NSB-02-130
August 16, 2002
MEMORANDUM TO MEMBERS AND CONSULTANTS OF THE NATIONAL SCIENCE
BOARD
SUBJECT: Preliminary Report of the August 14,
15, 2002 Meeting
The major actions of the Board at its 369th meeting on August 14,
15, 2002, are summarized for the information of those members absent
and as a reminder to those present.
1. Board Actions
a. The Board elected Dr. Anita Jones to serve as a member of the
Executive Committee, with a term to expire May 10, 2003.
b. The Board approved the NSF FY 2004 Budget Request to the Office
of Management and Budget (NSB-02-139, Attachment 1).
c. The Board approved the FY 2004 Budget Request for the NSF Office
of Inspector General (NSB-02-135, Attachment 2).
d. The Board approved the Closed and Open Session minutes of the
May 2002 meeting.
e. Awards
The Board approved the following awards: |
Amount not
to exceed |
Office of the Director
Office of Polar Programs
South Pole Observations to Test
Cosmological Models
University of Chicago
NSB-02-112 |
$16,577,000
60 months |
Geosciences
Division of Ocean Sciences
Contract Extension and Phase-out of
Management and Operations of the
Ocean Drilling Program,
Joint Oceanographic Institutions, Inc.
NSB-02-113 |
$70,146,000
60 months |
Mathematical and Physical Sciences
Division of Astronomical Sciences
Authorization of ALMA (MMA)
Construction Funding
Associated Universities, Inc. (AUI)
NSB-02-114 |
$331,630,000
96 months |
2. NSB Committees
(Committee summaries are provided by executive secretaries.)
The Chairman discharged with thanks the NSB Nominations Committee,
Chaired by Dr. Langford, with members Drs. Lubchenco and Savitz,
and Executive Officer Mr. Glaser.
a. Executive Committee
The Executive Committee discussed recent legislative actions on
the FY 2003 budget and related reports and activities. The Chairman
announced his intention to address the issue of openness of Board
deliberations and has directed the Executive Officer of the Board
and the General Counsel to ensure that agenda items are properly
allocated between open and closed meetings. The Chair also directed
committee chairs to prepare more comprehensive public reports on
committee discussions, and to hold public hearings (as has been
done in the past) on policy matters of general interest.
b. Audit & Oversight (A&O)
Regular
The following topics were covered at regular session: the NSF Response
to the FY 2001 audit Management Letter, a review of current issues
relating to cost sharing, an update on the development of Guidelines
and Procedures for Managing and Overseeing Large Facility Projects,
a brief review of IT Security at NSF, an update on GPRA and an update
on Administration and Management Planning. This last discussion
included a briefing on the recently started Business Analysis contract.
The committee passed a motion reaffirming the importance of cost
sharing requirements being tied to “tangible benefits to the
scientific enterprise.”
c. Programs and Plans (CPP)
CPP considered four proposed awards. Three awards were recommended
for approval to the full Board:
- Atacama Large Millimeter Array Construction Funding. The committee
noted its long standing support and prior reviews of the international
telescope project;
- Phase-out of the Ocean Drilling Program . The committee noted
the outstanding science accomplishments of the Program and commended
the phase-out plan; and
- South Pole Observations to Test Cosmological Models. The committee
noted that the research project included construction of an 8
meter telescope, building on the success of earlier instruments.
Regarding the proposed award for an Extensible Terascale Facility,
the committee requested additional review information and will reconsider
it expeditiously.
The committee considered a draft report from its Infrastructure
Task Force. Discussion focused on the report's recommendations.
The next draft will be shared with the full Board.
The committee heard several reports and information items, including:
- A report on the current status of planning for Major Research
Equipment and Facilities, emphasizing the process for setting
priorities and planning for the FY 04 budget request.
- Information on a cabled observatory to enables ocean science
research and to serve as a test bed for potential future cabled
observing systems.
- An update on activities related to the NSB Environmental Report,
describing the 10 year agenda being developed by the NSF Advisory
Committee on Environmental Research and Education. This report
is being broadly vetted with other NSF advisory committees, federal
agencies, professional societies, and through opportunities for
public comment.
- An update on the National Consortium on Violence Research. A
new award has been made focused on capacity building in the field
of research on violence.
CPP agreed that it will consider two policy topics over the next
several months: facilities operations support, and the Foundation's
experience since the implementation of the Board's 1997 policy on
competition, recompetition and renewal of awards.
d. CPP Subcommittee on Polar Issues (PI)
Staff reported on recent contacts with Chinese science agency officials
who have expressed interest in cooperation with the US at both poles;
on preliminary thinking about a post-doc program to attract new
people into the field; and on the recent success of telemedicine
in treating a serious injury during over-winter at South Pole Station.
The subcommittee received information about successful efforts at
conflict resolution with local officials in Barrow Alaska; a report
to the Senate on support of research infrastructure in Barrow; the
startup of phase 1 of the IceCube project; evaluation of possibilities
of extending research activities in the Antarctic into winter months;
and review of a proposal for South Pole Observations to Test Cosmological
Models.
e. CPP Task Force on S&E Infrastructure (INF)
Dr. Peter Freeman, AD/CISE, reported on the status of the draft
report of the NSF Advisory Committee on Cyberinfrastructure. This
report provides useful input to the INF report. The task force also
heard from David Radzanowski and Sarah Horrigan, Science and Space
Branch, Office of Management and Budget, and Michael Holland, Office
of Science and Technology Policy. They reviewed the third draft
of the INF Report and provided many helpful suggestions.
The task force then discussed the draft report’s findings
and recommendations. In particular, there was agreement that the
report should provide some idea of the priority of the various needs
listed under the second recommendation. In addition, it was recommended
that the report suggest some criteria and/or decision rules that
can be used for assigning budget priority to large infrastructure
projects. Finally, there was a discussion of whether or not the
draft report should be distributed for public comment, via the Internet.
It was decided to continue this discussion at the CPP meeting on
the following day.
f. Education and Human Resources (EHR)
The EHR Committee meeting was held in two sessions over two days.
The first session on Wednesday afternoon began with a report by
Dr. Joseph Miller regarding the activities and preliminary recommendations
of the Task Force on National Workforce Policies. The Committee
discussed the recommendations and provided suggestions for the report.
The Committee then was briefed on the educational and diversity
activities that are supported in two of the science directorates.
Dr. Esin Gulari provided an overview of the activities that are
sponsored by the Engineering Directorate and Dr. John Hunt did the
same for MPS. The first session ended with a discussion of topics
and issues that the EHR Committee wants to take up in the future.
On Thursday morning, the committee meeting heard a report by Dr.
Richardson on the plans of the Subcommittee on Science and Engineering
Indicators for their next report. Dr. Ramaley provided the members
with an update on NSF’s plans for the Workforce for the 21st
Century Priority Area, described NSF’s recent interactions
with the Department of Education, and spoke about plans for a new
multi-agency effort in research on education. Dr. Deborah Crawford
gave a status report on the current Math and Science Partnership
competition and plans for next year.
g. EHR Subcommittee on Science and Engineering Indicators
(SEI)
The subcommittee preliminarily approved a proposed schedule for
subcommittee and full Board review of S&EI 2004. Lynda Carlson
and Rolf Lehming, SRS, provided a followup report on a discussion
from the May S&EI meeting on the availability and quality of
industry data on the environment, reporting that a contractor analysis
indicated little usable data. Mr. Lehming recommended that any usable
data on the environment be presented as sidebars placed in various
chapters. The subcommittee accepted the recommendation, but asked
SRS staff to survey a few of the NSB members who work in industry
about the collection and quality of data at their firms.
A second staff recommendation also accepted by the subcommittee
was to discontinue the separate IT chapter and place updated IT
data in various chapters. The subcommittee accepted the recommendation
providing all IT sections would be listed in the index.
Committee members expressed a preference for assembling indicators
of state-level S&E into a new, separate chapter. Dr. Carlson
suggested alternatively to either assemble state indicators data
on a separate CD or place a special state S&E indicators report
on the SRS website, or both. Dr. Tapia proposed that the subcommittee
postpone this decision until he conferred with Dr. Richardson. The
subcommittee’s decision on the treatment of state indicators
will be conveyed to Dr. Carlson by Thursday afternoon, August 15.
The possibility of electronic review of draft chapters for Indicators
2004 was discussed. SRS is working with the NSB Office on electronic
transmission of material to Board members. If that is not possible,
Dr. Carlson said draft chapters might be delivered to subcommittee
members on a CD.
h. EHR Task Force on National Workforce Policies for S&E
(NWP)
The Task Force focused discussion on a new draft framework for
its report. Members examined the primary data and findings that
underpin the national policy imperative identified by the Task Force.
A number of possible recommendations for policy action were discussed.
A literature review of studies relevant to national and international
workforce policy was provided to the Task Force by a contractor,
SRI International. The Task Force will be shaping a report in the
next few months, with the goal of review by the Board at its November
meeting.
i. Committee on Strategy and Budget (CSB)
The committee discussed the recent congressional actions reducing
the Major Research Equipment and Facilities Account from the Foundation’s
FY2003 Congressional Budget request and asking the National Academy
of Sciences to evaluate NSF’s policies and procedures for
prioritizing initiation of large new facilities projects. The committee
agreed that a working group of CSB and CPP members should work with
NSF to determine whether changes to existing NSB guidance on priority
setting might be appropriate.
Dr. Colwell briefed the committee on the plans to revise the Foundation’s
GPRA Strategic Plan and the role that the NSB might take in the
process.
The Director presented NSF’s proposed FY2004 Budget request
to OMB, emphasizing the request’s connection to NSF’s
Strategic Plan, the Administration’s national priorities and
the strategic initiatives that the CSB has focused on during the
past year. CSB passed a resolution recommending approval of the
FY2004 budget, an action later taken by the full Board.
Dr. Margaret Leinen briefed the committee on the Foundation’s
progress in securing increased funding for environmental research,
pursuant to recommendations contained in the NSB’s February
2000 report “Environmental Science & Engineering in the
21st Century.”
_______________
Gerard Glaser
Executive Officer
Attachment 1: NSB-02-139 NSF FY 2004 Budget Resolution
Attachment 2: NSB-02-135 OIG FY 2004 Budget Resolution
Attachment 1 to NSB-02-130
NSB-02-139
August 15, 2002
RESOLUTION
NATIONAL SCIENCE BOARD
NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION
FISCAL YEAR 2004 BUDGET SUBMISSION
The Committee on Strategy and Budget recommends that the National
Science Board approve NSF’s Fiscal Year 2004 budget request
in accordance with the following resolution:
RESOLVED, that the National Science Board approves the proposed
National Science Foundation Fiscal Year 2004 budget request for
transmittal to the Office of Management and Budget as recommended
by the Director and the Committee on Strategy and Budget. Further,
the Board authorizes the Director to submit such a request in accord
with the proposed Budget by Account and Budget by Strategic Goals
tables.
Maxine Savitz
Chair, Committee on Strategy and Budget
Attachment 2 to NSB-02-130
NSB-02-135
August 15, 2002
RESOLUTION
NATIONAL SCIENCE BOARD
OFFICE OF THE INSPECTOR GENERAL
NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION
FISCAL YEAR 2004 BUDGET SUBMISSION
RESOLVED, that the National Science Board approves
the proposed budget request for the National Science Foundation
Office of the Inspector General for Fiscal Year 2004 for transmittal
to the Office of Management and Budget, as recommended by the Audit
and Oversight Committee, consistent with the proposal of the Office
of the Inspector General
(NSB/A&O-02-21).
Mark S. Wrighton
Chair, Committee on Audit and Oversight
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