NSF PR 98-14 (NSB 98-50) - February 27, 1998
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NSB Offers Recommendations on Future of Federal Role
in Graduate Education
The National Science Board (NSB) urges a reexamination
of the federal/university partnership, and offers
several recommendations for improvement, in a policy
paper released today titled "The Federal Role in Science
and Engineering Graduate and Postdoctoral Education."
"The partnership has been working well, but signs
of stress and distress are clearly evident and need
attention," said NSB Chairman and Stanford chemist
Richard Zare.
The Board paper describes changes such as an increased
demand for higher education; and acknowledges many
stresses on universities and faculty resulting from
those changes, such as rising costs and administrative
burdens. In more than a dozen recommendations, the
Board emphasizes the integration of research and education,
an expansion of the partnership to include a wider
range of institutions, broader career options for
graduate students outside the research university,
and diversity in graduate education.
The paper reflects the results of a Board meeting
in Houston last October at which Board members and
invited speakers focused on the federal role in graduate
and postdoctoral education. That meeting, and the
resulting paper, responded to a request from Presidential
Science Adviser John Gibbons for NSB input to the
Presidential Review Directive on the Government/University
Partnership (GUPPRD).
"The partnership is fundamentally sound and has been
highly successful for the nation," said NSB member
and Tulane University President Eamon Kelly, who coordinated
the Houston meeting and the production of the policy
paper. "The principles that were created after World
War II still hold true."
NSB Chairman Zare emphasized the critical role that
the federal government plays in science and engineering
education, both at the graduate and postdoctoral levels.
"Federal support helps advance fundamental knowledge
while enriching the education of the next generation
of scientists and engineers. However, the partnership
between the federal government and universities in
research and education needs to be adjusted to reflect
changes over the past 50 years."
The National Science Board is composed of 24 members
who represent the leadership of U.S. science and engineering.
They are appointed by the President to oversee the
National Science Foundation and to monitor the health
of science in the nation. The paper responds to the
board's responsibility in national science policy.
Attachment: List of Recommendations
Editors: NSB papers and other materials are
available at: http://www.nsf.gov/nsb/documents/start.htm
(The policy paper titled "The Federal Role in Science
and Engineering Graduate and Postdoctoral Education"
will be posted shortly.)
Attachment - NSB-97-235
- February 26, 1998
The National Science Board
The Federal Role in Science and Engineering Graduate
and Postdoctoral Education
Approved at the 347th NSB Meeting
RECOMMENDATIONS
The Government/University Partnership in Graduate
and Postdoctoral Education: Principles and Practices
for the Future
1. Federal Support to the Enterprise
- The Federal government reward and recognize institutions
that initiate model programs for the integration
of research and education.
- Mission agencies funding agency-initiated research
in academic institutions recognize the intimate
connection between research and graduate education
in universities. They should adopt principles
and practices exploiting that interconnection
and insure that their funding reaps the dual benefits
of simultaneously advancing both research and
graduate education.
- The Federal government contribute to promoting
closer collaboration between faculty in non-research
and research institutions. Such collaboration
in research offers opportunities for greater exposure
to a variety of career options for graduate students.
It can also improve the transition from undergraduate
to graduate programs across institutions. The
improvement of that transition is especially important
for reaching minority undergraduates. Federal
investments, particularly in communications infrastructure,
can expand the scope of these programs.
2. Breadth vs. Narrowness of Graduate Education
- University programs and Federal support policies
continue to encourage exceptionally talented students
to pursue Ph.D. programs and to develop their
capacities to advance knowledge in their chosen
disciplines;
- The Federal partner recognize and reward institutions
that, in addition to the core Ph.D. education,
provide a range of educational and training options
to graduate students, options tailored to the
career interests of the individual Ph.D. candidate.
These might include interdisciplinary emphasis,
teamwork, business management skills, and information
technologies.
3. Human Resource Policies
- The Federal and university partners seek more
effective ways of promoting diversity and full
access to graduate education, guarding against
strategies that inadvertently keep underrepresented
groups from the mainstream of research and graduate
education. Efforts should emphasize identification
of high-ability students earlier in the educational
experience, including the precollege level, and
encouraging them to consider careers in science
and engineering.
The Board recommends the attention of universities
to the following areas:
- To assure access for high ability students,
examine the current use and possible misuse
of assessment tools for entry to, and
financial support for, graduate education,
e.g. the Graduate Record Examination scores
(GREs); and
- Recognize postdoctoral researchers as
a significant component of the system
of graduate research and education in
some areas, and better integrate postdoctoral
scholars into the university community.
4. Impact of Federal Regulatory and Funding Practices
on the Culture of Institutions
- Support university-initiated efforts to insure
in the science and engineering faculty reward
systems an appropriate balance between recognition
for excellence in research and excellence in teaching,
mentoring, and other areas of faculty responsibility;
- Examine how it can prevent unnecessary and unintentional
interruptions in academic research programs and
in associated support to graduate students that
may result from the vagaries of the Federal research
funding environment.
- Review conflicting or confusing treatment of
graduate students and postdoctoral researchers--as
students or employees--in Federal regulations
and policies. The review should entail consideration
of both consistency across agencies and coherence
between the purposes of regulations and administrative
requirements and Federal objectives for supporting
and integrating research and education in academic
institutions.
Issues to be Negotiated Between the Partners
- Strategies to attract and retain talented students
from underrepresented groups. These strategies
might include consideration, in some cases, of
criteria for support on research grants;
- The respective Federal and university responsibilities
for reducing the administrative burden on faculty
researchers/teachers to increase time available
for mentoring and other educational and service
activities that enrich the learning environment.
This needs to be coupled with the alignment of
faculty reward systems, as described in Section
II.4.
- Improved policy data to assess the effectiveness
of current Federal support for graduate education
including attention to attrition and time-to-degree,
and to identify current and emerging national
needs for the science and engineering workforce.
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