Darlene Ratliff

I would say God and my mother. My mother's been a huge support to me and loved me all the way through my journey.

The best career advice I've received was from a friend who told me, 'Don't let them push you out.' I was having a really difficult time in my current role because I have to deal with the unattractive part of managing, like putting people on PIPs and final warnings, and I did not want to do that. I'm a very nice person and I don't want to rock the boat, so this was really rocking the boat for me. But she told me that if this is somewhere I want to be, and it is where I want to be, don't let them push you out. That's what I was allowing to happen, just the frustration of not wanting to deal with the situation. She really helped me with that advice.

I would say learn as much as you can. Don't wait for someone to tell you. This field is all about taking initiative and digging and investigating, because a lot of times there's a lot of issues that come along with grants and things that have been sitting for a long time. Always dig, communicate as much as possible, and never be afraid to ask questions.

Some of the main challenges have been the day-to-day grind of managing people, which has definitely been challenging. Another challenge is keeping up with the day-to-day changes that the government has been making in regards to federal grants. Things kind of change and everything is so fluid nowadays when it comes to grants and finances that the government is giving out. I've also faced the challenge of learning to be comfortable in being a leader. I was used to being led for so long and just loved the idea of being told what to do and getting the job done, but now actually being comfortable with being the one that gives out those tasks and learning how to delegate has been tough, because I'm used to just doing it myself. As far as opportunities, there's growth in research administration. You can go into a directorship, assistant director of research administration, or go on to being a part of or leader of the central office, where you're the one guiding the entire university when it comes to federal grants.

Honesty comes to my mind right away. Honesty, integrity, respect, and doing the right thing, no matter if you get in trouble for it or not. Just being able to speak the truth and do what you need to do. Ownership is important to me as well. Some people lack that, you know, just being at that capacity to take the ownership of when I mess up. I think that's important to me as well.