FULLY

ESTABLISH A SUSTAINABLE ORGANIZATIONAL MODEL FOR N.C. PSI MANAGEMENT AND OPERATIONS

KEY INITIATIVES

Key Initiative 1: Define shared resources for managing and overseeing N.C. PSI operations, programs and activities and scale organizational structure as necessary based on evolving needs

Key Initiative 2: Dedicate resources for key N.C. PSI functions like industry engagement, connecting faculty with research opportunities, and overall communications and engagement

Key Initiative 3: Develop and implement succession plans for key N.C. PSI leadership positions

GOAL 3.1.4: DESIGN AND IMPLEMENT KEY PROCESSES TO STREAMLINE AND BUILD TRANSPARENCY IN N.C. PSI PROJECTS AND OPERATIONS

KEY INITIATIVES

Key Initiative 1: Design a standard application submission and review process for connecting project concepts with N.C. PSI funding or affiliation

Key Initiative 2: Develop faculty and partner onboarding materials, including expectations of PIs and project teams, as well as documentation of processes and services available to N.C. PSI-related projects

Key Initiative 3: Design a process for onboarding and offboarding N.C. PSI researchers, projects and related resources, including communication and coordination with home departments and operating units

Wolfpack 2030 Alignment

• Goal 2: Ensure preeminence in research, scholarship, innovation and collaboration.

• Goal 3: Expand and advance our engagement with and service to North Carolina and beyond, defining the standard for a 21st-century land-grant university.

• Goal 4: Champion a culture of equity, diversity, inclusion, belonging and well-being in all we do.

• Goal 5: Improve university effectiveness through transformative technologies, cutting-edge processes and actionable data.

• Goal 6: Lead in developing innovative partnerships, entrepreneurial thinking and applied problem-solving.

STRATEGIC PRIORITY 3.2: Develop Sustainable Funding Model for N.C. PSI

N.C. PSI is the beneficiary of arguably unprecedented levels of financial and other support among varied stakeholders and constituencies who have committed to N.C. PSI’s mission and the promise it holds for the future of agriculture. This support has helped to catalyze N.C. PSI from merely a concept and vision to an organization with worldrenowned talent, facilities, equipment and capabilities. As we evolve from a start-up organization, we must also aggressively seek financial support and implement a corresponding model that can sustain our impact far beyond these early years of N.C. PSI.

Philanthropy is a natural conduit for drawing in funds that help to catalyze key initiatives or focus areas in higher education. However, it cannot be the sole mechanism for N.C. PSI to rely upon in sustaining operations and scaling its growth, although there are certainly opportunities to more clearly define how institutional giving and formal support can directly inform our mission and future impact.

There are also natural opportunities within the university to generate funds that help to inform that focus as the university expands its focus on large-scale interdisciplinary initiatives like N.C. PSI, including through F&A criteria that can better support interdisciplinary research and implementing shared-resource models for staffing positions among multiple colleges, units or centers.

Beyond philanthropic or university-directed funding, N.C. PSI’s ongoing sustainability will be contingent upon our ability to align with, aggressively pursue and secure funds related to granting agencies’ funding priorities. We must also integrate our leadership, PIs and stakeholders in the work of these agencies to understand and inform their own priorities, shape funding opportunities and position N.C. PSI as an ideal candidate for future project awards or funding decisions. Similarly, we must provide appropriate levels of staff and technical assistance to faculty in helping to identify and successfully pursue these funding opportunities.

Further, private industry partners offer near-term financial opportunities for sponsored research activities that N.C. PSI’s operating model and organizational design is uniquely structured to support. However, these activities must be carefully considered for mission alignment and to preserve NC State’s longstanding reputation as an objective, science-backed leader for discovery and innovation—one that cannot and will not be compromised neither in perception nor reality. Through these industry engagements, and those that may not involve industry, we see tremendous potential and opportunity for innovation and discovery that can catalyze new commercialization opportunities, build pathways for entrepreneurship and cultivate the launch of new companies that not only deliver value to NC State and our partners but support sustainable economic activity and impact for our state. N.C. PSI is well positioned to support these commercialization and spinoff opportunities, with integrated partners and surrounding geographies designed to maximize the economic potential of discovery and innovation well beyond direct research activities.