University of Tennessee

Like many other Research Administrators, I just happened upon this career. We were in the midst of the pandemic during the summer of 2020, I had just found out I was losing my soft-funded position at the University of Tennessee, AND I had just learned I was 7 weeks pregnant with our first child. My department began assisting those of us wishing to stay at the University with searching for open positions at our institution. When the opportunity was posted for a Proposal Coordinator within our institution’s centralized Office of Research, the Director of my center reached out to me and recommended I apply. I was really nervous to move to a position I was not familiar with after spending 10+ years in the field of Early Childhood Education. Today, I could not be more thankful for everything that happened in 2020 leading me to this field. Everyone I have met who works in Research Admin has been amazingly supportive and wonderful to work with. The atmosphere the people of this profession create is vastly different from my prior experiences – and in a good way. I have been working as a Proposal Coordinator for 3 years as of October 1st and passed my Certified Research Administrator exam back in May. I cannot wait to see where this field takes me!