By Janet Krenn, Staff Writer
On Thursday, December 18, the Department of Commerce will award William & Mary and the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) the highest status that any Sea Grant program can achieve: College Status.
“I am so proud of Virginia Sea Grant staff and partners,” says Troy Hartley, Director of Virginia Sea Grant (VASG). “Everyone worked so hard for this. College Status is a great validation of where we’re going and that’s really important—but we’re not stopping. We are committed to continued improvement and excellence through integration and innovation.”
The announcement is a major milestone after a multi-year restructuring process, in which VASG went from a dispersed organization with satellites in multiple institutions around Virginia to a centralized program headquartered at VIMS at William & Mary.
The effort to transition from an Institutional program to a College Status program included years of preparation, culminating in a site visit and review in the fall of 2013. According to the letter from the Department of Commerce to William & Mary President Taylor Reveley, the program has “clearly shown a high level of dedication to the responsible management and development of the Nation’s marine and coastal resources” and has “demonstrated a commitment to continue this record of quality science and service.”
Virginia Sea Grant began in 1984 and works to enhance the ecological, economic, and social sustainability of coastal and ocean communities in Virginia and the ecosystem services they depend upon through university-based research, extension, education, and communication that provide science-based information to decision makers.
The National Sea Grant College Program is a national network of 33 Sea Grant programs located in every coastal and Great Lakes state, Puerto Rico, Lake Champlain, and Guam. These programs serve as the core of a dynamic, national university-based network of over 300 institutions involving more than 3,000 scientists, engineers, educators, students, and outreach experts. The network engages the power of academia and a wide variety of partners to address issues such as coastal hazards, sustainable coastal development, and seafood safety.
Sea Grant is a program of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration within the U.S. Department of Commerce.
In honor of Virginia Sea Grant’s achievement, we’ll be highlighting some of the programs and activities that helped us stand out. Follow us on Facebook as we reveal photos of some of our programs: https://www.facebook.com/VirginiaSeaGrant
