Prescoring narrows UORG cycle to 125 applications as staff warns $15–17M will stretch to meet demand

Noemi, a program staff member, told prescoring evaluators that staff had screened 157 initial applications — representing about $40,000,000 in requests — down to 125 eligible applications totaling roughly $29,000,000 after disqualifying submissions submitted in the wrong category or missing required budget information.

That narrowing matters because staff said the available award pool for the coming cycle will be roughly $15 million to $17 million, making the process highly competitive. "Before our staff review, we had 157 applications" and "about $40,000,000 in requests," Noemi said, adding that the team moved forward 125 applications for committee evaluation.

Why it matters: evaluators will be choosing among many more requests than funds allow, and staff said new application and review policies are intended to improve fairness and clarity. Among the new submission requirements are a budget narrative to explain how applicants derived cost estimates, an optional conflict-of-interest form for disclosure, and a yes/no question about whether applicants used AI in preparing materials and whether a human reviewed that output.

Staff described several policy changes intended to improve equity and processing: only one application per project site will be accepted to discourage multiple submissions for the same location; applications must be submitted to the correct program category or may be disqualified; and staff will enforce clearer quality-control checks during the initial screening. Noemi said many of the disqualifications reflected wrong-program submissions or incomplete budgets.

The department also provided a breakdown of applications by program: 15 regional asset tier proposals, 24 tier 1, 19 RRI, 61 CPR and six mini grants. Staff emphasized that CPR continues to have the most submissions by count and noted that committee discussion will determine which CPR proposals best match the program’s evolving purposes.

Key deadlines and next steps: evaluators must submit their individual evaluations by April 19, and the in-person scoring meetings are scheduled for April 30 and May 1 at Bryce. Staff asked evaluators needing accommodations to request hotel blocks as soon as possible.

The program also plans to publish a revised evaluator handbook, a scoring tracking spreadsheet, and ancillary resources such as an estimated price list (the staff mentioned a pickleball-price reference as an initial pilot). Staff said they will share all evaluation links and resources through the handbook and the evaluation portal.

The committee did not take any formal votes during the prescoring call; the immediate next step is for evaluators to complete and submit their reviews before the April 19 deadline, after which the committee will convene at Bryce for final scoring.