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Skills Needed to be a Grant Manager

Skills Needed to be a Grant Manager

Skills Needed to be a Grant Manager

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By Paul Kirkland, Ph.D.

Hi! My name is Paul Kirkland and I am currently the Grant Manager for Monroe County Schools, located in East Tennessee. I am also currently an adjunct faculty member for the ESM and EM graduate programs at UTK. I earned my Ph.D in Educational Psychology and Research with a concentration in Evaluation, Statistics, and Measurement (now called the Evaluation Statistics and Methodology program) from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville in 2018. In my professional career, I’ve served as a high school mathematics teacher, dual enrollment instructor, and a research coordinator. In my current role, a large portion of my duties focus on Grant Management, Grow Your Own, School Safety, and STEM. This post is my thoughts and opinions and does not represent those of my employer. In this blog post, I want to reflect on and discuss the skills needed for a career in Grant Management.

Navigating Complexity through the Eyes of the MAD Hatter

When I began this journey as a Grants Manager in 2021, I had a bad case of Imposter Syndrome and questioned whether or not I could do something different.  Being a Grant Manager requires juggling many different responsibilities: planning, budgeting, reporting, and communicating with funders and stakeholders.  In my opinion, the mentorship and internship opportunities provided by the ESM program provided me with the necessary skill set to successfully fill this position.  The opportunities to conduct real-world evaluation projects, with the mentorship and support from the faculty, gave me the confidence to conduct my own grant proposals and evaluations.   

What exactly is Grant Management?  One might think of grant management as trying to organize one of Lewis Carroll’s Mad Hatter’s chaotic tea parties with a sense of purpose.  Imagine the Mad Hatter (the grant manager) hosting a tea party where every cup of tea (representing a budget item) has a specific role or purpose.  While ensuring each guest (the people or resources) is at the right place and time, the grant manager has to keep track of all the teapots and plates (the funds) to make sure nothing goes awry.  While the Mad Hatter is known for his chaotic approach, grant management aims to bring order and accountability to this setup.   

In simple terms, Grant Management is managing several types of budgets (all at the same time) where every dollar must have a purpose and be accounted for. This ensures that the funding source is happy, while maintaining eligibility for future grant projects.  The manager must understand and be able to implement the following steps: 

  1. Planning – Outline the project & budget 
  1. Budgeting – Track expenditures for approved purposes 
  1. Reporting – Basic updates on how the funds are being spent 
  1. Compliance – Following the Rules set by the grant provider 

As the “Mad Hatter,” the grant manager needs to keep track of various moving parts, which is very similar to the course work provided in any evaluation course.  Every grant report is different and will require you to report to “Alice” (the grant provider) that everything is in order, and ensure that the party (the project) fulfills its purpose in an organized, timely, and accountable way.  Through this process, it is imperative to build relationships with the grant providers.  This will make it easier to implement the project if you have any hiccups along the way.  Subsequently, it is through these relationships that will help build a successful grant department.   

Walt Disney stated, “We keep moving forward, opening new doors and doing new things, because we’re curious, and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.”  As you are embracing the fields of methodology, evaluation, statistics, and assessment, I recommend that you do what makes you happy but be open-minded about future opportunities and job growth.  Originally, I would have never thought about having the skill set necessary for the grant management path.  However, this program helped me grow professionally.  I would strongly recommend this field to others.    

If you are interested in this field, here is a list of additional resources I have used: