Recommended procedure for serving as an MRC lead reviewer
The MRC has the responsibility to make a recommendation to the NCRA membership regarding the renewal and continuation of projects within the multistate research fund portfolio. NCRA has established a protocol of using the NCA committees as peer reviewers and requiring that the AA of a project also serve as a peer reviewer. To facilitate the review of projects by MRC, the MRC has developed these guidelines.
Prior to the MRC meeting:
Lead Reviewer: A member of the MRC will be assigned the lead reviewer of each project submitted to MRC for approval as a new project, renewed project or mid-term reviewed project. The NCRA Office will make the assignments.
Review Form: The lead reviewer will access information on the project through NIMSS. To facilitate the review, the lead reviewer should use the same form used by the AA and NCA committees in reviewing the project. He/She uses NIMSS Special Forms Appendices as guides/framework in initial review. These forms are NOT to be submitted – only printed off as a guide for organizing the lead reviewer’s analysis:
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Appendix H-1 |
NC/NRSP projects |
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Appendix I |
Midterm reviews of NC/NRSP projects |
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Appendix J-1 |
NCR projects |
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Appendix K |
Midterm review of NCR projects |
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For NCT projects, a review form need not be used to guide the discussion of the MRC. Rather, the lead reviewer can provide his/her recommendation in free form |
Analysis of the Project: The lead reviewer should comment on criteria in all sections of the review form. The comments should take into account and respond to all issues raised in the reviews by the AA and NCA committee(s) that reviewed the project.
During the MRC meeting:
The Lead Reviewer of each project methodically uses the appropriate appendix to guide the discussion of each project for which he/she is responsible.
The lead reviewer should be prepared to make a recommendation to the MRC to: (1) accept the project as submitted, (2) accept the project in principle but ask the project team to resubmit the proposal after considering the suggested changes proposed by the MRC, AA or NCA committee(s). The project will be reconsidered by the MRC and NCRA at the Summer meeting, (3) reject the project proposal, or (4) reject the project proposal but approve continuation as an NCT.
The MRC comes to an overall recommendation of the project and presents it to the NC Directors for discussion.
After the MRC meeting:
The MRC Lead Reviewer formulates a Word Processing document of the overall decision. This document is then forwarded to the System Administrator who enters it into NIMSS and sends it on to the committee AA and Chair.