Grants services available from ORFD
Two research specialists are available in the Office of Research Facilitation and Dissemination (ORFD ) to help with large multidisciplinary or multi-institution proposals. Sobha Ramanand and Donna Ullrich bring long experience with their own research and proposal writing to their positions as grant writers.
Ramanand wrote her first proposal as an MSU graduate student in the late 1980s. The successful effort resulted in a computer lab for urban studies students, funded by the Vice Provost for Libraries, Computing, and Technology. After earning her Ph.D., Ramanand worked with Frank Fear, now senior associate dean of the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, on the proposal that funded the AmeriCorps program at MSU and then became its campus coordinator. She has taught both undergraduate and graduate classes at MSU and also provided support for proposal preparation through the Graduate School.
Ullrich says she learned to write proposals by, “well, writing them.” While teaching journalism and earning a law degree at what is now University of Detroit Mercy, she wrote a successful proposal to the Detroit Free Press to replace the manual typewriters in her lab with computers. She also began freelancing as a grant writer at Wayne State University. It was a relationship that lasted for 13 years, developing into a part-time job that she combined with public relations work in higher education. More recently, she has been at the University of Michigan-Flint, where she wrote successful proposals for major capital projects while directing the Office of University and Alumni Relations and later the Communications Office of WFUM-PBS. She also provided support for faculty writing research proposals and taught communications courses.
“We’re pleased to have two accomplished grant writers available to support faculty preparing large, multidisciplinary proposals,” says ORFD Director Loraine Hudson. “We are well positioned to assist faculty pursuing proposals under the stimulus act as well as other opportunities.”
In addition to direct help on selected proposals, Ramanand and Ullrich monitor grant opportunities for the ORFD wiki and blog.
To request grant writing assistance, contact Hudson at 432-4499 or ljh@msu.edu.