Consortium Re-Certified as a Sea Grant College Program

On December 10-12, 2024, the S.C. Sea Grant Consortium was evaluated by a six-member National Sea Grant Site Review Team (SRT). The SRT was in Charleston, S.C., to evaluate the agency and its programs spanning the years 2018 through 2023, focusing its attention on the Consortium’s (1) management and organization, (2) stakeholder engagement, (3) collaborative network activities, and (4) program performance. The SRT also assessed the Consortium’s effectiveness in leadership and productivity based on progress toward the Strategic Plan covering this period of time.

We are pleased to report that the SRT found the Consortium meets the “standards of excellence” expected of all Sea Grant programs, and recommends that the Consortium remain certified as a Sea Grant College Program. The Consortium scored extremely well in the four national performance categories, which include Healthy Coastal Ecosystems, Sustainable Fisheries and Aquaculture, Resilient Communities and Economies, and Environmental Literacy and Workforce Development, receiving two ratings of highest merit and two ratings of special merit.

The SRT identified five Best Management Practices incorporated by the Consortium:

• “Conducting a state-level economic impact analysis to demonstrate return-on-investment.”
• “The approach to acquiring and managing non-federal matching funds, paired with institutional agreements to waive indirect costs on grant awards, maximizes the value of available funding.”
• “Engaging community partners and collaborators from the outset of an initiative and maintaining those relationships throughout implementation demonstrates a strong model for co-producing solutions, addressing local challenges, and building trust.”
• “Building and sustaining at least four statewide networks that engage extension professionals, educators, Land and Sea Grant partners, and research collaborators.”
• “Hosting a regional extension-focused resilience meeting and ensuring ongoing engagement… demonstrates a strong model for sustaining collaboration and advancing coordinated resilience efforts across the Sea Grant network.”

In a letter dated March 31, 2026, Nikola Garber, Ph.D., who was performing duties of the director of the National Sea Grant College Program, stated, “The results from the site review team are clear: the South Carolina Sea Grant Consortium is a well-managed, cost-effective and impactful program that provides valuable services to your partners and constituents and your successes contribute to the strength of the National Sea Grant College Program.”

Thank you to our Board of Directors, Program Advisory Board, member institutions and researchers, network collaborators, and community partners whose support greatly contributed to this success. To read the SRT report in its entirety, please visit our website.