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Memorandum

To: Jessica Jorgensen From: Danielle J Robb (DJR) Date: 12/17/2013 Re: Grant Interview

One of the few experiences that I have had to learn about grant writing in the field of nutrition and dietetics was when I first took a required community nutrition class. In this class my professor brought in a registered dietitian to speak to us about their experiences as a community dietitian who writes grants. After the lecture, I always thought that community dietitians were the only type of dietitians who had to write grants in order to receive funding. When looking for potential individuals to interview about grant writing in this field, I was surprised to find that I had plenty of options to choose from besides just the community dietitians in our area. The individual who was available and willing to interview with me was able to teach me more than I could have imagined about the rewards and the struggles of grant writing in the field of nutrition and dietetics. THE INTERVIEW: The person that I interviewed was Dr. Yeong Rhee, a professor of mine and an avid grant writer for North Dakota State University. Luckily for me, I was able to schedule an interview with her on November 18th during her office hours. I was honored that Dr. Rhee was willing to let me interview her for this assignment, because I could relate a lot of my own interests in clinical research and extension to her past and present professions in dietetics. Even though Dr. Rhee is considered a clinical dietitian, she has had to write grants for the hospitals she has worked at, for her research studies and for the NDSU extension service. Overall, the interview went very well. I felt very comfortable giving the interview and I felt that Dr. Rhee felt the same way. I have listed the questions that I asked during the interview along with Dr. Rhees responses.

GRANT INTERVIEW

December 17, 2013

How much experience did you have before you started writing grants professionally? o I didnt have any prior experiences when it came to writing grants. The first grant that I had to write I had to write all by myself and I mostly still work alone, but I always have my coworkers to help me if I have any questions. How many grants do you usually write in a year? o I write on average between 3-7 grants a year, sometimes 10. They usually take between 2-6 months to complete and Im working on more than one at a time. I dont get very many breaks. Do you feel that there is enough grant funding available in the field of nutrition? o Yes and no, Im always able to find grant funding from the NIH or the USDA. The only problem I have is when I get half way through writing a grant and they change their requirement because of the new government healthcare. The new healthcare reform is making this harder at the moment. What do you find to be the most rewarding and the most stressful part about the grant writing process? o The most rewarding would be when you finally receive the funding. We have a bell that we ring in the department if weve received funding and that can be very exciting, crazy but exciting. The most stressful would be when organizations change their statements or program focuses. Also, there could be a lot to address in one grant and that could take up a lot of time. Do you think that this is an important skill that everybody seeking a degree in Dietetics should have experience or some background information in? o Yes, I do. I wish I would have had the opportunity to take a grant writing class when I was an undergrad. It would have helped relieve some of the stress that I had in the beginning. Grant writing is a very important skill to have for not only research purposes, but for secure funding for a program that you implemented or even for the salary of your job. I think in the future students will be required to take a grant writing class as part of their undergrad, because of how important it is to the profession.

December 17, 2013

I was able to walk away from this interview learning a lot more about the rewards and the struggles of grant writing in the field of nutrition and dietetics. It was good to know about the reality of grants writing, because it is something that I may have to face in my future profession. I felt that it was very informative to know about the potential challenges that may happen when writing grants, for example, when organizations change their program requirements or their mission statements because of new government changes and about how much time it takes to write out a grant and its deadlines. I also enjoyed learning about the more rewarding aspects to grant writing. Those included not only receiving the funding, but the feelings of accomplishment. I was surprised by how many grants Dr. Rhee writes in a year and how busy she was because of it. It is good to know that if I keep my interests in academic research, that I may have to do the same thing for my job in the future. After walking away from the interview, there were many things that I wish I would have learned about grant writing in the field of dietetics. One thing that I wish I would have learned more about was how Dr. Rhee chooses the organizations that she writes grants for. I know that she mentioned receiving funding from the NIH and the USDA, but after researching their sites for a previous assignment I was still confused on which ones to choose for specific programs. Also, I would have liked to know how often she kept in contact with those organizations. Lastly, after interviewing her I realized that she was one of the few dietetic professors at NDSU who wrote grants. I am curious to know if she is put in this position by NDSU, because she is involved in many multidisciplinary research projects pertaining to nutrition and wellness throughout the campus. SUMMARY: In conclusion, I was able to find out more about grant writing in the field of nutrition and dietetics. It was very informative to know that dietitians in any field of expertise could be required to write a grant as part of their profession. By interviewing Dr. Rhee, a dietetics professor and avid grant writer at NDSU, I was able to learn more about the rewards and the challenges of the grant writing process. Also, I was able to learn about the reality of how much time and effort it takes to complete a grant. The only regret that I had after the interview was not asking more questions about choosing which organizations to write too, how often to do you keep in contact with grant funders and why she is one of the few dietetics professors to write grants at the college. Overall, this was a very successful and informative interview.

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