Justification for Retaining Old Project Numbers

The NCRA has adopted the policy of assigning new numbers to projects that are continuing unless there is justification for continuing with the old number. This new policy has now been inserted into the NCRA Guidelines. In most cases, you should consult with members of the project. If it is desirable to retain the old number, please provide written justification to the NCRA Office by February 15th. This will allow us to get the projects into the MRC before their meeting in March. For those projects that are renumbered, the old number will be placed in parentheses at the end of the project title so that project origins can be followed and previous work can be traced.

As stated above, justification for retaining the project number must be presented. There are basically two strong arguments for retaining a project number. The first is that the project has established a unique relationship with stakeholders and clientele groups such that the project number has significant meaning to those groups. The most apparent examples are those projects with strong ties to grower groups. The second strong argument is for those projects in which tracking and identification of samples is tied to the project number. Clear examples would be in plant breeding and animal genetics projects where sample number is referenced to the multistate project number.

Please email the justification to Executive Director, Arlen Leholm (leholm@cals.wisc.edu) by February 15th. Please note that it is anticipated that most projects will be assigned a new number. This will necessitate each participant to file a termination report for the old number and an initiation report for the new numbered project. If you have any questions, please contact the NCRA office.