Spring workshops to focus on writing more effective proposals

Western Today staff

April 5, 2016

Research and Sponsored Programs at Western Washington University is offering a number of workshops designed to help faculty and staff members write more effective proposals to external agencies. The sessions are intended to be interactive and are meant to build a community for those involved in writing proposals.

The spring quarter workshop series will begin at noon April 11 in Miller Hall Room 258. This session, presented by Ron Marks, a professional development specialist at Western, will look at issues related to time management.

Principal investigators report that writing a competitive proposal can take up to 200 hours. Each of us has 168 hours each week, and we can’t add to that total. We are all pressed for time while juggling multiple responsibilities and expectations. Faculty, in particular, have to be able to juggle responsibilities ranging from teaching and research to service. It is within this context that we need to find ways to carve out for ourselves the necessary time to submit an effective proposal. Tips will be provided along with practical tools for implementation of this goal.

Following Marks' presentation, RSP will offer four additional workshops during spring quarter.

  • Janai Symons, WWU’s research compliance officer, will lead the discussion in the second workshop, on April 18. She will cover the roles and responsibilities of working with human subjects.
  • On April 25, Tracey Finch, RSP pre-award manager, will lead a discussion on how to search for charitable organizations and some common strategies for applying to these grants.
  • On May 2, a workshop on writing effective proposals to the National Institutes of Health will feature Clint Spiegel and Jeff Grimm.
  • On May 9,  Kathleen Kitto, vice provost for research and dean of the Graduate School, will discuss along with Tracey Finch the various services that RSP offers to principal investigators.

All spring quarter workshops will take place from noon to 1p.m. in MH 258.

Graduate students and new faculty are encouraged to attend. To RSVP for the first workshop or to be added to the email list for workshop information, contact the RSP program coordinator, Coco Besson, at coco.besson@wwu.edu.