CESU-Collaborate with the University of West Florida to Develop Mutually Beneficial Learning Experiences in Archaeology | NPS NOI P20AC00470

Opportunity Information: Apply for NPS NOI P20AC00470

This opportunity, titled "CESU-Collaborate with the University of West Florida to Develop Mutually Beneficial Learning Experiences in Archaeology" (Funding Opportunity Number: NPS NOI P20AC00470), is a National Park Service notice announcing its intent to make an award under an existing cooperative agreement. It is explicitly a Notice of Intent to Award, meaning it is not an open solicitation and it is not requesting new applications from the public. Instead, the National Park Service is providing public notice that it plans to issue a task agreement to the University of West Florida through a previously established Master Cooperative Agreement under the CESU framework.

The purpose of the planned task agreement is to create hands-on, practical learning experiences for students focused on archaeology and cultural resource management. Student participants are expected to gain direct field and professional experience with core methods used to protect and document archaeological resources. The work described includes monitoring and surveying archaeological sites, addressing and stabilizing sites that are actively eroding, and making informed choices about materials and approaches used in stabilization and preservation efforts. Beyond fieldwork, the experience also extends into lab and documentation tasks such as cataloging artifacts, analyzing findings, and producing professional-quality reports that meet the standards typically required in cultural resource compliance and stewardship settings.

A key emphasis of the project is its benefit to Gulf Islands National Seashore (referenced as GUIS) and to the broader public understanding of the park's cultural resources. By involving interns and crews in real stewardship activities, the project is intended to strengthen awareness of the cultural history embedded in the park landscape and reinforce resource stewardship principles among participants. The public-facing impact is described in two main ways: first, improved understanding among interns and the public of the cultural resources within GUIS, and second, an enhanced ability for GUIS to interpret and communicate the park's long human history using the archaeological findings and resulting documentation.

From an administrative standpoint, the listing classifies the award mechanism as a discretionary cooperative agreement within the "Science and Technology and other Research and Development" activity category, and it references CFDA number 15.945. The eligible applicants field is not relevant in the typical sense because this is not a competitive call; the notice indicates the intended recipient is the University of West Florida. The posting shows a creation date of 2020-04-03 and an original closing date of 2020-04-12, but in this context the date functions more as a notice period rather than a deadline for submitting proposals. The award ceiling is listed as 0 and expected awards is blank, which often occurs in notice-only postings where final funding details may be contained in the attached full announcement or handled internally through the existing agreement and task agreement process.

Overall, the announcement is essentially a transparency notice: the National Park Service is signaling that it plans to fund a specific partner (the University of West Florida) under an existing CESU cooperative agreement to carry out student-centered archaeological monitoring, stabilization, artifact processing, and reporting work that both trains emerging professionals and strengthens cultural resource stewardship and interpretation at GUIS.

• The National Park Service in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "CESU-Collaborate with the University of West Florida to Develop Mutually Beneficial Learning Experiences in Archaeology" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 15.945.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2020-04-03.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2020-04-12. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Eligible applicants include: Others.

Apply for NPS NOI P20AC00470

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