About NEHRP Consultants : Glossary

Contracting Officer's Technical Representative (COTR)
A Contracting Officer's Technical Representative (COTR) is a business communications liaison between the government and a private contractor.

Joint Venture Management Committee (JVMC)
Overall program management including project participant selection and technical scope and approach definition, are provided by a Joint Venture Management Committee (JVMC), working in concert with a Joint Venture Project Committee (JVPC), consisting of representatives from each of the NSF-funded earthquake engineering research centers, other leading researchers, and key practitioners from around the United States.

Joint Venture Program Committee
The Joint Venture Program Committee (JVPC, formerly called the Joint Venture Advisory Panel) reports to the Joint Venture Management Committee and is chaired by the Program Manager. The Joint Venture Program Committee has responsibility for:

Joint Venture Program Manager
The overall activity of the Joint Venture under its master agreement with NIST is the “program” and is administered by the Program Manager. The Program Manager (PM) reports to the Joint Venture Management Committee, and is tasked with day-to-day management of task order work, contract administration, program reporting, and integration and coordination of technical work conducted under different task orders. The PM will also chair the Joint Venture Program Committee.

Project Technical Committee
The Task Order Project Technical Committee, selected with regard to expertise on the particular topic of a Task Order, has the primary responsibility for detailed and frequent oversight and advice. The Joint Venture Program Committee will also be briefed on the progress of the work underway on Task Orders and asked for its review and comment to increase quality assurance.

Project Review Panel (PRP)
The PRP is responsible for providing an independent review of the beta test results, reports, and other work products to ensure they are technically accurate, complete, and reflect a broad spectrum of engineering opinion. A Task Order PRP is also intended to provide advice and consultation throughout the project and serve as a liaison to the materials industries and code writers.

Task Order
A Task Order, also referred to by NIST as a “project”, will have it’s own project director and reviewers/consultants that form the Project Committee. Sometimes referred to as a Task Order Project.

Technical Director
Is responsible for the management and direction of technical work in a Task Order Project.

Working Groups
Consists of highly skilled engineering consultants, researchers, and graduate students selected on the basis of their relevant experience and qualifications as they apply to a Task Order.