700 



14 



Evaluation - "At the beginning of a project, partners must agree on the partnership's goals and 

 objective, operational elements, and the methodology for measuring both progress and 

 outcomes." 



There are large expenses and intricate scheduling difficvdties associated with 

 management of the oceanographic research fleet, which is mostly owned by the Federal 

 government aiid operated by the academic research community. Consequently, the 

 management partnership which has been established is predicated on clearly stated 

 goals and objectives. This partnership, the University National Oceanographic 

 Laboratory System (UNOLS, Appendix IV.J.), has worked quite efficiently for many 

 years. The additional value of the UNOLS partnership is that its philosophy, structure 

 and process are well-enough established (in terms of evaluation mechanisms) that it is 

 easily adaptable, thus adhering to the operational principle of "flexibility" to the 

 growing suite of research platforms (e.g. aircraft and buoys). 



The requirement for having a "methodology for measuring both progress and 

 outcomes" is one which is central to the recommendation below, in the management 

 blueprint. 



Stability r Long-Term Commitment - "The partners' long-term commitment to the 

 partnership is vital to success. " 



Some problems, especially in the environmental arena, can only be solved with long 

 time-series of data. Because of the costs associated with acquiring data in the field, this 

 kind of commitment can be difficult to maintain. The California Cooperative Oceanic 

 Fisheries Investigations (CalCOFI, Appendix IV.K.) is an excellent example of a multi- 

 decadal partnership. This partnership has also demonstrated the collateral benefits of 

 this type of stable and long term commitment, as the research results, which were 

 originally obtained for analysis of California fisheries are now proving invaluable in 

 much of the discussion regarding global climate change. An additional aspect of 

 CalCOFI has been its dvirabiLity: it has been flexible enough to operate with a wide 

 variety of support bases over the years. 



