Duration: 10/01/2027 to 09/30/2032

Administrative Advisor(s):

NIFA Reps:

Non-Technical Summary

Agricultural research at Land-grant Universities drives innovation in food security, sustainability, and rural economies. However, the large number of multistate research activities across the nation makes project management, tracking, and oversight difficult to conduct without an efficient, centralized work-flow database application. Collecting this data and synthesizing it into formats that clearly communicates the multistate program's impact and value as an investment to the public and policymakers is crucial, now more than ever, to USDA's capacity programs.

NRSP1 solves this by managing the National Information Management Support System (NIMSS) and the Multistate Research Fund (MRF) Impacts program. Our on-going goal is to streamline how multistate projects are managed and research data collected and then transformed into clear, compelling impact statements.

By centralizing this information, we provide federal and state stakeholders, industry partners, and the public with a transparent view of how Hatch Multistate Funds are being used. Ultimately, these activities ensure that complex scientific achievements are translated into understandable success stories, demonstrating a high return on investment for the Hatch Multistate Research Fund and ensuring continued support for vital agricultural research.

NRSP1 strongly aligns with the 2026 USDA Science Priorities by maintaining NIMSS, an agile and robust project management system that houses and tracks hundreds of critical multistate research initiatives. By leveraging this data, the MRF Impacts program effectively communicates how these collaborative projects directly support the USDA’s core objectives for US agriculture.

Statement of Issues and Justification

(Given the unique nature of NRSP1 with NIMSS and our National Impact Communications Programs, this proposal cannot match the standard NRSP format.  We recommend viewing the attached proposal document to obtain specific details and breakdown of our budget. The budget listed in the NRSP budget form only shows the totals across both NIMSS and the Impact Program.)

NRSP1 and the National Information Management Support System (NIMSS) - History and Present Day

NRSP1 is a long-term, 1862 Land-grant State Agricultural Experiment Station (SAES) project that has existed for almost two decades, supporting our regional and national Hatch Multistate research projects and Extension-integrated activities. NIMSS facilitates multistate project management, from proposal conception to project termination. Initially, NRSP1 served as the financial mechanism for the legacy NIMSS (National Information Management Support System), which was developed and housed at the University of Maryland until 2014 when a security breach at the University of Maryland forced the Experiment Station Section (ESS), now known as agInnovation, to migrate NIMSS to an external system. A full redesign of the database was implemented with a Clemson University’s ITT (now Clemson University Learning Institute) contractor. With guidance from an ESS and NIFA-partnered team, Clemson developers created a secure, modern, and agile new NIMSS that went online in 2015.

Following the initial three-year (FFY2014 to 2017) NIMSS redesign period, ESS renewed its contract with Clemson University Learning Institute in 2017 and again in FFY2022. These five-year duration renewals have allowed for continuation of critical multistate research support services, improved system efficiency, continued security enhancement, daily data back-ups, and continued correction of legacy system data integrity. In addition, the Clemson team was able to work closely with US Department of Agriculture (USDA) - National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) to allow for improved data integration and sharing initially with REEport and most recently, the NIFA Reporting System (NRS). Clemson developers and the regional NIMSS system administrators (RSAs) work together with stakeholders to continue to cooperatively identify and develop new system features. 

NIMSS continues to serve agInnovation as a web-based application allowing: (1) online submission of proposals, peer reviews and progress reports, (2) management of participants, (3) scheduling of annual project meetings, (4) current and past project proposals, and (5) ready access to this information. An automated e-mail notification function prompts users when action is needed and sends out notifications for meetings and report deadlines, along with instructions for completing required tasks. Researchers, Extension educators, stakeholders, and other cooperators can review and keyword search NIMSS for relevant and timely information related to multistate research projects. In addition, the public has access to research project outlines and impacts without needing to apply for an account. NIMSS serves all 1862 and many 1890 Land-grant institutions, allowing them to efficiently manage the multistate research project portfolios.

NRSP1 and the Multistate Research Fund Impacts Program (MRF Impacts)

Prerequisite Criteria

How is the NRSP consistent with the mission?

 See Issues and Justifications section for details.

How does the NRSP pertain to a national issue?

 See Issues and Justifications section for details.

Rationale

Priority Established by agInnovation

NRSP1 is designed to serve all agInnovation national priority areas by facilitating the management of all aspects of agInnovation multistate projects supported by Hatch Multistate Funds, through both the National Information Management Support System (NIMSS) and the Multistate Research Fund (MRF) Impacts program. NIMSS serves as a repository for all multistate project data and activities which is then used by the Impact Program to create impact statements and other communication products to widely share the value and return on investment of these Land-grant University research and Extension activities.

Relevance to Stakeholders

1. NIMSS: National Information Management Support System (NIMSS) was designed as an internal, agInnovation research tool to facilitate the management of multistate research and Extension activities supported by the Hatch Multistate Research Fund (MRF), from conception of the proposal to project termination. NIMSS is a web-based application allowing: (1) online submission of proposals, peer reviews and progress reports, and (2) ready access to this information. NIMSS users and stakeholders include, but are not limited to, agricultural researchers from agInnovation member Land-grant univeristies and other non Land-grant universities, state Agricultural Experiment Station (AES) directors and staff, Cooperative Extension, regional system administrators, Land-grant communicators, USDA agencies, as well as some industry and international collaborators.

2. MRF Impacts Program: This communications component of NRSP1 enhances the visibility of Land-grant institutions and the success of multistate research projects. Impact statements are prepared by a communications specialist and shared widely with federal partners, Land-grant univeristy leadership, communications teams, the general public and beyond.

Implementation

Objectives

1. Maintain and enhance the effectiveness, functionality, and utilization of NIMSS.
   
2. Effectively document and communicate the impacts of multistate research, enhance the utility of MRF Impacts materials, and improve the capacity of the Hatch Multistate project participants and others to report their impacts.
   

Projected Outcomes

Management, Budget and Business Plan

A NRSP1 Management Committee exists with representation from each regional association, SAES director’s office staff from across regions, NIFA and four Administrative Advisors (regional representation) serve as stakeholder representatives from agInnovation charged to continuously provide oversight to and evaluate the effectiveness of NIMSS and multistate research and Extension impacts communication efforts. The representatives are responsible for collecting information from the institutions in their respective regions to provide recommendations to improve NIMSS (function and content) and information on the multistate research and Extension impact communications efforts and programs in meeting their needs and objectives.

The NRSP1 Management Committee is also responsible for conducting the annual performance review of the agInnovation Multistate Research Impacts Program Coordinator and providing it to the Coordinator’s host institution in the required manner.

Membership

• NRSP1 Chair: The NIMSS lead RSA (regional system administrator) serves as NRSP1 chair. Term is indefinite, provided the lead RSA wishes to continue in the role and is approved by the NRSP1 membership.
• Administrative Advisors (AAs): One from each of the 1862 regions (NC, NE, S, and W,) and the 1890s. The position of lead AA will be revisited with each 5-year cycle and rotate as needed.
  • One of the AAs must be the director at the host institution of the agInnovation Multistate Research Impacts Program Coordinator or an individual appointed by said director.
  • One of the AAs must be the director from the institution hosting the NIMSS development team, if NIMSS remains with a Land-grant University, or an individual appointed by said director.
  • Executive Directors (EDs) may serve as AAs, if appointed by their regional directors.
• Executive Directors from ARD, NC, NE, S, and W
• Assistant Directors/Coordinators from NC, NE, S, and W (one of which serves as NIMSS lead and NRSP1 chair).
• NIMSS User Representatives:
  • At least two NIMSS users with Station Director responsibilities from two separate 1862 regions and represent the interests of NIMSS users.
  • User representatives serve no terms and may be reappointed indefinitely by their regional associations for as long as they wish to serve.
• Non-voting representatives from the following organizations:
  • NIFA PARS Director
  • NIFA Communications Director
  • agInnovation Multistate Research Impacts Program Coordinator
  • Director or appointee of the director at the host institution of the Multistate Research Impacts Program Coordinator

Roles and Responsibilities of NRSP1 Members

• NRSP1 Chair: Sets meetings and agendas, leads meeting discussion, serves as the technical lead for the preparation of the NRSP1 renewal proposal, and other activities that emerge and the committee feels appropriate for the chair role.
• Administrative Advisors (AAs): Facilitate NRSP1 proposal renewal and midterm review processes, identify peer reviewers, and conduct the annual performance review of the agInnovation Multistate Research Impacts Program Coordinator with input from the other NRSP1 members. The AA housed within the impact writer’s host region is responsible for submitting the impact writer’s performance reviews as dictated by the policies of that institution.
• Executive Directors from ARD, NC, NE, S, and W: Provide general high-level leadership and oversight to NRSP1, identify regional directors to serve as NRSP1 AAs or serve as regional AAs themselves if their regional associations approve, assist the NRSP1 management committee with NRSP1 reviews and other activities, as needed.
• Assistant Directors/Coordinators from NC, NE, S, and W: Serve as regional NIMSS RSAs to provide regional administration of NIMSS, regular interfacing with the NIMSS technical team, NIMSS testing as needed, and all other aspects of support to NIMSS and NIMSS users.
• NIMSS User Representatives: Provide NIMSS user-level feedback to NRSP1, participate in NIMSS testing and NRSP1 reviews, share updates from NRSP1 to their regional associations, administrative officers, and other regional NIMSS users with help from the regional Assistant Directors/Coordinators and EDs.
• Non-voting representatives from the following organizations: Provide regular programmatic updates and recommendations to NRSP1 membership. The agInnovation Multistate Research Impacts Program Coordinator is expected to provide quarterly updates to NRSP1.

Organization and Function

The NRSP1 Management committee meets virtually four times a year, during which reports on quarterly NIMSS updates and issues are presented, along with an agInnovation Multistate Research Impacts quarterly report. The NIFA PARS and Communications Directors also provide updates, as needed.

 

Integration

Outreach, Communications and Assessment

Projected Participation

View Participation Form/Appendix E: Participation

Literature Cited

Attachments

Land Grant Participating States/Institutions

Non Land Grant Participating States/Institutions