This article, by Seymour
Lesh, was written
for the community college level. Many of you at the K-12
level will, however,
probably relate to many of Sy's thoughts! |
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Some
Irreverent Thoughts on Grant-Writing Relationships in
Community Colleges: Things They Never Taught You
or
Machiavelli, You Were Right! |
|
by
Sy Lesh |
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Most programs and workshops aimed at training
people to become grants developers/writers, ignore several significant aspects of
this initiative, namely, the internal and external politics involved in the process.
In grantsmanship workshops and training programs, a potential grants writer either
is presumed to know what the political situation is on his/her campus or the topic
is deemed too institution-specific to warrant discussion. In a few instances, mostly
when a person has been working in an institution and is promoted (or demoted) to
grants writer, he/she knows what the internal politics are. But for most new
grants writers, they may be stepping on land mines they didn't know existed. That
is, despite excellent training and preparation, a knowledge of funding sources, a high
level of writing ability, and strict adherence to the work ethic, he/she may fail
because of a lack of sophistication about the unwritten rules and ambiguous relationships
within their organizations.
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This paper addresses some of these potential pitfalls.
It is based upon the personal experiences of the author and the opinions of other grants
people he has talked with; it does not purport to be based upon objective research, and
should not be considered as the final word on the subject.
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| .. |
| Internal Politics
The relationships between grant writers and academic
administrators, between grant writers and faculty, and between grant writers
and staff, are tenuous at best, and much like the weather in Montana, if you
hang around a few minutes, it will change.
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This paper will focus on faculty and
administrators, since staff members, who often make salaries below the poverty
level, have good and sufficient reasons for being antagonistic toward everyone.
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I propose five tenets that seem to be
universally prevalent, some examples of how they are manifested, and some
indications of how one may deal with them.
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Tenet 1: All college personnel do
not have the same commitment to fostering the college's mission.
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This is important for a grant writer to
understand especially when you try to convey the idea in proposals that everyone
on campus is pulling together and going in the same direction. For example,
administration calls for a new beginning, a new direction, a new long-range plan.
Committees are formed and faculty and staff are recruited to serve on them - this
is known as participatory democracy (by administrators), and is thought to be the
solution to eliminating the seemingly endless negative feelings of faculty and staff
toward administrators.
|
Faculty, while usually attending these meetings
and participating in the writing of recommendations, nevertheless feel that the
recommendations will never be implemented and that this is merely another
administrative ploy to get them to do things they don't want to do - work longer
hours, teach more students, get less money, feed into the pet projects of
administrators, etc. Faculty's complaints are then registered with the union
representative who will bring a grievance against the school.
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Administrators, on the other hand, feel
that faculty are taking advantage of their benevolence, that they don't show
their appreciation for everything that administrators have done for them. So
there develops a "We'll show them!" attitude on the part of administrators,
and everything that faculty members propose thenceforth is summarily turned down,
no matter how innocuous, and administrators do what they had always wanted to do
anyway.
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Staff, who, as noted above, are grossly
underpaid, resent the time off, salaries and other perks of both faculty and administrators.
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The issue sometimes becomes one of "turf,"
i.e., "What do I have to give up and what will I get in return?" "Is it worth it to
me?" "How will it affect me in the future?" "Farnsworth just got a new
Pentium,
when do I get mine?" etc.
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A grants writer must recognize these positions
and not assume that faculty will work in harmony with staff or administrators and
vice versa. Tread softly and carry a big eraser.
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| The 25% Rule
There is a rule of thumb that I developed to describe what
really happens on campuses:
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- 25% of the people on campus do all of the work. This figure may go down (I've seen campuses where only 10% do all of the work), but it will never go up.
- 25% don't do anything. They have a knack of seeming busy and involved but they never turn out any work. If you press them on it, they get angry and tend to threaten you.
- 25% do the work, but do it too late.
- 25% do the work, but get it wrong.
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Tenet 2: There is a pervasive
and permanent state of hostility between faculty and administration which has
existed long before the grants writer came aboard and which will probably continue
long after he/she leaves.
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Faculty and administrators have co-existed
in a permanent state of distrust for so long that it has become second nature
for one group to distrust the intent of the other. It is manifested in a
"them vs us," "management vs worker" position which is only reconciled on issues
which are basically unimportant or which do not impinge on one or the other's
turf. It is often difficult to get faculty interested enough in a project to
sit down with you to write a grant proposal, but they will turn out en masse
and full of intense passion to defeat a proposal put forth by administration.
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Issues such as release time, new offices,
larger class size, quality of students, etc., become stumbling blocks and
tend to polarize faculty and administration. A grant writer must understand
that these issues exist and find a way around them without making enemies
of one side or the other.
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This could be tricky, and the grant writer
risks getting called "wishy-washy" and afraid to take a stand, e.g., "If your
not with me you're against me!" A friendly relationship with the faculty union
rep and with each department and curriculum chair can go a long way toward
alleviating potential troubling situations. A little subtle bribery can also
alleviate potential stumbling blocks.
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| Tenet 3: Many college administrators are lazy. |
There is a school of thought among
administrators that posits the view that the problem will go away or
someone else will handle it if you don't do anything. This is often
a (surprisingly) correct position, however, it doesn't help the grant writer
who is seeking funds to deal with the problem.
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Try to get an administrator to fill
out a form, read an important document, meet a deadline, get a price on
an item, give you some data they already have on hand, etc. "It's not my
job!" "I don't fill out those forms!" "I don't have enough time!" "You
want me to take work home?" These are some of the answers you get, although
top-level administrators are more likely to comply than lower-level
administrators since these activities are usually part of their jobs.
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An administrator may say to you,
"I can't approve this training proposal because there is no space
available for the training!" And you ask (yourself) "But isn't it your
job to find appropriate space for new programs?"
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Or the head of a unit (Student Aid,
Admissions, Registrar, Student Health, Purchasing, etc.) keeps your memo
asking for information on his/her desk for more than a month until you have
to go there in person to ask for it. Then this conversation may occur:
You: "Why didn't you send me back that form? I told you I needed it two weeks ago."
Unit Head: "I've been too busy. I'll get to it right away."
You: "Too busy? You only have to fill out your name and address and sign it!"
Unit Head: "What's the big rush, anyway?"
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A veteran grant writer needing a form
filled out will hand carry it to the designated form filler-outer and stand
in front of his/her desk until it is filled out. When they say "Leave it
here I'll get to it soon," warning bells should go off in your head and
you say to yourself "Not on your life!" And you say to the subject "I can't,
the messenger is waiting outside to take it to Washington!"
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Tenet 4: Some faculty
members hate each other. Some administrators hate each other. Some faculty
members hate administrators. Some administrators hate faculty members. A
veritable love-in of hate.
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In these circumstances, a grant writer
must know which people on campus not to invite to the same meeting. Sometimes
this is not possible and then the grant writer will have to play mediator and
peace-maker, not roles for which we were trained.
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A grant writer, while not responsible
for the antagonism, must take on the onus of responsibility as if he/she
was responsible. In the right situation, losing your temper and yelling
at everyone sometimes shocks them and brings them to their senses. At
other times you may be able to play one off against another to get what
you want (study your Machiavelli).
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Tenet 5: Secret
deals are made (among administrators, among faculty, and between faculty
and administrators), that have a direct impact on what a grant writer can do.
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This is an area where subtle bribery
often takes place. "If you do (something), I will see that you get (something)."
Unaware of these deals, the grant writer is astonished at the amount of
seemingly unfounded negative feelings there exists toward a proposal.
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The only way around this particular
issue is to make your own secret deals, do your own bribery, e.g., "I will
write in funds for a computer for you if you agree to support the proposal."
Or "I'll get you two release time courses instead of one if you agree to
direct the proposed project." Not subtle, but effective. What really
works is if you can legitimately get them more money; they will follow you
to hell if you can.
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As an aside on the bribery issue,
I get a lot of free supplies and equipment from various sources. I stock
up on some items that I can use throughout the year, e.g., office supplies.
I make sure that lower-level staff (hidden away in closets and alcoves on
campus) get first crack at these items - I make many friends this way because
usually no one gives them anything or even knows they are there - and yet
they often control the flow of paperwork. I can call in favors, e.g., "Look,
Margaret, I need your boss to fill out this form right away, will you get him
to do it?" "Sure, no problem. Oh, by the way, when are the new pens coming
in?"
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| Conclusion
Several other tenets and ideas have just popped into my
mind, but I'm afraid I'm getting carried away, and will stop now before real
damage is done. |
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