North Central Regional Association (NCRA) of State Agricultural Experiment Station Directors

All deadlines listed here are one year in advance of project expiration:

1. 9/15: Request to Write a Proposal

2. 10/15: Final project Objectives due in NIMSS

3. 12/1: Full proposal due in NIMSS. This deadline is FIRM, with no extensions allowed. Any proposal submitted as final after the 12/1 due date will be returned to Draft status and will not be accepted until the next submission cycle.

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For details on what each proposal section should contain, refer to our NC Multistate Research Guidelines.

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Proposal Submission Instructions
 

1. For projects brand new to the region and not renewals of existing committees, please contact the NCRA office first (christina.hamilton@wisc.edu).

   • Usually, we request prospective proposal writing teams form an NC Development Committee (NCDC; a 2-year writing committee that receives AES travel funds). Guidance on NCDCs is here.

   • If you have a full, five-year project proposal ready, the written support of two NC AES directors, and an individual willing to serve as the AA for at least the first several years, we can waive the NCDC requirement and you should follow the instructions below to set up the proposal in NIMSS.
      

2. Request to Write a Proposal: For NC renewals, start with requesting to write the renewal proposal. This is due by 9/15 the year before expiration.

   • Contact the NCRA office (christina.hamilton@wisc.edu) and let us know your project wishes to renew, then we will set up the proper proposal template in NIMSS and give you a “temp” number that will stay with the proposal until it’s approved.

   • We’ll also need to know who your AA will be and the names of anyone needing upload access to get started.
      

3. Issues and Justifications Section: Upload your Issues & Justifications section between 9/15 and 10/15. Those listed with editing access to the proposal should log into NIMSS and under Action Items, select My Project Proposals and click on the Draft Proposals tab. Click Edit next to the proposal, go to Outline, then navigate to that section using the Project Menu on the left. We recommend including a list of proposed participating stations and other project members here. Enter and format the text in the text box, then click Save.
    

4. Upload Project Objectives: Objectives are due in NIMSS by 10/15. Again, log into NIMSS, and under Action Items, select My Project Proposals and click on the Draft Proposals tab. Click Edit next to the proposal, go to Outline, then navigate to Objectives using the Project Menu on the left. Enter each Objective into the text box, clicking Add Objective to add more. No numbers or bullets are needed, NIMSS adds these automatically. Objectives should be clear and concise. Use the Comments box only if you need more details on each Objective. When done with this section, Save.
    

5. Adding Project Participants: When your Objectives are final, contact the NCRA office, then we will send out a participation request to participants on the expiring version and the national AES lists. Anyone wishing to continue must work with their AES office to be added via submission of an Appendix E form in NIMSS. Non-AES participants should contact the NCRA office to be added. Membership in the expiring project does not roll over into the renewal.
    

6. Submitting Proposal as Final: Continue uploading the remaining proposal sections by the firm deadline of 12/1. When your proposal is final, contact the NCRA office or log into NIMSS, and under Action Items, select My Project Proposals and click on the Draft Proposals tab. Click Edit next to the proposal, go to Outline, then section Basic from the Project Menu. Scroll down and click on the Submit as Final button.
    

7. NC Review Process: Once you’ve submitted the proposal as final, it will go through our NCRA review, which includes an AA review, peer reviews/expert review by our NC Advisory Committees (NCACs), and then a final review by our Multistate Research Committee (MRC). We’ll be back in touch in early April with revision requests, approval, etc.
    

8. If you have any questions throughout the process, please reach out to the NCRA office at any time.

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COMMONLY REQUESTED PROPOSAL REVISIONS:

• As of 10/1/2011, the NCRA approved reductions to the size of all NC multistate project proposals. For more specific information on the proposal size limits and sections affected, please see our revised Appendix A and B forms at the end of the NCRA Multistate Guidelines. Currently, these changes ONLY affect NC regional projects; projects from other regions remain the same.

• As you complete your Objectives and Methods/Activities sections, please be clear as to who will be working on each project objective.

• When available, we strongly recommend adding a section on how your Hatch funds will be leveraged with outside sources.

• When in doubt, please refer to our NCRA Project Expectations guide.