Promote Management of National Park Service Collections | P19AS00269

Opportunity Information: Apply for P19AS00269

The Promote Management of National Park Service Collections grant opportunity (Funding Opportunity Number P19AS00269) is a National Park Service (NPS), Department of the Interior discretionary funding program offered as a cooperative agreement. It is focused on natural resources (CFDA 15.945) and is designed to strengthen the stewardship and accessibility of NPS museum and archeological collections by pairing professional curation staff with university students in a structured, hands-on learning setting.

At the core of the project is a collaboration between the University of Arizona and the Western Archeological and Conservation Center (WACC) curation staff. The intent is to create a collection-focused educational work experience for students in archeology, anthropology, and museum studies. Rather than being purely classroom-based or purely employment-based, the opportunity is framed as an applied training experience that directly complements academic instruction. Students would gain practical exposure to the real-world workflows used to manage cultural collections, learning how institutions document, protect, conserve, and responsibly share cultural artifacts.

The activities supported by this funding are geared toward describing and preserving artifacts and improving public availability of cultural materials. In practical terms, that typically includes tasks such as collections documentation, cataloging and data cleanup, inventory and storage organization, preventive conservation measures, and other curation practices that help ensure items are stabilized, findable, and usable for research and interpretation. A key theme is that improved collections management does not only protect items behind the scenes; it also increases the ability of the public, researchers, and educators to access and learn from cultural resources in appropriate ways.

This opportunity is limited in eligibility to public and state-controlled institutions of higher education, reflecting the program's emphasis on formal training and workforce development within an academic framework. The total funding amount is capped at an award ceiling of $75,316, and the NPS anticipated making a single award. The opportunity was posted on June 14, 2019, with an original closing date of June 23, 2019, indicating a short application window typical of targeted, partner-specific or time-sensitive cooperative projects.

Overall, the grant is best understood as a collections management and student professional development initiative. It aims to produce dual outcomes: tangible improvements in the documentation, care, and accessibility of NPS cultural collections handled through WACC, and meaningful, resume-building experience for students that strengthens employability across fields like museum collections management, archeological curation, cultural resource management, conservation support, and related public history or heritage roles.

• The Department of the Interior, National Park Service in the natural resources sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Promote Management of National Park Service Collections" 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 Jun 14, 2019.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Jun 23, 2019. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $75,316.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 1 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Public and State controlled institutions of higher education.

Apply for P19AS00269

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