MAES project life cycle

Project Review (Federal Hatch Projects)

All MAES-funded faculty should have an active Hatch project. New faculty will normally submit proposals during their second or third year. This is referred to as "project review." The steps for project review are:

  1. Proposal developed by Project Director (PD) and presented at seminar.
  2. Proposal/seminar reviewed and approved by peer review committee and Department Head. 
  3. Proposal reviewed and approved by Dean/Director.

a) Proposal submission to USDA/NIFA

Once a proposal has been approved by the Director, the Program and Reporting Manager will start the project initiation into NIFA's Reporting System (NRS). The PD's responsibility is to complete the project initiation in NRS and submit to Organizational Review. These project will be reviewed by the Program and Reporting Manager and submitted to NIFA for final approval.

b) MSU Budgeting and Spending

Once a project is approved by NIFA, the PD will be notified by an automatic email from NRS. For new projects, index numbers will be assigned by the Program and Reporting Manager. Budgeting and spending should begin in an assigned index number on opening date of the project.

Note: Index numbers are tied to MAES projects just like grants. They can only be used when a project is active and cannot be used for other project expenses.

c) Progress Report

PD's must enter annual progress reports into REEport by February 15th of each year. The Grant Coordinator and/or Program and Reporting Manager will review and submit the completed reports to NIFA.

d) Project Renewal

Prior to the project termination date, the Project Review process will be repeated in order to renew the project for a new period.

e) Termination of a project

If a PD is going to leave MSU or a project will not be extended, the PD must terminate their project(s) in NRS and/or REEport with a final report prior to leaving or at the end of the project period. The index associated with a terminating project will be inactivated.

Federal Multistate Projects

These funds are distributed to participants in regional, multistate projects.

There are two types of multistate projects:

  1. Coordinating Committee and Information Exchange Group: these do not require a Project Initiation in REEport. The Dean's office awards travel money for participation in regional meetings.
  2. Multistate Research Project: these require a Project Initiation in REEport and are to be reported. The PD may receive salary, travel and operations funds for participation

To search for multistate projects, go to NIMSS, located at http://nimss.org. 

Instructions to help navigate the site are available upon request. If you need assistance navigating the site to search for projects please contact the Dean and Director's Office. 

Other Grant (non-formula funds) in REEport

A NIFA non-formula funded project is a competitive grant that has been awarded to a grantee through the grants.gov application and approval process. Once a non-formula grant has been awarded, the grantee is notified by NIFA that they must use REEport to complete the Project Initiation. Annual progress reports and final reports are due 90 days after the anniversary of the start date of the project.