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CESU - Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Units
USC JOINS FEDERAL ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH PARTNERSHIP
The University of South Carolina has joined the national network of
Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Units (CESU), an important
partnership focused on connecting federal agencies including the
National Park Service, U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service, and the Natural Resources Conservation Service with
universities engaged in environmental research. Through the 17
regional CESUs, participating agencies can award contracts to the
participating universities for mutually agreed-upon research
projects on a no-bid, non-competitive basis.
Professor of Geography William L. Graf, CESU technical
representative for USC, said,
“The importance of our membership in the Piedmont-South Atlantic
Coast CESU is two fold. First, it facilitates environmental
research by USC investigators by providing a streamlined conduit
for funded research with federal agencies that are ready to
partner. Second, with special access to those agencies, USC gains
added visibility for its research in environmental matters at the
federal level.”
Harris Pastides, USC vice president of Research and Health
Sciences, provided administrative support and formal approval for
USC’s effort to join the CESU. Martha Bogle, superintendent of
Congaree National Park, assisted in the process, and Dr. Graf
negotiated the agreement on behalf of the university.
In addition to USC, other institutions in the Piedmont-South
Atlantic CESU include Clemson University, Auburn University, North
Carolina State University, and the University of Florida. Three
state Audubon organizations also participate. For further details
on CESUs, visit www.cesu.org.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
What does “CESU” stand for?
CESU represents Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Units. There are 17
such
CESUs defined by region in the United States. Each unit consists of
certain universities in the region plus a standard list of federal
agencies. The University of South Carolina is a member of the
Piedmont-South Atlantic Coast CESU. Although the CESUs are
organized by region, any university member can interact for
contracting purposes with any federal agency participating in the
CESU network.
What is the idea behind CESUs – who needs them?
The basic idea behind CESUs is that many of the nation’s federal
agencies require skills, expertise, and knowledge to manage
environmental resources, and university personnel are a logical
source that can fill these needs. Universities also pursue
fundamental environmental research that agencies do not pursue.
From the agency’s standpoint, CESUs permit access to university
expertise, facilities, technical assistance, and research
capabilities. From the university’s standpoint, CESUs provide a way
to create partnerships with federal agencies to obtain financial
support for research on topics of mutual interest.
How does the CESU work for funding projects?
Because the CESU is a partnership, and the funds are award via a
“cooperative agreement”, the process is fundamentally different
from the contract/grant process. Generally, the series of steps
looks like this:
- University researchers connect with agency personnel and
agree on topics of mutual interest. The agency personnel are
most concerned with management problems, while university
personnel are most concerned with research, so this partnership
process is a search for common ground.
- Once this common ground is agreed upon, the agency offers a
sole-source contract to the university to fund the researcher’s
activities. The contract is not generally advertised, there is
no general call for proposals, and there is no competitive
bidding.
- The university researcher generates a written proposal in
response to the offer of the contract, with the proposal being
processed within the university according to usual processes,
and forwards this formal statement to the agency. All the usual
budgeting details are included; the indirect cost rate is fixed
at 17.5%
- The agency issues a contract to the university through
normal channels. Each agency has its own internal processes for
dealing with CESU contracts.
Seems simple, what’s the beef?
Because of the emphasis on partnerships, the researcher must
establish good working relationships with the agency of
interest, a time-consuming but rewarding process. It is not a
case of writing a proposal and dumping it into a review
process. Also, the CESU approach is highly focused on agency
needs rather than on curiosity-driven research by the
investigator. Naturally, the best of all possible worlds is
when these two desires focus on the same subject matter. Also,
some investigators feel that the 17.5% indirect cost recovery
is too small. The logical response is that 17.5% of something
is better than 45% of nothing.
What federal agencies play ball in the CESU?
Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Reclamation, Corps of
Engineers and Department of Defense, Environmental Protection
Agency, NASA, National Marine Fisheries Service, National Park
Service, US Fish and Wildlife Service, US Geological Survey,
Agricultural Research Service, Forest Service, and Natural
Resource Conservation Service of US Department of Agriculture.
NOAA may come on board soon. The Department of Energy is not a
member.
What other universities in our geographic area are members?
Clemson, University of Florida, University of Georgia, and
North Carolina State University, plus several some other
smaller universities and a couple of non-governmental
organizations.
Why should I be interested in CESU?
Because it is an efficient way to fund research that connects
the interests of the agencies with the interests of the
university, it improves partnerships, and it is an additional
revenue stream. It also makes access to university expertise
easier for agencies, and makes access to research problems and
data easier for university investigators.
How do I get into a CESU relationship?
Develop person-to-person contacts within management agencies
that deal with environmental resources that are connected to
your research interests. Find out what the agencies need to
carry out their management functions, and develop a fit with
your research interests. Negotiate an informal arrangement,
followed by a formal arrangement. Once the relationship is
established, agency personnel can come calling at your door
when they have research needs in the area of your expertise.
Where is the big pot of CESU money?
There isn’t one. The money to fund the projects comes directly
from the agency’s budget, sometimes as excess funds and
sometimes from specific budget items. The only way to obtain
the financial support for research is through connections to
the agency. The CESU is simply the mechanism for partnerships.
The amount of funding is highly variable, and depends on the
agency needs and researcher capabilities. Some universities
have reaped several million dollars over five year periods, but
the most common size of individual contracts ranges from a few
thousand to $100,000.
What about the long term prospects?
Agency research budgets are declining in many topical and
geographic areas, and as agency’s continue to deal with reduced
budgets, extra-mural funding of university research is easy to
eliminate – agencies want to protect their own in-house
projects and personnel, and will trim them as a last resort.
CESU approaches give agencies a high degree of flexibility, and
an efficient way to solve research problems. University
researchers specializing in environmental and ecosystem
research are likely to use the CESU route with increasing
frequency, and for many projects in the future CESU may be the
only funding route.
Where can I get more information?
For general information about CESU, consult the web site
www.cesu.org. Consult your agency contact for agency
procedures, and the university Sponsored Activities Management
group for university processes. For general guidance, contact
the University of South Carolina CESU technical representative,
Professor Will Graf of the Department of Geography (graf@sc.edu).
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