CESU GRPL – Leadership, Coordination, and Administrative Oversight for the Great Plains Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit | NPS NOIP15AC01750

Opportunity Information: Apply for NPS NOIP15AC01750

This funding opportunity (NPS NOIP15AC01750) is a discretionary cooperative agreement from the Department of the Interior, National Park Service (NPS), created to support the leadership and day-to-day coordination functions of the Great Plains Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit (CESU). It operates under the broader Great Plains CESU Cooperative and Joint Venture Agreement (Cooperative Agreement P16AC00011) between NPS and the University of Nebraska system (University of Nebraska-Lincoln as host). The purpose is not to fund a single research study, but to pay for the administrative backbone that makes collaborative, interdisciplinary research, technical assistance, and education projects possible across a large partnership network. The award is governed by the Uniform Guidance in 2 CFR Part 200, which takes precedence over older OMB circular frameworks if there is any conflict.

The opportunity sits within the national CESU Network, a congressionally authorized (1998) consortium that links federal agencies, tribes, universities, state and local governments, and nongovernmental partners to improve stewardship of natural and cultural resources through applied science and collaborative problem solving. CESUs function like virtual organizations: they do not exist as a single new agency, but as a structured partnership anchored by a host university that provides leadership, coordination, communications infrastructure, administrative support, and access to faculty, staff, and students. Across the country there are seventeen CESUs covering all states and territories, involving more than 370 partners and 15 participating federal agencies. The CESU Network Council, made up of senior scientists and administrators from those federal agencies, serves as the governing body and has committed to providing annual financial assistance to each CESU to help host institutions carry out core coordination responsibilities. Funding levels depend on the degree of federal enrollment and participation in each CESU, and the document notes that additional supplemental assistance could be added in future years if funds are available.

For this specific Great Plains CESU task agreement, the council prioritized a clear set of host institution responsibilities to be supported with these funds: facilitating communication among existing and prospective partners, coordinating the process for adding new partners, coordinating strategic and annual planning with partners, and maintaining the host university sponsored local CESU website. The public purpose emphasized throughout is capacity building for conservation and resource management: strengthening partnerships that generate credible science, improve understanding of management challenges, develop usable knowledge for decision-making, and expand professional development and hands-on training opportunities, especially for students working directly with federal scientists and resource managers.

Eligibility is limited to public and state controlled institutions of higher education, and the funding profile listed an award ceiling of $60,000 with one expected award. The original posting dates indicate this was a time-limited competition or announcement (created August 31, 2017, closing September 14, 2017). The cooperative agreement format is important: it signals substantial federal involvement rather than a hands-off grant, meaning NPS staff are expected to actively collaborate on implementation, review, and coordination throughout the period of performance.

The recipient responsibilities are mainly operational and coordination focused. The host institution must carry out the project titled "CESU GRPL - Leadership, Coordination, and Administrative Oversight for the Great Plains Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit," appoint Larkin Powell as Principal Investigator, and hire or assign staff and/or students as needed to execute the work. A major portion of the workload is communications: keeping partner technical and administrative contacts current and posted online in coordination with the CESU Network National Office; producing and distributing periodic emails, newsletters, and/or social media updates highlighting CESU activities, events, new partners, awards, projects, and funding opportunities; and relaying key opportunities such as requests for proposals, professional development training, and student employment openings. The host is also expected to convene coordination forums such as executive committee or partner conference calls, serve as a communications bridge between local partners and the CESU Network National Office and Council, participate in national CESU Directors calls, respond to information requests from partners and potential partners, and conduct outreach aimed at long-term sustainability. That outreach explicitly includes fostering participation by new institutions, including minority serving institutions, and supporting collaboration among partners while engaging students where appropriate.

A second core workstream is the new partner pipeline. The host institution must create and publish a written, CESU-specific partner application policy that aligns with national CESU policy and clearly explains timelines, deadlines, any requirements such as applicant presentations at annual partner meetings, and the voting and approval process. The host then manages follow-up with interested applicants, distributes applications for partner review, coordinates voting and reporting, and assists the CESU Network National Office with any needed amendments to the CESU agreement as new partners are added.

Planning and documentation are another required deliverable area. The host must facilitate the development and maintenance of a CESU strategic plan and produce annual reports and work plans with meaningful partner participation. That includes coordinating drafting, review, editing, distribution to partners, and posting final documents on the CESU website. Finally, the host must maintain a local CESU website that functions as an accessible information hub: it should explain what the CESU is, list current partner institutions and contacts, host administrative and guidance documents (including agreements, amendments, plans, and the partner application policy), and gather and post annual project data consistent with CESU agreement requirements.

NPS has defined roles that reflect the cooperative nature of the instrument. NPS agrees to jointly undertake the project and assigns key personnel: Thomas Fish as Agreements Technical Representative (ATR), Tanya Shenk as Project Manager (PM), and Cheri Yost as a project participant. The PM role includes providing technical review and hands-on support, helping with logistics, collaborating in project management decisions, supporting processing of task agreement actions and administrative updates such as amendments, and helping organize and lead Great Plains CESU Federal Managers Committee conference calls. The ATR and project participant function as liaisons between the CESU Director and the CESU Network Council and National Office, helping communicate council guidance and policy, supporting updates to administrative documents, coordinating meetings among CESU leadership groups, and assisting with consistent dissemination of CESU information across the broader network through established channels like CESU Directors and NPS research coordinators. They also provide direct support during the new partner approval process by answering questions, offering oversight and consultation, and working closely through the amendment lifecycle from preparation and review through signature, distribution, and posting.

In practical terms, the grant is aimed at keeping the Great Plains CESU running smoothly as a partnership platform: maintaining accurate partner information, ensuring opportunities and announcements reach the right people, creating predictable and transparent processes for bringing new institutions into the CESU, producing the planning and reporting documents that guide and justify the program, and keeping local and national CESU information resources aligned. The intended end result is a more connected and effective network that can generate and support applied, interdisciplinary projects benefiting natural and cultural resource stewardship across the Great Plains region while also creating workforce and educational benefits through student engagement.

• The Department of the Interior, National Park Service in the agriculture, education, employment, labor and training, environment, natural resources, science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "CESU GRPL – Leadership, Coordination, and Administrative Oversight for the Great Plains Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 15.945.
• This funding opportunity was created on Aug 31, 2017.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Sep 14, 2017. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $60,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 1 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Public and State controlled institutions of higher education.

Apply for NPS NOIP15AC01750

[Watch] Creating a grant proposal using the step-by-step wizard inside the applicant portal: