University of New Mexico

I became a Sponsored Projects Administrator in 2010 after working in post-award for 14 years. I finished my degree and made the move to Sponsored Projects. I am now a Sponsored Projects Officer.
I loved the variety of work we handled then, in 2010, having responsibility of handling all types of work for our specific departments like, contracts, grants, subawards (incoming and outgoing), Clinical Trials and unfunded agreements.

Several years ago were re-organized and now all I do is contracts for my specific departments. While I loved the “old” way of doing things and miss it dearly, this way has made me an expert in my field. I love being a Research Administrator!

I started by recruiting adolescent subjects for a drug and alcohol study. The research administrator went on maternity leave and didn’t come back. I stepped into that role temporarily as they tried to hire someone but the hire did not work out well, so they decided to offer the role to me and then I moved up over the years I have now been doing Research Administration for over 25 years. Crazy as I just fell into this role but I love it.