I am currently employed as a pre-award grant proposal
analyst in the Office of Research Services at Texas Tech University. A grant
proposal analyst assists faculty and staff in the preparation and submission of
all types of research proposals: federal, state, local, non-profit, and
industry. Each sponsor utilizes different guidelines, different terms and
conditions, and different submission platforms, which make each submission
unique and challenging. I have been employed in this role since January 2011, and
yet I am still encountering new and challenging tasks on an almost daily basis.
It is because of the variety and challenging nature of my work that I have
decided to pursue a career in proposal administration. It is my goal to move
from my current position to a management role within the same field, which will
require the completion of a graduate degree, and at least three years of
relevant experience. It is my hope that, by December 2013, I will have achieved
both of these milestones.
Broadly defined, composition is the act of creating a
product from various parts. This could refer to the act of composing a musical
ensemble with a variety of instruments, or a written work from various ideas
and concepts. When discussing composition and the written word, composition can
be described as the authorship process whereby the original concept is
transformed into prose and formatted into a finished product.
Heather--Nice to work with you in this capacity, and perhaps I can get some advice on grant writing from you. I teach a course in grant writing now and again, and I'm working on a few proposals just now, in particular an Obama-Singh Initiative project. Of course, grant writing is the epitome of rhetorical strategy, in my view, and this course will teach you about the movement from product to process to post-process pedagogy. Ultimately, composition is less about a finished product and more about a learning process. Still, the finished product is very important. I'll be curious to hear what you think about Hartwell's view on grammar. Be sure to offer comments on others' ideas in their blogs as well. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteHeather -
ReplyDeleteI look forward to working with you and the others in class. Sounds like you have a challenging job. I do some work for the state as a grant reviewer due to my background as an editor and as someone with a disability (grants for disability services). While reviewing is a challenge, I know writing them is even more a challenge so I have a lot of respect for those who not only write grants, but award them.
Your definition of composition is great - I like how you define it is an authorship process. Everyone seems to have similar thoughts regarding the definition, but yet different approaches which I think reflect the diversity in thought that will be present in our class this semester. Thanks for sharing!
Hi Heather,
ReplyDeleteI agree that writing grant proposals poses unique challenges, both in the composition and formatting of information. Grants are such a vital part of education and research and I will be interested in hearing more about how you approach the particular audience the grant targets.
Hi Heather,
ReplyDeleteIt's fantastic to have a kindred spirit in research administration in the course. What year are you in the graduate program? Have you selected a dissertation topic yet? What departments do you assist?
Hilary, I am finishing the first year of an MA in interdisciplinary studies. I chose this program because I felt that I needed further training before embarking on a "real" graduate degree. My undergrad was in history, which is not an area I wish to pursue. I imagine that I will select the portfolio option for this degree, but I plan to pursue a graduate degree in business after this. I work with many departments here at Tech: electrical engineering, plant and soil sciences, applied and professional studies, college of education, geosciences, and economics just to name a few.
DeleteHi Heather - I've never written a grant, but was paid by one in my previous position at South Plains College. As an 'employee of the grant', so to speak, I constantly looked back at the proposal to make sure our program was headed in the right direction; I have the utmost respect for what you do, and I can imagine that it's extremely challenging! I look forward to working with you!
ReplyDeleteThanks. Hey, just a note--I have posted a list of composition terms that would be helpful for you to define for yourself. I'll draw from these terms for your final. See http://richrice.com/5060/keywords.docx.
ReplyDelete