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I want to talk a bit about the realities of working in research development. Nobody in RD is about to be surprised but I want to share this for faculty and trainees who will either work with RD folks or consider working in this field.
Years ago, I had a faculty who set up a meeting with me then a week before asked to see my resume. I thought this was strange but whatever, I sent it to them anyway.
When I showed up for the meeting, the faculty member spent the next hour telling me that because my PhD was not in the exact field they worked in, I was unqualified to review and give input on their grants.
Mind you, no one, least of all me, was asking for me to be reviewing their grants. My position was entirely on "PI wants my input" basis and I was happy to keep it that way.
I found out later, that this faculty member had been convinced that I must have had a "poor educational background" because of the person that hired me. I (and my career) became a pawn in departmental politics.
When my resume didn't support that theory, I guess they decided to attack my scientific background, because as the message was "if I were any good at this, I would be a faculty member."
The time that followed was often punctuated with messages to leadership discussing decisions by someone who did not have an understanding of their specific field. I was very lucky to have full support of my leadership.
But it did eat away at my confidence in my decision making. I second guessed myself about everything. I shied away from people associated with this faculty member entirely (which probably hurt both them and me).
As you can imagine, I became a scapegoat for all their misses. They couldn't get grants because they didn't have help and they didn't have help because I couldn't possibly help them because I couldn't understand the very complex science they were doing.
This is why I get a rash anytime anyone complains about "administration." If you take this job, understand that sooner or later you will be someone's punching bag.
