The Council on Governmental Relations (COGR), representing over 180 leading research universities and organizations, submitted recommendations to the leadership of the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) as part of the “Reimagining NIFA” initiative. COGR acknowledges the importance of NIFA's mission and aligns itself with the agency's goals to enhance organizational effectiveness and reduce administrative burden in federally funded research programs. The letter outlines four primary recommendations: first, to pilot the use of Fixed Amount awards, which, if outcomes are broadly defined, could reduce the administrative load compared to traditional cost-reimbursement instruments, especially for smaller grants. Second, COGR proposes adopting a collaborative proposal and award model, similar to that used by the National Science Foundation, allowing joint funding requests without the complexities of prime/subrecipient relationships; this would reduce subrecipient monitoring and streamline the management of indirect cost limits.
Third, COGR advocates for simplification of NIFA’s indirect cost reimbursement process. Specifically, they recommend flexibility in the application of unrecovered Facilities & Administrative (F&A) costs as match for NIFA programs and suggest clarifying Farm Bill guidance to reduce administrative complexity when calculating F&A costs, particularly with subrecipients. Suggestions include end-of-period F&A cap compliance and permitting cost rebudgeting. Fourth, while supporting reduced burden in time and effort reporting requirements, COGR emphasizes the necessity for consistent policies across NIFA and with other federal agencies. Collectively, these recommendations aim to streamline administrative processes, maintain accountability, and better enable institutions to focus on advancing research. COGR expresses eagerness to collaborate further as NIFA undertakes this critical reform.
