REEport and Impact Reporting

Kelly FlynnStephanie PearlKatelyn Sellers

Why are high-quality outcomes and impacts so important to

report?• We really do read them!• We use them at the federal level to

demonstrate the public value of these federal funds– Develop and justify NIFA’s annual budget requests– Plan, monitor, and evaluate programs– Communicate with USDA Secretary, U.S. Congress,

the White House, and the American people

• Define outcomes, impacts, and their importance

• Share how NIFA packages and communicates your outcomes and impacts

• Discuss how impact writing relates to required reporting

• Offer tips on how to write effective impact statements

Goals of this session

Programs should be designed with impact in mind

and relevant evaluation along the way

Output, Outcome, IMPACT?

What’s the difference? • Output: product, activity, event, or service that reaches other people.

• Outcome: a measureable and documented change in knowledge, action, or condition as a result of the project. Outcomes lead to project impacts.

• Impact: Reportable, quantifiable difference a program makes in the lives of real people. These show sustainable societal, environmental, or economic change.

Note: the line between outcome and impact is not always a clear one.

Potential is OK!Potential Impact of Multicultural Program:As retention of students of color rises, what changes has that had on the university?

– Types and content of classes (new knowledge)– New collaboration (new behavior)– Motivated and supportive student body as evidenced by improved

grades of minority students (new condition)– Changes in how the university services the people of a state, or the

level of service to minority populations (new social value)

Impact Occurs at Different Levels

• Individual: graduation rates, post-graduation plans• University: Increased appreciation for other

cultures evidenced by increased participation in Peace Corps, Teach for America; new methods of teaching/learning that result in more students graduating in 4 years.

• Societal: Train a Hmong veterinarian and now Hmong producers have improved veterinary services

How does NIFA share your outcomes and impacts?

• Blogs• Impact spotlight stories• Graphical handouts• Twitter• Annual reports

These are all available on the NIFA website and distributed via email distribution lists

Share Your Science with us at any time of the year!

What to communicate•Manuscript acceptance for publication •Other publicity about your work (university press releases) •Tip us off that you have had a great year!How to communicate it•Email your NPL directly•Email ImpactStories@nifa.usda.gov•Twitter: @USDA_NIFA #NIFAimpacts

Seek assistance from your university’s public affairs office

Required reporting:What is REEport?

• NIFA’s primary grant reporting system.• The system collects technical and

financial data about projects NIFA has funded and allows grantees to report significant accomplishments and impacts of their research, extension, and education work.

Who uses REEport?• Site Administrator or other types of

administration/support personnel• Faculty – “Project Directors”

– They can be recipients of NIFA competitive grants or faculty who are supported by or using NIFA capacity funds in some way (e.g. salary is paid with Hatch dollars)

• Authorized Representatives (AR)

REEport Forms• Project Initiation – Required form in order to

begin a project and make it ‘Active.’

• Progress Report – Required form to be completed annually for each year a project is active. Used for reporting the progress and accomplishments of the project in the past year.

REEport Forms cont’d• Financial Report - Report of project-level

expenditures and FTEs that occurred in the most recently completed federal fiscal year. Report both Federal and Non-Federal sources of funding that supported a project.

• Final Report – Required form to be completed at the end of a project (or to terminate a project early). Accomplishments reported on this report cover the LIFE of the project, not just the most recent year.

Due DatesReport Type Capacity Competitive

Project Initiation Any TimeAs soon as PD is notified of award recommendation

Progress Report March 1 each yearWithin 90 days after the anniversary of the start date*

Final ReportMarch 1 after the final year of the project

Within 90 days after the project end date

Financial Report February 1 each year February 1 each year

*If the project is a continuation award, the progress report is due within 90 days BEFORE the anniversary of the start date; NIFA program leaders send emails requesting the report usually 60 days beforehand

Grants Data Flow

• Award data is sent from CREEMS (NIFA’s internal grant processing system) to REEport

• REEport creates project reporting shells and notifies grantee to submit forms

• PD submits forms and then project data is sent from REEport to CRIS/Data Gateway so that it can be publicly viewed (this step is also true for capacity project data)

CREEMS

REEport CRIS/Data Gateway

Changing Project DataData Field Capacity Non-CapacityPD Name/Email Project Change CREEMS > REEportCo-PDs Project Change CREEMS > REEportKeywords Project Change CREEMS > REEportGeneral “Cover Page” Data

Project Change CREEMS > REEport

Non-Technical Summary* Project Change* Project Change* (New!)

End Date (Changing the end date is the same as requesting an extension on the project.)

Project Change (Make a “comment” at the end of the project change that the end date/extension is what you are requesting.)

CREEMS > REEport

*Applicable to most fields of the project initiation that are NOT part of the

cover page.

Where do REEport data go?

• Multiple systems at NIFA which store data differently and “accept” certain fields

• Various search and analysis tools – Data Gateway: Enterprise Search (public)– CRIS (public)– Leadership Management Dashboard (NIFA Partners)

• Goal: All REEport data visible in a public facing view (e.g. Data Gateway)

REEport Resources• The “Search” feature of NIFA’s website is helpful

for finding whatever resource you need. For example, go to www.nifa.usda.gov and search for:– REEport Guide for Project Directors– REEport Quick Guides– REEport Financial Manual

• The main REEport URL for all REEport related resources is: www.nifa.usda.gov/tool/reeport

Accomplishments ReportingThe most important field on the progress report & final report is on the “Accomplishments” page.

This is where you write your outcomes and impacts

Accomplishments are publicly displayed as impacts

nifa.usda.gov/data

Anatomy of an impact statementThe accomplishments section should include

outputs, outcomes, and impacts; and these questions should be answered:

1) What is your project about? What is the problem and why does it matter?Think of your non-technical summary from your project initiation.2) What did you do about it?Methods and approaches3) What were the results of your actions? / What are the benefits thus far?Anticipated or realized outcomes/impacts4) Why is this important? / What is the value?Address the “so what?” of your work

Use fewest sentences here

It gets easier with practice!

Helpful Hints• Write for the audience (Congress, NIFA staff)

– Why is the project important to constituents? – What result do you want to achieve through

communicating your impact?• Avoid:

– Jargon– Acronyms– vague words (approximate, significant number, few)

• Use quantitative and qualitative evidence, as applicable

Success Story ≠ Impact• Impact statements do encompass success

stories

• Not all success stories have impact

• Remember: Impact statements need to document a measurable change in behavior or knowledge

Climate change and forest disturbances are threatening the ability of forested mountain watersheds to provide the clean, reliable, and abundant fresh water necessary to support aquatic ecosystems and a growing human population. Here, we used 76 years of water yield, climate, and field plot vegetation measurements in six unmanaged, reference watersheds in the southern Appalachian Mountains of North Carolina, USA to determine whether water yield has changed over time, and to examine and attribute the causal mechanisms of change. We found that water yield declined by up to 22 percent in some watersheds since the 1970s. Changes in water yield were mostly related to changes in climate, but disturbance-related shifts in forest structure and species composition may have decreased water yield by up to 18% in a given year after accounting for climate. These findings have implications for managing forested watersheds to ensure adequate water supply under future climate change. Future studies on managing watersheds more towards oak-hickory canopy dominance—and away from tulip poplar, red maple and rhododendron shrub dominance in the overstory and shrub layers—should increase both water yield and high value timber products.

The declining groundwater levels in the Mississippi Delta Shallow Alluvial Aquifer and nutrient loads into the Mississippi River and the Gulf of Mexico are the two most important issues affecting the sustainability of agroecosystems in the Mississippi Delta region. Numerous on-farm water storage (OFWS) systems have been installed across the region. These systems offer dual benefits of providing irrigation water and capturing nutrient-rich tailwater from irrigated fields. The goal of this project is to determine the impacts of water storage systems on water quality and quantity in Porter Bayou Watershed, Mississippi. We monitored two OFWS systems in this watershed. Water samples from within the OFWS were collected every three weeks throughout the growing season and every six weeks through the off-season. Cumulative readings were also taken on flow meters to measure water use both from the storage pond and groundwater wells. We observed a reduction of 67% and 50% in nitrate nitrogen (NO3-N) at Pitts Farm during winter and spring, respectively, while Metcalf farm had slightly lower reduction in NO3-N in the winter (54%). Equally important were the significant water savings by utilizing surface water storage for irrigation activities. Pitts Farm used 163.3 million gallons (501.1 acre-ft) of water from 2012 to 2015 growing seasons, while Metcalf Farm used 96.9 million gallons (297.4 acre-ft) of water from its storage pond during the same period (Figure 1). These amounts reflect savings in groundwater that was not pumped from the Mississippi Delta Shallow Alluvial Aquifer.

Land use decisions and land management practices play a critical role in highly productive cropland and have important consequences for competing uses of water resources. In particular, important downstream uses such as drinking water, recreation, and aquatic life uses may be affected by changes in water quality due to these land management practices. In this project, we explore this important tradeoff between water quantity for agriculture and water quality for downstream uses. Our setting is the Upper Mississippi River basin and Ohio Tennessee River basin, which encompass much of the economically valuable Corn Belt region of the U.S. This project develops an integrated hydrologic-economic model that links farm-level decisions to downstream uses of water resources. With several new advances in our modeling, we are improving our understanding of how climate change will affect both the value of US agriculture and the value of water resources for downstream users. These new economic estimates will inform policy at a national and global level through improved economic damage estimates from climate change.

Customer Support• Help Desk: electronic@nifa.usda.gov

–This reaches at least 5 people at the NIFA “Tier 1” help desk, and you are assured to get the fastest response this way. The help desk works closely with the REEport team to troubleshoot issues.

• REEport Customer Service Team:–Adam Preuter: apreuter@nifa.usda.gov, 202-690-0124

–James Hultzman: james.hultzman@nifa.usda.gov, 202-690-0011

–Katelyn Sellers: ksellers@nifa.usda.gov.gov, 202-401-5482