NSB-04-52
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APPROVED MINUTES1
OPEN SESSION
379TH MEETING
NATIONAL SCIENCE BOARD
The National Science Foundation
Arlington, Virginia
March 24-25, 2004
Members Attending:
Warren M. Washington, Chair
Diana S. Natalicio, Vice Chair
Barry C. Barish
Steven C. Beering
Ray M. Bowen
Delores M. Etter
Nina V. Fedoroff
Kenneth M. Ford
Daniel E. Hastings
Elizabeth Hoffman
Anita K. Jones
George M. Langford
Jane Lubchenco
Joseph A. Miller, Jr.
Diana S. Natalicio
Douglas D. Randall
Robert C. Richardson
Michael G. Rossmann
Maxine Savitz
Luis Sequeira
Daniel Simberloff
John A. White, Jr.
Arden L. Bement, Jr., ex officio
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Members Absent:
Pamela A. Ferguson
Jo Anne Vasquez
Mark S. Wrighton
|
The National Science Board (NSB, the Board) convened in Open Session
at 12:50 p.m. on Thursday, March 25, 2004, with Dr. Washington,
NSB Chair, presiding (NSB-04-31). In accordance with the Government
in the Sunshine Act, the remainder of this session was open to the
public.
[There was no Agenda Item 5.]
AGENDA ITEM 6: Open Session Minutes for February 2004
The Board approved the minutes of the February 2004 meeting (NSB-04-28,
Board Book
Tab 10B).
AGENDA ITEM 7: Closed Session Items for May 2004
The Board approved the Closed Session agenda items for the May
2004 Board Meeting
(NSB-04-30, Board Book Tab10C).
AGENDA ITEM 8: Chairman’s Report
a. Report on Senate Appropriations Hearing
Dr. Washington reported that on February 26 he testified before
the Senate Veterans’ Administration, Housing and Urban Development
(VA-HUD), and Independent Agencies Subcommittee on the NSF budget
request for FY 2005. Both Chairman Christopher Bond and Ranking
Member Barbara Mikulski expressed their continued support for doubling
the NSF’s budget during the next five years. They expressed
disappointment in the proposed 3 percent increase in NSF’s
budget and in reduced spending for programs in the Education and
Human Resources (EHR) Directorate. They were especially disappointed
in the proposed transfer of the Math and Science Partnership (MSP)
program to the Department of Education. With his testimony concerning
the proposed NSF budget for FY 2005, the Chairman provided the Board’s
official statement, In Support of the Math and Science Partnership
Program at the National Science Foundation (NSB-04-42). Dr.
Washington described NSB plans for enhancing contributions to national
science policy discussions and strengthening oversight of NSF.
b. Legislative Update
Dr. Washington stated that he had asked NSF’s Office of Legislative
and Public Affairs to provide the Board with a summary of key Congressional
activities since the last Board meeting. A copy of this update was
provided for members’ information in the background materials
for the meeting.
c. Update on Smithsonian Institution Funding
Dr. Washington reminded members that at the November 2003 Board
meeting he had asked NSF’s General Counsel, Mr. Lawrence Rudolph,
and the NSB Executive Officer, Dr. Michael Crosby, to work together
to identify Board or Foundation policies regarding NSF funding of
Federal researchers, and to prepare an overview of recent legislation
that may impact NSF in this regard. During the February 2004 NSB
meeting, Mr. Rudolph provided the Board with an overview of these
policies, practices, and legislation. The issues in this regard
were inconsistencies in NSF program staff application of existing
policies regarding grant applications from Smithsonian Institution
researchers and language in recent legislation pertaining to Smithsonian
Institution researchers’ eligibility for NSF grant funds.
Following the February NSB meeting, Dr. Washington reported there
have been numerous followup discussions and communications on this
topic among NSB and NSF staff, Congressional staff, and representatives
of the Smithsonian Institution. Dr. Washington stated that there
was a collective assessment that progress had been made towards
reaching common ground for all parties, and, as a result, it is
appropriate for the Board to discuss whether to modify existing
policy.
As a starting point for the Board’s discussion, Dr. Washington
reported that he had asked
Dr. Crosby to provide Board members with an overview of the principal
issues that are the basis of the ongoing discussions on this topic,
along with draft options for resolutions that could be reviewed,
discussed, and potentially acted upon by the Board if it would like
to change existing policy. He reminded members that they might also
decide to make no change to existing policy. The Chairman asked
Dr. Crosby to provide an overview of the draft options sent to members.
After discussion of the many implications of the proposed changes,
the Board authorized and requested the NSF Acting Director to negotiate
with the Smithsonian Institution and draft a Memorandum of Understanding
(MOU) that would explicitly detail the procedures that would permit
Smithsonian Institution scientists to compete for NSF awards under
specific circumstances. The MOU could be experimental in nature
with a 2 - 3 year sunset provision. Members expressed concern about
potentially setting a precedent that Federal agencies or their Federally
Funded Research and Development Centers (FFRDCs) may attempt to
exploit. Therefore, the Board stated that the MOU must be clear
in defining the arrangement with the Smithsonian in such a way that
it could not be duplicated by Federal agencies or FFRDCs. Members
also emphasized the importance of Smithsonian investment to any
potential NSF grants. The draft MOU must be brought back to the
Board for review and approval, contingent on being able to appropriately
address these Board concerns.
d. NSB Nominating Committee
Dr. Washington reported that, in Executive Closed Session today,
the Board elected a Nominating Committee charged with creating a
slate of candidates for the election of Board officers in May. Members
of the committee are Drs. Bowen, Ford, Hastings, and Hoffman. The
committee members will elect their own chairman.
e. Nominations for NSB Members
Dr. Washington reported that nominations for new NSB members are
being accepted for the class of 2006 - 2012. Names should be submitted
to Dr. Crosby or Mrs. Susan Fannoney, Staff Assistant, NSB Office.
He said that the list will be presented to the Board for approval
at the December meeting before submission to the White House.
f. Honorary Awards
Dr. Washington reported that, in Executive Closed Session, the
Board approved recipients of the 2004 Vannevar Bush Award, the Alan
T. Waterman Award, and the NSB Public Service Awards. The names
of the awardees would be made public after they have been contacted
by the NSF Acting Director and the NSB Chair.
[Soon after the Board meeting, the award winners were notified:
Dr. Kristi S. Anseth, Tisone Professor and Howard Hughes Medical
Institute Assistant Investigator, University of Colorado - the Alan
T. Waterman Award; Dr. Mary L. Good, Dean for the Donaghey College
of Information Science and Systems Engineering, University of Arkansas
at Little Rock - the Vannevar Bush Award; Dr. Oliver W. Sacks, Clinical
Professor of Neurology at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine
and author - individual NSB Public Service Award; and the Alfred
P. Sloan Foundation - group NSB Public Service Award.]
g. Discharge of Task Force
Dr. Washington announced that he was discharging with thanks the
EHR Task Force on National Workforce Policies for Science and Engineering. It was
chaired by Dr. Miller, with
Dr. Langford as Vice Chair, and members Drs. Fedoroff, Natalicio,
Savitz, and Simberloff.
Dr. Norman Bradburn, Assistant Director, Social, Behavioral, and
Economic Sciences and
Dr. Nathaniel Pitts, Director, Office of Integrative Activities
also served as members. The Chairman expressed thanks to Dr. Karolyn
Eisenstein as Executive Secretary and Ms. Jean Pomeroy of the NSB
Office for their outstanding support.
AGENDA ITEM 9: NSF Director’s Report
a. Introduction of NSF Staff
The NSF Acting Director, Dr. Bement, announced changes in senior
NSF Staff. Dr. Wanda Ward who has been serving as Acting Assistant
Director for the Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences since
March 14, and Dr. Thomas Windham, Senior Advisor for the Science
and Engineering (S&E) Workforce in the Office of the Director
since February 17.
b. Congressional Update
The NSF Acting Director provided a summary of recent Congressional
activities. He met
March 4 with Congressman Nick Stone who is interested in encouraging
private sector investment in math and science education, and would
like to establish a Congressional Partners in Education Gold Medal
to reward such private sector investments. A hearing will be held
March 31 on this topic, and Dr. Judith Ramaley, Assistant Director,
EHR, will be a witness.
Dr. Bement met with Mr. Michael Stevens, minority staff assistant
of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on VA-HUD and Independent
Agencies, to discuss the issues related to NSF funding of Smithsonian
Institution scientists. He also met with senior House Science Committee
staff on March 15 and discussed the recent reports by the National
Academy of Public Administration (NAPA) on NSF organizational and
operational issues.
A hearing was held March 17 on Green Chemistry. The NSF Acting
Director testified concerning NSF’s $30 million portfolio
in this area. He also attended a Congressional breakfast March 18
to recognize recipients of the Presidential Awards for Excellence
in Math and Science Teaching (PAEMSE). Dr. George Strawn, NSF’s
Chief Information Officer, was a witness March 24 at a hearing on
the NSF contributions to e-government.
The House Appropriations Subcommittee on VA-HUD and Independent
Agencies will hold a hearing April 1, and the Senate Committee on
Commerce, Science, and Transportation will hold hearings April 6
on near-earth objects as well as U.S. competitiveness and innovation.
Since the February NSB meeting, the NSF has given briefings for
Congressional staff on Cybersecurity, the FY 2005 budget request,
high-end computing, and the Scholarship for Service program.
AGENDA ITEM 10: Committee Reports
a. Executive Committee (EC)
Dr. Bement, Chairman of the Executive Committee, reported that
the committee endorsed the Government in the Sunshine Act audit
response plan, prepared by the NSB Executive Officer, to transmit
to the Office of Inspector General.
b. Audit and Oversight (A&O)
Dr. Beering, Chairman, reported that Dr. Gerald Barkdoll, the Project
Director, provided an update on NAPA’s review of NSF. Final
issuance of the report is scheduled for April 22.
Dr. Barkdoll described NAPA’s process for developing the report,
including the role of the expert panel. He noted that NAPA tried
to make the process open and participatory. In keeping with Congress’s
intent in seeking the report, the report looked at four areas: NSB
roles and responsibilities, use of rotators at NSF, interdisciplinary
and innovative research support at NSF, and the balance between
investigator-initiated and NSF-solicited research.
Mr. Thomas Cooley, NSF’s Chief Financial Officer, provided
the committee with an update on grants monitoring. He discussed
how NSF addressed the findings in the audit reportable condition.
Based on feedback from audits, there is a clear sense that new and
other non-traditional grantees need the most attention, and that
pro-active training and communication are important to prevent poor
audit results in the future.
The committee also heard from Dr. Crosby who reported on the NSB
Sunshine Act Audit and the NSB’s plans for responding. He
noted that overall the NSB “passed” the audit and they
were examining how best to address the recommendations for improvement
by development of a handbook, training, and dedicated staffing to
support Sunshine Act compliance.
c. Education and Human Resources (EHR)
Dr. Langford, Chairman, reported for the committee. He welcomed
NSF Acting Director,
Dr. Bement, and introduced Dr. Thomas Windham, the Senior Advisor
for the S&E Workforce. Dr. Windham addressed the committee briefly
on his vision in his new position.
Dr. Langford reported that a Statement of the National Science
Board, In Support of the Math and Science Partnership Program
at the National Science Foundation (NSB-04-42) has been submitted
to the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), Office of
Management and Budget, and Congress opposing transfer of the MSP
program to the Department of Education. There have been no changes
to date on the status of the MSP program. The EHR Committee asked
to go on record that it remains in favor of maintaining the MSP
program.
Dr. Bianca Bernstein, Division Director, Graduate Education, EHR,
provided the committee with an update on the Graduate Student Workshop
jointly sponsored by NSF, the National Institutes of Health, and
the Council of Graduate Students, which is now scheduled for June
17 - 18, 2004 at the American Association for the Advancement of
Science in Washington, D.C. Dr. Crosby reported that a manuscript,
jointly authored by Drs. Washington, Miller, Langford, Natalicio,
and Crosby with Ms. Pomeroy was submitted to Science as a Policy
Forum article. The article outlines the position of the NSB on the
issue of the supply of science and engineering human resources.
The authors felt it was important to continue to clarify the position
of the Board on the topic of the S&E Workforce.
The committee members considered a draft executive summary with
findings and recommendation that resulted from the NSB Workshop
on Broadening Participation in Science and Engineering Research
and Education held in August 2003. The committee will meet by teleconference
to review the revised draft, based on committee discussion, for
consideration by the full Board at the May NSB meeting.
Dr. Ramaley provided a presentation on EHR priorities and FY 2005
budget to the committee, and reviewed the vision and mission of
the EHR Directorate, and the goals of the EHR portfolio. Dr. Ramaley
discussed budget changes from FY 2003 to FY 2004, and noted that
most significant changes occur when going to FY 2005, when the EHR
budget request declines by
18 percent. Dr. Ramaley noted that an $80 million portion of the
MSP funds in FY 2005 would be in the Research and Related Activities
Account to be used for phasing out the existing awards.
d. EHR Subcommittee on Science and Engineering Indicators (S&EI)
The S&EI Subcommittee did not meet, but Dr. Washington called
on Dr. Richardson to report on the status of S&E Indicators
- 2004. Dr. Richardson reported that the publication had been submitted
January 12 to the White House, but no word had been received on
its release for delivery to Congress. Dr. Washington asked the NSB
Executive Officer to look into this situation.
e. Programs and Plans (CPP)
Dr. Jones, Chair, reported that in open session the committee heard
a status report on the planning for NSF’s role in the Academic
Research Fleet. Four specific initiatives represent NSF’s
role in decadal efforts to renew the fleet: Alaska Region Research
Vessel, three regional class ships, a seismic vessel to replace
the R/V Ewing, and a replacement for the ALVIN.
There was a status report from the NSB Task Force on Long-lived
Data Collections (LLDC). A workshop was held on March 23 with broad
representation from the scientific community. A report will be produced
that summarizes the outcomes from this workshop and the earlier
workshop with the Federal community. The report will be made available
to NSB and will inform the Task Force on LLDC.
The committee heard a report from the ad hoc working group on High
Risk Research. The group is working on a list of invitees and a
paper on this subject. The NSB Executive Officer will solicit additional
invitee names.
The committee held a discussion related to the National Academy’s
Report on setting priorities for large research facilities.
f. CPP Subcommittee on Polar Issues (PI)
Dr. White, Chairman, stated that the Subcommittee on Polar Issues
had a report from the Office of Polar Programs, which covered a
wide range of interesting topics. Dr. White reported on three: the
long range planning effort on McMurdo Station, the near completion
on the South Pole Station, and the International Polar Year in 2007
and 2008.
The subcommittee also heard presentations on the importance of
small eddies in the Arctic Ocean and on the environmental assessment
of scientific and operational activities in Antarctica. Dr. White
noted that there were two dinosaur discoveries made less than a
week apart in the Antarctic. [The Board viewed videotape presentations.]
g. Committee on Strategy and Budget (CSB)
Dr. Savitz, Chair, led the committee in a discussion of the questions
raised by OSTP, Congressional staff, and NSB members related to
the report submitted by the Board as mandated in Section 22 of the
NSF Authorization Act of 2002. NSF staff prepared responses and
related data to inform this discussion.
Specific areas discussed included the causes for and implications
of the large increases in proposals submitted to the NSF over the
past three years – from a level of about 30,000 per year through
2001 to 40,000 proposals in 2003. Suggested causes include an increase
in Information Technology Research, Small Business Innovation Research,
Faculty Early Career Development Program submissions, and a reduction
in funding at other Federal agencies.
The committee discussed tradeoffs associated with changing award
size and duration, including affects on funding rates and future
funding opportunities (mortgages). Projections of tradeoffs in award
size and duration, funding rate, and cost are issues that require
careful management and monitoring. NSF is addressing mortgaging
of future awards by past commitments through its use of standard
and continuing grant mechanisms.
The CSB was provided information on current NSF efforts in support
of about 35,000 undergraduate students. Dr. Savitz requested additional
information on the effectiveness of programs to encourage education
beyond the undergraduate level, particularly for minority students.
Dr. Bement provided information on the NSF Innovation Fund, which
is proposed at a $5 million level initially. He detailed the general
criteria to be used in evaluation of investments and stressed that
the merit review process would be applied in the decisions.
Dr. Savitz led a discussion on the request from Congressional staff
for the Board to specify strategic funding recommendations in $100
million increments for the Section 22 Report to Congress, Fulfilling
the Promise, A Report to Congress on the Budgetary and Programmatic
Expansion of the National Science Foundation. The committee indicated
that the Board should advise on general principles and provide guidance
for broader categories, rather than respond with specific dollar
amounts.
Dr. Bement presented an overview of the FY 2006 budget preparation
and approval process to the committee. Dr. Savitz noted that there
would be further discussions to clarify CSB’s involvement
in the process. Dr. Crosby will work with Dr. Bement to provide
appropriate budget planning material to CSB prior to the May meeting.
h. Ad hoc Committee on 2004 Vannevar Bush Award
The Vannevar Bush Award Committee selected a candidate for the
2004 Award to recommend to the NSB during the Executive Closed Session
on Thursday, March 25.
Dr. Washington adjourned the Plenary Open Session at 2:30 p.m.
_________________
Ann A. Ferrante
Writer-Editor, National Science Board Office
1 The minutes of
the 379th meeting were approved by the Board at the May, 2004 meeting. |