readers receive a bonus as the authors have included some very helpful tools and templates that have assisted them in their grant endeavors." --Gail Vertz, chief executive officer, Grant Professionals Association "This book is well researched, especially with regard to issues of collaboration, helpfully organized, and chock-full of practical advice--a must-have for any research development professional's bookcase!" --Holly Falk-Krzesinski, founding president, National Organization of Research Development Professionals (NORDP)

Leseprobe

Table of Contents

Cover

Title page

Copyright page

Series page

FREE Premium Content

List of Figures, Tables, and Boxes

Foreword

Preface: What’s in a Name?

A Rose by Any Other Name . . . 

Using This Book

Acknowledgments

About the Authors

Part One: The How-to Manual

Section One: Diving into Grants Culture

Chapter 1 Grants Culture: The Big Picture

Federal Grant Making through the Years

Private Grant Making through the Years

The Roles of Grant-Funded Projects in Academia

Planning Your Research Agenda

Chapter 2 The Matching Game: Finding Funders

Funding Opportunities Databases

Funder Research

Assessing the Match

Short Deadlines

Summary

Chapter 3 Tapping Support on Campus

First Things First

Try Not to Do Everything Yourself

Strategic Discussions with Institutional Leadership

Support Staff

Grant Writing Consultants

Administrative Personnel

Fiscal Officers

Legal and Compliance Issues

Faculty Mentors

Other Faculty and Disciplines

Internal Funding Programs

Summary

Chapter 4 Collaboration: The New Frontier

Why Collaborate? What Good Does It Do?

Why Is Collaboration So Important Now?

Timing

Requirements for Successful Collaboration

Challenges to Successful Collaboration

Traits That Influence Interdisciplinary Collaboration

Finding and Cultivating Partnerships

Managing Collaborators

Summary

Chapter 5 Preparing to Write

Note Key Elements of the Sponsor’s Guidelines

Create an Outline

Prepare a Proposal Development Timeline

Get Organized, Stay Organized

Summary

Section Two: Developing Your Proposal

Chapter 6 The Writing

Finding Time

Successful Communication

Summary

Chapter 7 The Abstract

Putting It All Together

500-Word Abstract

250-Word Abstract

160-Word Abstract

Summary

Chapter 8 The Heart of the Matter: The Proposal Narrative

Proposal Logic

Need for the Work

Goals and Objectives

Preliminary Studies

Work Plan

Key Personnel

Sustainability

Evaluation of Outcomes and Impact

Dissemination Plans

Diversity Plans

Summary

Chapter 9 Budgets

What Does the Budget Reveal about the Project?

Campus Resources

Getting Started

Assembling the Framework

The Budget Justification

Summary

Chapter 10 Making It Shine: The Proposal Package

Cover Letters and Transmittal Letters

Biographical Sketches and Résumés

Resources, Facilities, and Organization Description

Budget Justification

Formatting for Readability

Informational Graphics

Letters of Support and Commitment

Appendices

Submission Processes

Summary

Section Three: Next Steps

Chapter 11 Review, Rejection, and Reshaping

Review Processes

Rejection

Reshaping Your Proposal

When Not to Resubmit

Summary

Chapter 12 Your Project Is Funded—Now What?

Research Compliance Issues

Budget Negotiations

Award Terms

Your Project, Your Business

Summary

Part Two: Grant-Seeking Toolkit

Section 1 Diving into Grants Culture

Grant Glossary

Tools for Finding Funding

Funding Search Cheat Sheet

Prewriting Questions

Section 2 Managing the Proposal Work

Planning for Proposal Development

Developing a Concept Paper

Four Sentences to Focus Your Elevator Pitch

Contacting a Program Officer

Managing Proposal Development

Narrative Timeline for Proposal Development

Section 3 Developing Your Proposal

Proposal Logic

Moving from the Larger Context to the Details

Proposal Outlines

Evaluation

Budget Justification

Subcontracts and Consulting Agreements

Sample Subcontract Scope of Work

Travel Expenses

Letters of Support and Commitment

Project Timelines

Proposal Review Processes

Section 4 Building Institutional Grants Culture

Tools for Hiring Grant Writing Consultants

Interview Questions

Interview Writing Prompts

Reference Check Questions

Tools for Managing and Nurturing Grant Writing Consultants

Survey Instrument

Flextime Memo

Afterword: Summing It Up

The Vision Thing

Investing Your Time

Form Follows Function

Building the Campus Culture

Appendix: Building a Grants Culture: A Word to Campus Leaders

Traditional versus Emerging Paradigms

The Need for Grant Writing Consultants

Finding Grant Writing Consultants

Hiring Grant Writing Consultants

Getting New Grant Writing Consultants Started

Mentoring New Grant Writing Consultants

Assessing Performance

Starting the MU Grant Writer Network—Beginner’s Luck

Conclusion

References

Index

Copyright © 2012 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

Published by Jossey-Bass

A Wiley Imprint

One Montgomery Street, Suite 1200, San Francisco, CA 94104-4594—www.josseybass.com

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc., 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, 978-750-8400, fax [phone], or on the Web at www.copyright.com. Requests to the publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, 201-748-6011, fax [phone], or online at www.wiley.com/go/permissions.

Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: While the publisher and authors have used their best efforts in preparing this book, they make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this book and specifically disclaim any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales representatives or written sales materials. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for your situation. You should consult with a professional where appropriate. Neither the publisher nor author shall be liable for any loss of profit or any other commercial damages, including but not limited to special, incidental, consequential, or other damages. Readers should be aware that Internet Web sites offered as citations and/or sources for further information may have changed or disappeared between the time this was written and when it is read.

Jossey-Bass books and products are available through most bookstores. To contact Jossey-Bass directly call our Customer Care Department within the U.S. at 800-956-7739, outside the U.S. at 317-572-3986, or fax [phone].

Wiley also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats and by print-on-demand. Some material included with standard print versions of this book may not be included in e-books or in print-on-demand. If the version of this book that you purchased references media such as a CD or a DVD that was not included in your purchase, you may download this material at http://booksupport.wiley.com. For more information about Wiley products, visit www.wiley.com.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Licklider, Mary M.

 Grant seeking in higher education : strategies and tools for college faculty / Mary M. Licklider and The University of Missouri Grant Writer Network ; foreword by David Attis.

p. cm. – (The Jossey-Bass higher and adult education Series)

 Includes bibliographical references and index.

 ISBN 978-1-118-19247-4 (pbk.)

 ISBN 978-1-118-39511-0 (pdf) – ISBN 978-1-118-39512-7 (epub) – 978-1-118-47645-1 (emobi)

 1. Educational fund raising–United States. 2. Education, Higher–United States–Finance. 3. Research grants–Handbooks, manuals, etc. 4. Proposal writing for grants–Handbooks, manuals, etc. 5. Universities and colleges–Faculty. I. Title.

 LB2336.L54 2012

 378.1'06–dc23

2012016932

The Jossey-Bass Higher and

Adult Education Series

List of Figures, Tables, and Boxes

Figures

Figure 1: Grant-Seeking Career Strategies 

Figure 2: Traditional and Strategic Approaches to Collaboration 

Figure 3: Elements of Successful Collaboration 

Figure 4: Collaborative Relationships 

Figure 5: Proposal Logic 

Figure 6: TICIPS Projected Timeline 

Figure 7: Quarterly Timeline 

Figure 8: Protocol Timeline for Project 1 

Figure 9: Management Plan and Project Timeline 

Figure 10: Shifting Paradigms 

Figure 11: Grants Culture across the Disciplines 

Tables

Table 1: US Giving by Type of Recipient Organization 

Table 2: Writing Productivity and Efficiency under Three Conditions 

Table 3: Personnel Effort Summary Table 

Table 4: Budget Justification Summary Table 

Table 5: Participant Table 

Table 6: Grant Glossary 

Table 7: Deal or No Deal? 

Table 8: Proposal Development Tasks Discussion Checklist 

Table 9: Timeline for Proposal Development: National Science Foundation 

Table 10: Proposal Timeline: Engineering Information Foundation 

Table 11: Materials Tracking Table 

Table 12: Total Personnel Costs 

Table 13: Total Fringe Benefits Costs 

Table 14: Total Equipment Costs 

Table 15: Total Travel Costs 

Table 16: Total Materials and Supplies Costs 

Table 17: Total Subcontract Costs 

Table 18: Total Other Direct Costs 

Table 19: Total F&A Costs 

Table 20: Total Project Costs 

Table 21: Timeline for Training, Coaching, and Buddy Network 

Table 22: Research Timeline 

Table 23: Curriculum Development Timeline 

Table 24: Skills Inventory: Essential Categories of Practices 

Table 25: Sample Performance Assessment 

Boxes

Strategic Planning and Grant Writing 

Funding Plan for a Young Scientist or Engineer 

Funding Plan for a Humanities Scholar 

The First Grant 

Maintaining Balance 

A Senior Faculty Perspective on Collaboration 

What If There Are No Guidelines? 

Grant Proposals and Other Forms of Academic Writing 

The Program Officer’s Perspective 

The Reviewer’s Perspective 

Motivation for Research and Collaboration at MU: Shared Credit 

Summary Tips for Formatting a More Readable Proposal 

Becoming a Reviewer: Selected Funding Agencies 

A Model for Success 

Perspective of the Vice Chancellor for Research 

Foreword

I FIRST ENCOUNTERED Dr. Mary Licklider and her team of grant writers at the University of Missouri (MU) while researching a report on best practices in supporting large-scale multidisciplinary research. One of the challenges I heard in talking to dozens of institutions was that proposals for large collaborative grants were so labor-intensive and complicated that few faculty investigators had the time or the experience to complete them. The MU Grant Writer Network had solved this problem by distributing expert grant writers throughout the university and connecting them through the central Office of Grant Writing and Publications. The results were impressive. Prior to the launch of the network in 1998, MU had won only three large-scale multidisciplinary grants. Since then, it has won more than 25—a result of the quality of research taking place on campus and the unprecedented support provided by its network of professional grant writers. The Network has grown from one individual in 1998 to 18 individuals today. Network grant writers have been involved in over $1.8 billion in proposals and over $304 million in awards.

Not every institution or every faculty member has access to an established group of effective grant writers, and that is where this book comes in. Mary and her team have distilled the lessons learned over more than a decade of grant writing into a comprehensive handbook. Whether you are at a community college, a liberal arts college, a master’s university, or a major research university, you will find helpful advice in this book. Anyone in higher education looking for funding—from foundations, state agencies, or federal agencies; in the sciences, humanities, or social sciences—will learn something valuable from this resource.

The book covers the proposal process from start to finish, with advice ranging from the strategic (how to decide if an opportunity is worth the effort it will take to apply, how to think about funding at different career stages) to the mundane (how to set up e-mail alerts with opportunities from specific agencies, how to set the line spacing in a proposal). Readers get advice on each component of the proposal—cover letters, abstracts, budgets, budget justifications—including sample text, case studies, and common mistakes. There are even sections on managing the project, including HR, finance, and data management.

A key message of the book is the importance of knowing your audience. Not only do the authors provide detailed descriptions of the grant-making process at different agencies and foundations, they also provide first-person accounts from reviewers and program directors explaining what they look for, how they read, and the fastest ways to lose their interest. The book explains the most common reasons that funders reject proposals, when to resubmit, and when not to.

Supplementing the text is an online toolkit that will save proposal writers hours of work. It includes samples of all of the components of a grant proposal—letters of support, cover letters, proposal outlines, budget spreadsheets, detailed timelines, and task lists for proposal development. The book even includes resources for building your own grant writing office like the one at MU, with grant writer position descriptions, skills inventories, and performance evaluation tools.

Competition for grants in higher education has never been tougher, and it has probably never been more critical to institutional missions and individual faculty careers. Most grant proposals (Mary estimates more than two-thirds) are turned down. Given the high stakes and the level of effort required to prepare a proposal, there is no excuse for submitting a sloppy, poorly prepared, or irrelevant application. This valuable book provides all of the information you need to make sure that you have asked all the right questions, avoided the common mistakes, and submitted a proposal that gives your idea the best possible chance of success.

David Attis, PhDPractice ManagerEducation Advisory Board

PrefaceWhat’s in a Name?

IF YOU WORK in higher education, whether a two-year, four-year, doctoral, or research institution, and your position entails generating grant proposals and running grant-funded projects, this handbook is for you. If you also have leadership responsibilities at your institution, we hope you will find the Appendix helpful and relevant to those duties. We expect that you will use this volume as a handbook, reading through the chapters, picking and choosing among the Toolkit items those that suit your needs, and perhaps going back to reread sections when circumstances or the needs of a particular project warrant it. You will encounter some repetition of concepts across the chapters. We did this deliberately so that each individual chapter can stand alone at least to some extent.

Our title tells you that this book is aimed at an academic audience. Our examples are drawn from our experience with proposals to support the research, scholarship, creative activity, instruction, and outreach of the faculty members with whom we have worked over the years. Whereas we are a network of grant writing consultants at the University of Missouri, a land-grant, Research I institution, our advice does not by any means assume that you will have access to professionals like us to help with your grant proposals. We are keenly aware that many, if not most, of our readers will be at smaller institutions without this kind of support. Indeed, survey data from the National Organization of Research Development Professionals (NORDP) suggests that the 14-year tenure of our Network is extremely unusual even among institutions that do provide grant writing support now.

A Rose by Any Other Name … 

There is more than a little irony in the fact that, despite our success in creating what is increasingly recognized as a national model, the “grant writer” label seems to be at the bottom of the list of desirable titles for many in the emerging field of research development. The selection of titles is fraught with institutional turf wars: “Specialist” and “coordinator” may be considered lower-level positions; “officer” and “development” are reserved for those in the development division; anything with “writer” is relegated to lower salary levels. And so it goes.

In an informal survey of the members of NORDP in spring 2010, I found that, despite the use of a variety of titles, the activities which are by far the most common among the membership are proposal development, identifying and distributing funding opportunities, and pulling interdisciplinary teams together. This was reinforced when NORDP surveyed its membership in 2011: 87 percent of research development offices are editing grant proposals and helping to identify funding opportunities for their faculties.

This is not to say, however, that the grant writer title is without its issues. We settled on “grant writing consultant”—and that is the title we will use throughout this book—because we do not for the most part compose the first drafts of the proposal narratives. We are experts in process; our faculty members are the content experts. Our jobs entail helping faculty members identify funding opportunities they might otherwise miss, identifying and pulling interdisciplinary and interinstitutional teams together, organizing proposal documents, organizing the people and tasks of proposal preparation, managing the timeline for proposal preparation (read: polite, but persistent, nagging), drafting budgets and budget justifications, and conducting workshops and graduate courses in grantsmanship.

It is worth reiterating that this book will be useful to you regardless of whether you have access to grant writing professionals. This book lays out the work of proposal development and contextualizes that work in an academic environment. You may need or choose to do all of the tasks associated with preparing your grant proposals, or you may hand some of those tasks off to others. Either way, we believe the advice and tools of this book will allow you to proceed more effectively and efficiently.

Using This Book

We have organized this book into three parts: Part One provides advice on proposal development and management of the resulting grant awards. Part Two offers tools and templates to help you accomplish those tasks. The Appendix advises campus leaders who wish to benefit from our experience in building institutional grants culture.

Part One is divided into three sections: “Diving into Grants Culture” lays the groundwork for your proposal work. In this section, Chapter 1 begins with an overview, historical and current, macro and micro, that should help you contextualize your grant work. Chapter 2 walks you through the process of identifying and winnowing potential sponsors for your work. Chapter 3 asks you to look up from your desk or lab bench, look around your campus, and tap the support that is already in place for you. Following this thread, Chapter 4 examines current sponsor preferences for collaborative and interdisciplinary work. Finally, Chapter 5 moves past these more general activities to help you prepare to write a specific proposal.

The second section of Part One, “Developing Your Proposal,” walks you through the key sections of a typical grant proposal. This section includes chapters on the writing itself (Chapter 6), the abstract (Chapter 7), the proposal narrative or project description (Chapter 8), the budget (Chapter 9), and the proposal package as a whole (Chapter 10).

The last section of Part One, “Next Steps,” deals with postsubmission issues: what to do when your proposal is initially declined (Chapter 11) and then finally awarded (Chapter 12).

Part Two comprises a Toolkit of tested materials that we have found helpful in our own proposal work. (The Toolkit can also be accessed online; see p. iv.) This Toolkit is divided into four sections. As its title suggests, the first section, “Diving into Grants Culture,” parallels the section by the same title in Part One of the book. The glossary and other materials in this section are designed to help you think about your project as an experienced grants professional would. The materials in Section Two, “Managing the Proposal Work,” should help you manage the proposal process without being overwhelmed as you track all the people and proposal documents involved in the process. Section Three, “Developing Your Proposal,” focuses directly on the parts of the typical proposal, offering templates, examples, and cheat sheets to help you generate a strong proposal and respond appropriately to reviewer comments.

The last section of the Toolkit, “Building Institutional Grants Culture,” and the Appendix that follows Part Two are aimed at campus leaders seeking to build your institution’s grants culture. We offer sample documents in the Toolkit and advice in the Appendix that are drawn from our experience in nurturing the University of Missouri’s Grant Writer Network as a resource for MU’s faculty.

We hope that you will find this handbook both useful and usable.

Acknowledgments

WE ARE GRATEFUL first and foremost for the creativity and dedication of the University of Missouri faculty members with whom we have worked.

We are grateful for the consistent administrative support for the Grant Writer Network from the University of Missouri’s chief research officers over the years: Jack Burns, Rob Hall, Jim Coleman, and Rob Duncan.

About the Authors

THE UNIVERSITY OF Missouri (MU) Grant Writer Network was initiated in 1998 and has grown and thrived in the university’s interdisciplinary climate. From one position in 1998, the Network has grown to 18 positions in 2012. Network members have helped with nearly 2,000 grant proposals, which have encompassed a wide range of sponsors and brought grant awards of more than $304 million to MU. This book pulls together some of the collective wisdom that has evolved through the generous collaborative relationships that characterize the Network.

Mary M. Licklider, director of the Office of Grant Writing and Publications in MU’s Office of Research, provides leadership to the University of Missouri Grant Writer Network, coordinates and teaches in MU’s grantsmanship courses and seminars, collaborates with faculty members on proposal preparation, and administratively oversees MU’s federal priorities and limited submission processes. She has worked in education for some 30 years in roles involving teaching, writing, research, publication, and leadership at both the K–12 and postsecondary levels.

Mary holds a BA in English from Webster University, as well as an MEd in curriculum and instruction and a PhD from MU in education, focusing on organizational change. She and her husband raise alpacas in rural Boone County, Missouri, and are active in MOPACA, the Midwest’s regional association for alpaca enthusiasts.

Mary Barile is the associate director of the Office of Grant Writing and Publications in the MU Office of Research. She earned her PhD in theatre history from MU, was the grant writing consultant for Family and Community Medicine, and later served as the grant writing consultant for the Center for Arts and Humanities at MU. Her interests include theatre and regional history as well as the folklore and history of the paranormal; she is the author of several books and articles about American popular culture. Mary has worked in the grants and development fields for more than 25 years and has received funding from state agencies in the areas of folklore and the arts. She teaches graduate grantsmanship courses and has been an investigator for two internal grants at MU.

Mark B. Child, grant writing consultant for the School of Health Professions, works with researchers seeking funding opportunities and assists faculty with the development, writing, and submission of internal and extramural grant proposals. Mark earned his PhD in anthropology from Yale University, where his research focused on health-related issues pertaining to the fields of ethnography, ethnohistory, and archaeology. He has written books, scientific articles in peer-reviewed journals, and edited volumes. Mark has more than 15 years of experience researching and coordinating grant-funded projects, including the acquisition of nationally competitive National Science Foundation (NSF) and Fulbright grants for his own research projects.

Bob Glidewell began his grant writing career in 1996 and has assisted various nonprofit and commercial organizations in Texas, Oklahoma, and Missouri in acquiring grant funding. Since 2007, he has worked to develop grant proposals and funding opportunities for MU’s Robert J. Trulaske, Sr. College of Business. These projects include interdisciplinary partnerships with other schools, colleges, and institutes on the MU campus. He assists with the graduate grantsmanship courses and has served as a reviewer on multiple grant-review panels for the NSF.

Bob’s publications include newspaper, magazine, and journal articles as well as training manuals for corporate and government clients. He is a graduate of Southwest Oklahoma State University and the University of Missouri.

Cynthia Haydon has been employed in grant writing or grants administration at MU for eight years. As the grant writing consultant for the MU School of Medicine, Cynthia currently works with the associate dean for research to prioritize projects and assist researchers in conceptualizing and completing grant proposals. She is available to investigators to help with specific questions throughout the grant process, from the funding search through the details of submission procedures. Cynthia previously worked in fundraising research at MU and at the University of Southern Indiana. She earned her BA in art history from MU and has completed course work toward a master’s degree in library science.

Susan Hazelwood is now retired but was associate director of the Office of Grant Writing and Publications in the MU Office of Research for 12 years. Prior to joining the Office of Research, she was a research associate professor in MU’s School of Medicine, funded on grant dollars, for 20 years. She has taught grantsmanship skills to faculty members and supported them in obtaining external funding for their scholarship and research activities. Susan has mentored and supported the newer members of the MU Grant Writer Network as they conquered the steep learning curve of grant writing positions. Susan earned her BS in life sciences at Missouri State University and completed course work and research toward a master’s degree in biological sciences from MU.

Shelley A. Hilton, grant writing consultant for the MU College of Engineering, coordinates all aspects of the preparation and submission of grant proposals, including identifying opportunities, building and managing teams, editing and writing, building budgets and budget justifications, and serving as a liaison with campus and funding agency personnel. As a member of the MU Grant Writer Network, she provides grantsmanship training to MU faculty, staff, and students.

With more than 15 years of grants experience, Shelley began her career directing grant-funded research projects in health psychology. For the past eight years, she has been a grant writing consultant at MU, starting in the Truman School of Public Affairs before transitioning to her current position with the College of Engineering. Shelley holds an MA in social psychology from MU and a BA in psychology from Creighton University.

Sheryl Koenig, grant writing consultant in the Bond Life Sciences Center, assists researchers with preparing grant proposals. With over 40 investigators from 15 departments located within the Life Sciences Center, the wide variety of disciplines brings a challenge that Sheryl finds fascinating. She holds a BS in mathematics and an MEd in educational technology and has been involved in the grants world for 14 years.

Joann Messbarger, grant writing consultant in the MU Office of Grant Writing and Publications, works closely with faculty investigators on a variety of grants campus-wide, including multidisciplinary collaborative projects. She has been a part of the Office of Research since 2005 and began working as a grant writing consultant in 2008. Joann previously worked at MU in the Department of Educational, School, and Counseling Psychology, managing the admissions process for its graduate programs. She holds a BS in early childhood education from MU and spent eight years working in the child-care industry as a teacher, mentor, and administrator.

Elizabeth D. Miller, grant writing consultant in the MU College of Human Environmental Sciences, works with faculty members to seek funding opportunities and to develop and submit grant proposals. Before joining the college, Elizabeth’s grant experience included two years as a grant administrator and nearly eight years as a grant writer in public health and medicine. She holds a BA in English from MU.

Chris Montgomery, grant writing consultant in the MU Office of Grant Writing and Publications with an emphasis on the arts and humanities and MU libraries, works with faculty members to find funding sources and improve their grant proposals. She also helps with conceiving and coordinating conferences and events that highlight MU humanities programs. Before joining the Grant Writer Network, Chris served as director of a grant-supported, nonprofit art space in Chicago and as photograph specialist for the State Historical Society of Missouri. She holds a BA in fine arts.

Larry Nossaman, grant writing consultant for the MU College of Education, helps faculty and staff research funding opportunities, interpret funding guidelines, develop timelines, collaborate with other researchers, and submit internal and external funding applications. Larry holds a BA in journalism.

Diane Oerly, grant writing consultant in the Division of Information Technology, provides support for funding proposals related to information technology and resources and helps the Grant Writer Network employ technology. Diane has a BS in accounting and an MBA. She has 33 years of MU experience, including 23 years of specializing in employing information technology to fulfill the university’s teaching, research, and administrative objectives. She has been a grant writing consultant since 2001.

Sherri Sachdev, grant writing consultant for the Mizzou Advantage initiative, works closely with the MU provost and collaborative, interdisciplinary networks of faculty members, centers, departments, corporate partners, and other universities to prepare major grant proposals in four areas of MU strength: food for the future; media of the future; one health, one medicine: the convergence of human and animal health; and sustainable energy. Overarching themes of the four areas include innovation and education. Sherri earned her PhD in nutritional sciences from MU and has more than 15 years of experience at the research bench conducting experiments in genetics, biochemistry, and molecular biology. She has published numerous scientific journal articles and has successfully obtained funding as principal investigator for her own research projects. Prior to joining the Mizzou Advantage initiative, Sherri served as grant writing consultant at MU for the School of Health Professions and the Thompson Center for Autism and Neurodevelopmental Disorders.

Sara Vassmer, grant writing consultant in the MU Office of Grant Writing and Publications, recently completed a PhD in health education and promotion at MU. Her background includes research in alcohol and substance use issues. In her spare time she enjoys exercising, gardening, and spending time with her family.

Bondi Wood is the grant writing consultant for MU’s Thompson Center for Autism and Neurodevelopmental Disorders, a national leader in confronting the challenges of autism. Bondi helps faculty members and physicians in all phases of proposal development for collaborative research, training, services, and treatment. A freelance writer for nearly 20 years, Bondi began her grant writing career working primarily for nonprofits delivering humanitarian aid. She has written more than 200 articles for business, consumer, and women’s publications. She has a bachelor’s degree in English education and a master’s degree in composition and rhetoric, both from MU.

Part OneThe How-to Manual

Section One Diving into Grants Culture

Chapter 1

Grants Culture: The Big Picture

Mary Licklider and Susan Hazelwood

AS WE APPROACHED writing this chapter, our first thoughts were that many readers would be tempted to skip it. “Cut to the chase,” we could hear you thinking. “I just need to get a proposal written and submitted.”