National Food and Agricultural Sciences Teaching, Extension, and Research Awards

The goals of the TERA program are to: • Annually recognize and honor a select group of college and university teachers who excel at teaching, research and Extension/outreach. • Help disseminate best practices in teaching through workshops, blogs, soc

Launched in 1992, this program recognizes outstanding college faculty in agriculture, natural resources, veterinary, and human sciences. A selection committee of nationally recognized teachers and scholars choose two national recipients, two early career recipients, and two teaching and student engagement recipients. There are also up to six regional awards. Nominees are evaluated based on their ability as instructors, educational innovation, service to students, professionalism, and scholarship. This is a partnership among NIFA, the recipient of the National Awards for Excellence in College and University Teaching in the Food and Agricultural Sciences Program (TERA) Award, and the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU). Educators can be nominated by using the "Teaching Awards Guidelines" and "Teaching Awards Nomination Form" found on the National Awards for Excellence resources page.

"Applicants for the National Food and Agricultural Sciences Teaching, Extension, and Research Awards (TERA) program must meet all the requirements discussed in the Notice of Funding Opportunity. Failure to meet the eligibility criteria by the application deadline may result in exclusion from consideration or, preclude NIFA from making an award. Applications may only be submitted by colleges and universities having a demonstrable capacity to carry out the teaching of food and agricultural science."

Funds may be used only for the purpose for which they are granted in accordance with the approved application and budget, regulations, terms and conditions of the award, applicable federal cost principles, USDA assistance regulations, and NIFA General Awards Administration Provisions, 7 CFR Part 3430, subparts A through E.

All funds granted by NIFA may be used only for the purpose for which they are granted in accordance with the approved application and budget, regulations, terms and conditions of the award, applicable federal cost principles, USDA assistance regulations, and NIFA General Awards Administration Provisions, 7 CFR Part 3430, subparts A through E.

Pre-application coordination is not applicable to this award.

"NIFA will evaluate applications using the evaluation criteria described in the Notice of Funding Opportunity. In general, NIFA evaluates applications using a two-part process. First, NIFA screens each application to ensure that it meets the administrative requirements set forth in the Notice of Funding Opportunity. All administrative requirements must be met in order for the application to proceed to the next level of review. Second, a scientific peer-review process is used to technically evaluate applications that have met the administrative requirements using a review panel."

Within the limit of funds authorized, the NIFA awarding official will make grants to responsible and eligible applicants whose applications are judged most meritorious under the procedures set forth in the Notice of Funding Opportunity. The date specified by the NIFA awarding official as the effective date of the grant must be no later than September 30 of the federal fiscal year in which the project is approved for support and funds are appropriated for such purpose, unless otherwise permitted by law. The project need not be initiated on the grant effective date, but as soon thereafter as practical so that project goals may be attained within the funded project period.

Contact the headquarters or regional location, as appropriate for application deadlines.

Continuation funding in future fiscal years is contingent upon availability of funding and satisfactory progress of the project.