Valerie Keim
Research Advancement Administrator
Arizona State University
Milestones
My road in life took a while to figure out.
Thought I wanted to be a lawyer.
Met my political science colleagues and thought "them for seven years?".
Found out I loved learning about infants / toddlers / preschoolers / families.
Went to grad school for child development.
Pursued career opportunities in child advocacy and policy.
Was unemployed for nearly a year after grad school.
Got a job with the county and started working on grants.
Realized procrastinating isn't bad - I just need deadlines! And found a position at ASU that I love.
Keep following my journey
Education
High School
Dobson High School
Dobson High School
Bachelor
BS Political Science
Arizona State University
BS Political Science
Arizona State University
Bachelor
BS Family & Human Development
Arizona State University
BS Family & Human Development
Arizona State University
Graduate
MS Child Development
Erikson Institute
MS Child Development
Erikson Institute
Career
Research Advancement Administrator
I work with faculy and staff to prepare grant proposals.
Career Roadmap
My work combines:
My work combines:
Non-Profit Organizations
Government
Learning / Being Challenged
Day to Day
On a great day? I hear that millions of dollars are coming to the university, and I got to be a part of that. On a typical day I'm guiding faculty through our internal grant process. My job requires me translating sponsor requirements into a concise checklist for principal investigators to be able to follow. When a faculty member wants to receive external funding for their research or program, I help them make it happen by making sure their proposal is compliant.
Advice for Getting Started
Here's the first step for college students
Anyone I know that works on grants happened to fall into this field. In college, I enjoyed reading case law, but really only when it was topics that interested me. Preparing grants is a lot of dry reading, but you get to support some amazing research without having the technical knowledge to do the research. I love learning a little about what a lot of people do rather than specialize in one field of research. Principal investigators need me to know what I know so they can do what they do.
Recommended Education
My career is related to what I studied. I'd recommend the path I took:
Bachelor
BS Political Science
BS Political Science
Bachelor
BS Family & Human Development
BS Family & Human Development
Graduate
MS Child Development
MS Child Development
Hurdles
The Noise I Shed
From Society in General:
"I would be happy to hire you, but you don't have enough experience yet."
Challenges I Overcame
Self Confidence
