4873:
SCRI-MINDS: Some Management and Communication Strategies for a National Coordinated Agricultural Project (SCRI)

Monday, August 2, 2010
Springs F & G
Dr. John D. Lea-Cox , University of Maryland, College Park, MD
George Kantor , Robotics Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA
William Bauerle , Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO
Marc van Iersel, Ph.D Professor , Department of Horticulture, University of Georgia, Athens, GA
Taryn Bauerle, Assistant Professor , Department of Horticulture, Cornell University, Ithica, NY
Colin S Campbell , Decagon Devices, Inc., Pullman, WA
Richard Bauer , Antir Software, Jarrettsville, MD
You receive the big grant, the accolades – and then reality hits.   You have a big complex project with partners across the nation to get up and running – fast.  Contracts need to be negotiated and signed, people hired and suddenly the Gantt chart at the back of the proposal seems so inadequate.  Quarterlies are due, matching reports are required.  What is one to do?   Thankfully, your project has plan of governance and the institutional leads have thought through some of the key project management issues before submitting the grant, since now you really are now reliant on each other.  If one cog isn’t moving, this machine isn’t going anywhere.  This poster outlines the key components of our SCRI project management strategy and the tools we are using to ensure constant communication between our research, outreach and socio-economic teams, our advisory members and our grower partners.   Most importantly, we outline how we are communicating our progress on a continuous basis to our industry and the public at large.