As Project Director, Keith Delaplane will exercise general oversight of the project. He is responsible for assuring the execution of objectives under the various sub-awards, organizing and setting agenda for the annual meeting (usually in conjunction with the American Association of Professional Apiculturists), supervising evaluations, supervising research and extension under his direction, making reports, and serving as a central clearinghouse for communications and issues that may arise. His budgeted time commitment is 45%. In all these duties he will be helped by a budgeted Project Assistant, Mr. Jim Kenaston. 

Dr. Delaplane will rely on the shared decision-making inputs of the Executive Committee. These individuals played key roles in developing the objectives and proposal. The Executive Committee will release and administer Requests for Applications for competitive grants from contingency funds. Members of the Executive and currently funded co-investigators may apply for these funds, but members of the Executive with conflicting interests will be recused from voting. In deciding among competing proposals, the Executive Committee will solicit input from the Science Advisory Panel. The Executive Committee will be the first stop for any unforeseen internal or external management problems. 

The Science Advisory Panel will serve as a review board for competitive proposals from the contingency funds. Insofar as allowed by U.S. law, members of the Science Advisory Panel may apply for these funds, but individuals so doing will be recused from deliberations. Ad hoc reviewers will be recruited as needed. Final funding decisions lie with the Executive Committee, but inputs by the Science Advisory Panel will carry great weight. The Panel will be asked to comment on an annual Progress Report prepared by the PD, before or around the time of the annual meeting. Finally, in the event of intractable internal management problems, the Science Advisory and Stakeholder Panels may be called to assist with arbitration. 

The Stakeholder Panel will play a central role in our annual evaluation process. These individuals were chosen to broadly represent our interested client groups. They will be asked to comment on annual Progress Report and invited to attend our annual meeting (often held in conjunction with industry groups). The Stakeholder Panel will assist in one or more industry surveys designed to measure the impacts of our research and extension initiatives on the publics most directly impacted by our work. 

Plans to Share Data among Members and Stakeholder Panel

The annual meeting is a ready-made checkpoint for sharing results, re-appraising priorities and examining emerging issues. In advance of the meeting, the Project Director will solicit information from all co-investigators on progress toward goals and assimilate it into a report to share among the membership and the Scientific Advisory and Stakeholder panels. The project will be appraised face-to-face at the meeting and any new action determined with input from the Stakeholder panel. On a regular basis, co-investigators will pass information ready for media-based deliverables to the eXtension technician assigned to John Skinner who will prepare it for publication on the Managed Pollinator Community of Practice website. In the case of Objectives that are inter-dependent, it falls to the PD and Project Assistant to ensure that material and knowledge are being exchanged between investigative teams as needed throughout the year. 

During the first year of funding, there were numerous occasions when the Executive Committee and specific investigative teams held tele-conferences to discuss questions and technical details of project execution. For investigative teams this should happen on an as-needed basis, but for the Executive Board there is a target goal of holding tele-conferences on a bi-monthly basis to monitor the CAP and appraise progress toward goals.

Plans to Enhance Collaborations

New collaborators will be invited to join the CAP by means of a pool of competitive contingency funds to support emerging priorities.

Expected Timeline for Deliverables or New Information