Centralized NPGS Order Approval: An Idea for Discussion.

Currently, orders for seed or clonal germplasm are submitted by requesters to the National Plant Germplasm System (NPGS) through GRIN and sent to the appropriate location or curator for evaluation. Often one single request is for numerous genera and species, so that several locations and curators are involved in evaluating the request. Curators have to make two decisions on each order: 1) Is this a valid request for germplasm to be used for research or education? 2) Is the seed or clonal material available for distribution?  Each curator or location makes their own determination on the legitimacy of each request.  My idea that is being brought up for discussion throughout NPGS is to centralize the decision on validity of each seed or clonal germplasm request by having a single NPGS-wide approver, while still retaining local curator or location evaluation of seed or clonal germplasm availability. This idea would reduce the amount of time and cost (i.e. salary time) NPGS wide by having one person handle approvals rather than several people each determining if an order is legitimate. Requesters would get a consistent response on legitimacy of their order, rather than receiving different responses from different locations. The position could be filled by an experienced curator in a permanent position or a two-year virtual detail similar to the Review Officer position at the ARS Office of Scientific Quality Reviews.