Research, extension and communications priorities were identified that total to $3.4 million in recurring dollars. For the complete complement of needs, $87,500 in one-time start-up costs would be needed and annual recurring expenses of $47,500 would be required. These estimates are for direct costs only; added indirect costs would drive the total in federal grant dollars to approximately $5 million. This set of needs will be used over the next four years to guide Florida Sea Grant as the program seeks to increase its funding from all revenue streams.
Additional Resources Needed (Direct Costs Only)
Goal
|
Description
|
Costs
|
|
|
One-time Start-up
|
Annual Expense
|
Recurring Annual Salary and Benefits
|
Research (Goals 1-7) and Graduate Education (Goal 9)
|
Competitive Research Funds
|
|
|
$1,500,000
|
|
30 Graduate Student Assistantships
|
|
|
450,000
|
|
10 Undergraduate Summer Internships
|
|
|
30,000
|
Biotechnology (Goal 1)
|
Extension Specialist
|
$5,000
|
$5,000
|
$83,200
|
Fisheries (Goal 2)
|
Recreational Fishing Extension Specialist
|
5,000
|
5,000
|
83,200
|
|
Bi-lingual Communicator
|
5,000
|
5,000
|
55,000
|
Aquaculture (Goal 3)
|
Extension Specialist
|
5,000
|
5,000
|
83,200
|
Seafood Safety (Goal 4)
|
Bi-lingual lab and training technician
|
|
|
64,000
|
Waterfront Communities (Goal 5)
|
Extension Coastal Management Specialist
|
5,000
|
5,000
|
83,200
|
| |
Legal Specialist (.5 FTE)
|
7,000
|
5,000
|
41,600
|
Coastal Hazards (Goal 7)
|
Extension Specialist
|
5,000
|
5,000
|
83,200
|
Marine Education (Goal 9)
|
Communicator to support Sea Grant Extension Faculty
|
5,000
|
5,000
|
52,200
|
|
Extension Marine Educator
|
5,000
|
5,000
|
83,200
|
|
Nine County-based Faculty (.6 FTE each)
|
22,500
|
2,500
|
242,000
|
|
Secretarial Support for Additional Faculty (.5 FTE per Faculty)
|
20,000
|
|
225,000
|
Management Costs Across All Areas
|
Fiscal and Secretarial Support
|
|
|
283,000
|
Total
|
|
$87,500
|
47,500
|
3,442,000
|
The Florida Sea Grant core federal Sea Grant funding for the last few years has been about $2 million on an annual basis. On average, another $600,000 has been earned annually in Sea Grant national strategic funding. Because Florida Sea Grant was not one of the first Sea Grant programs to receive funding, the program is also behind in federal funding relative to the other large Sea Grant programs. Federal Sea Grant core funding for Florida Sea Grant should be in the $3.5 million per year range, based on the current federal Sea Grant appropriation.
In addition, recent NOAA administrators and the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy have indicated that annual federal Sea Grant funding should be doubled; an amount that would be about $110-$120 million. It is realistic to assume under this funding scenario that Florida Sea Grant’s federal Sea Grant core funding level would be approximately $5 million, an increase of $3 million over current levels. Even this level of additional resources would not allow appropriate attention to all the priorities outlined in this strategic plan.
The receipt of federal Sea Grant funds requires that those funds be matched on a 2-to-1 ratio (one dollar of matching funds for every two dollars received). Thus, an increase of federal funds as outlined above would require an increase in non-federal funds from the various revenue streams that currently fund overall Florida Sea Grant activities: state appropriations, faculty match provided by universities, non-federal grants and contracts, Florida counties or foundation and endowment revenue.
Specifically identified during the strategic planning process as non-federal funding needs was a $2 million appropriation for marine biotechnology competitive projects and an additional $1 million in funding for marine biotechnology graduate student assistantships. Also identified was the need for permanent recurring funding to stabilize the seafood safety and quality program. Its success is highly dependent on the generation of “soft” or grant funds outside of Sea Grant. Florida Sea Grant will also continue to pursue additional funding sources, including the generation of private gifts that can create endowments by using these same priorities.
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