6 Administrative Kickoff 15DEC2023
6.1 Date
Friday, December 15, 2023
6.2 Introduction
The document contains meeting minutes from an administrative kick off meeting between representatives from the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) in Minnesota and the University of Minnesota. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss a recently finalized agreement between the two organizations to collaborate on updating and improving soil survey data for urban areas in Minnesota.
6.3 Attendees
The attendees on the call included:
- Joe Brennan, Minnesota State Soil Scientist, NRCS
- Stephanie McLain, Minnesota State Soil Health Specialist, NRCS
- Crystal Orsello, Agreement Specialist, NRCS
- Nic Jelinski, Associate Professor, UMN Department of Soil, Water and Climate
- Nora Pearson, Researcher, UMN Department of Soil, Water and Climate
- Sarah Hulke, Grants Administrator, UMN
- Potential future contacts: Todd Stroessner (UMN financial reporting) and Nicole Jones (UMN departmental accountant)
6.4 Purpose of Agreement
The purpose of the agreement is to leverage collective expertise and resources to improve soil characterization data for urban areas in Minnesota. Current legacy soil survey products are outdated and provide limited utility. The agreement will facilitate understanding of dynamic urban soil properties and support expanded use of new tools for urban agriculture.
6.5 Budget Overview
The total budget is $551,984 over a 3 year period.
6.6 Reporting Requirements
Performance reports are required semiannually. Nick Jelinski (UMN) will submit performance reports. Financial reports (SF-425) will be submitted quarterly by Todd Stroessner (UMN).
6.7 Key Responsibilities
Joe Brennan is the Program Manager and will approve reports after review. Technical execution of the project will be covered in a separate technical discussion.
6.8 Budget Adjustments
Budget realignments of up to 10% between direct cost categories require written notification but not formal approval. However, keeping the administrative contacts informed of all changes, even small ones, is encouraged for transparency.
6.9 Invoicing and Payments
Crystal will provide a shared Excel tracking spreadsheet to support invoicing, documentation and reporting. This will help streamline the submission process and translation of expenses into appropriate cost categories.
6.10 Future Contacts
Additional UMN personnel were identified who will support financial management, invoicing, reporting and general administrative functions related to execution of the agreement. These include Nicole Jones and Todd Stroessner.
The remainder of the document covered technical objectives, scope of work and project execution details, which were deemed outside of the scope of summarizing the key administrative discussion points from this kickoff meeting.