The meeting was called to order at 1:00 pm in room 316 of the Memphis Marriott Downtown. RRC Chair W. Saylor presided, with R. Seem and M. Mount in attendance. G. Wyche-Moore had been previously excused. D. MacKenzie served as secretary.

The agenda as proposed was accepted.

There were no interim actions to be reported by the Chair. The Chair noted that the four project submissions resulting from the Association's last actions (Portsmouth, NH) had all been accepted by the Partnership Office, CSREES.

Discussion of the as-yet-to-be-approved federal appropriations, the current expectations for near-level federal appropriations, and the implications for formula funding led to the following conclusion. It was concluded that FFY 00 allocations should be fixed at the FFY 99 levels, given the information available at this time.

D. MacKenzie confirmed that NE-92 had not submitted documentation for a renewal, and was therefore expected to expire on 9/30/99.

NE-148 had requested permission to write a new project. The Committee noted the importance of this area of collaborative research, and stressed in conversation the need to have the final write-up include expected outputs, as well as outcomes.

The Committee noted existing or pending Administrative Advisor vacancies for the following projects and committees: NRSP-7; NEREAP-4; NEREC-5; NE-127; NE-138; NE-148; NE-161. Suggested individuals who might agree to serve if appointed will be contacted during the next few days to determine their willingness. Recommendations to the membership will then follow. The RRC Chair will be responsible for these direct contacts, except for an assignment to R. Seem to contact an individual for NEREAP-4.

It was decided that follow-up messages should be sent to current Administrative Advisors of projects terminating in the next two years to avoid any misunderstanding on timing. Projects scheduled for ending by 9/01 are: NE-138; NE-148; NE-161; NE-165; NE-176 (re-write request approved); NE-177; NE-184; NEA-01; NEC-63; NEC-67; NEC-100; and NEREAP-3 (this tentative list is subject to verification).

A report was given by D. MacKenzie on the status on the development of a manual for multi-state research. The sense of the Committee was to support the concepts found in the draft prepared by R. Heil, over the proposed revisions to the existing manual developed by G. Cooper.

Strategic issues facing the Association were discussed, based on a paper prepared by D. MacKenzie, following face-to-face meetings with NERA directors. RRC's suggestions were to focus on certain areas, such as:
 

stakeholder listening (recognizing a lot is already being done; that there are state needs as well as regional needs; that pooling state information into a regional summary might be a problem; the need to recognize the associated costs; opportunities to use technology to gather data; and the need to pay attention to who gets invited to participate);

Comments were made on the Portfolio Review report, with most statements reflecting the thoroughness of the information provided and the value of the recommendations.

The RRC recommends to the Association approval of the following recommendations:

• Level funding for all off-the-top allocations for FFY 00, based on FFY 99 amounts.
• Approval for NE-148 to re-write the project outline.
• Encouragement for the ED to engage in broad discussions of the issues so far identified, with the intention of developing a short list of priority issues for the next round of strategic planning.
• More discussion of strategies for implementing the integrated activities processes, hopefully engaging extension in the dialogue.
• Endorsement in principle of the R. Heil approach to multi-state research procedures.
• Formal acceptance of the NE Multistate Research Portfolio Review, and transmission of letters of appreciation to the appropriate participants and organizers.

Respectfully,

D. MacKenzie

9/28/99