Guidelines for Agency Managers or Researchers

The Great Basin Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit (GB CESU) facilitates research, technical assistance and education projects between academic partners and federal agencies. Information and instructions on conducting CESU projects is provided below.

Important Memorandum:

Department of the Interior Policy, Procedures, and General Decision-Making Criteria for Deviations from Negotiated Indirect Cost Rates under Federal Financial Assistance Programs and Agreements
*Please note that as of February 13, 2015, DOI is considering edits for clarity (not substance), so another version may supersede this one. If that happens, we will post the new version to this website.

Starting a Project

Commitments for using GB CESU agreement:

  • All projects must have direct relevance to the GB CESU mission
  • Partner institutions agree to a 17.5% indirect cost rate, with the following exceptions:
    • The USFS cannot reimburse “state cooperative institutions” for indirect costs, pursuant to 7 U.S.C. §3103(18) and U.S.C. § 3319.  Indirect costs may be used to satisfy USFS cost sharing requirements pf at least a minimum of 20% of total project costs.
    • For NRCS, the indirect cost rate is limited to 10% of total direct costs for colleges, universities, and other nonprofit organizat6ion pursuant to Section 704 of Pub. L. 114-113.
  • Project funding may come from agencies or institutions, the GB CESU does not fund projects
  • Projects are collaborative between partners, not contractual, and must include substantial involvement of both parties
  • Participating federal agencies can initiate projects aligned with the master GB CESU Cooperative Agreement with the host university or any of its partners
  • Project funds can be transferred between an agency and an institution, or between institutions, but not directly between agencies

Agency Procedures

National Park Service

The documents linked below contain important information on CESU procedures in the Pacific West Region of the National Park Service.
NPS – PWR Annual Director’s Memo on CESUs
NPS – Steps for Conducting A CESU Project

Use the following templates for NPS GB CESU Task Agreements and Modifications:
FY11 NPS GB CESU Task Agreement Template
FY11 NPS GB CESU Modification Template

Contact Technical Representative at  National Park Service

Contact the Technical Representatives listed for the Agency on the Partners page