NC100: Regional Research Coordination, North Central Region
Statement of Issues and Justification
Subsection 3(c)3 of the Hatch Act (69 Stat. 671) authorizes use of federal grant funds for cooperative research in which two or more State Agricultural Experiment Stations (SAES) are cooperating to solve problems that concern the agriculture of more than one state. Section 4 further authorizes the use of appropriations to the states for planning, coordinating and conducting cooperative research. Sometimes extended cooperation under formal research plans is unnecessary if conferences, work groups and like methods can serve to bring researchers together for exchange of experience and opinion and coordination of state and federal research.Often problems can be solved by such initial attack without the need for more formal interstate cooperation. To conserve effort and expense in the administration of RRF and to facilitate immediate cooperative action on urgent problems, this coordination project can serve as authorization for such conferences, work groups and like methods.
RRF are allotted to the individual states for participation in the RRF program. Coordination of the research between the states and between projects requires interstate travel of state station scientists, administrative advisors, and outside specialists for technical committee meetings, conferences, and work groups and appurtenant services. The technical committee is a distinct entity. It meets in separate sessions and carries out its functions independently of other regional committees having broader interests in the same subject matter field. It is essential that funds be available for travel and expenses appurtenant to meetings of technical committees of the approved regional research projects, and for the conferences and work groups to facilitate regional cooperative effort by the participating state stations.
To help the North Central Directors in the planning, coordination and administration of this and other regional research projects, an administrative secretary has been employed to maintain project files, prepare budget materials, assist in preparations for evaluation reviews of regional projects and does such other assignments as may be designated by the North Central Directors.
To facilitate the planning and coordination of regional research the director of each station may use Regional Research Funds their station's share, of the salary and operational expenses of a regional coordinator.
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