NSF Authorization Bill: Undergraduate Education Reporting Requirements
A section of H.R. 3254, the National Science Foundation Authorization Act of 1994, attracting attention is Title V -- Undergraduate Education. Prompted by concern about the impact of research on undergraduate teaching at universities, the House science committee included a series of new reporting requirements. Below are 1.) a selection from the committee’s report providing their rationale, and 2.) the text of Title V in its entirety. H.R. 3254 has passed the House, and is now awaiting action by the Senate, which could adopt its own approach. Final passage has been predicted for sometime in the fall of this year.
COMMITTEE REPORT 103-475:
“The [science] Committee has long been concerned with the quality of undergraduate education and has encouraged NSF to offer programs for its improvement. The Committee has also expressed concern about the effect federal research funding may be having on the teaching mission of universities and has tried to develop programs to bolster the prestige of the teaching mission....”
“To better assess the state of undergraduate education and the effect of federal research funding on education, the Committee is requiring NSF to undertake the survey established in Title V [see below]....”
“The Committee has limited the survey to the top 100 research institutions to limit its size. The Committee does not mean to imply that these are the only institutions that are faced with potential conflicts between research and teaching, but they are the schools that set the tone for much of higher education. The Committee also does not mean to imply that there is no connection between research and teaching or, for that matter, that all faculty must teach. But the Committee is concerned that federal research funding has lessened the prestige of, and focus on undergraduate education. Universities have begun to address this problem, but they must do so in a far more comprehensive way.”
“The Committee is requiring NSF to submit a report with its fiscal year 1997 budget request on how federal research funds might be used to promote such comprehensive change at all institutions of higher education. NSF should consider ways in which the federal government could enhance participation by faculty in, and improve the quality of, undergraduate education as a condition for receiving federal research funds.”
H.R. 3254, TITLE V, UNDERGRADUATE EDUCATION:
Sec. 501. Requirement for Funding. Each educational institution that receives a research grant from the Foundation in fiscal year 1995 shall, as a condition of receiving such grant, provide to the Foundation the following information on its undergraduate mathematics, science, and engineering activities: (1) A description of teacher training programs mandated by the institution for teaching assistants, including the number of training hours required. (2) The institution’s policy regarding the relative importance of teaching and research duties in decisions on promotion, tenure, and salary for faculty, including any written policy with specific criteria. (3) Any policy allowing faculty to replace university salary with funds from outside sources, along with any policy allowing faculty to replace all or part of the teaching load with increased research. (4) The number of faculty released from some or all of their teaching responsibilities pursuant to a policy described in paragraph (3), with the number replacing all or some of their salary with Federal funds reported separately. (5) The number and percentage of faculty, not including those on regular sabbatical leave, teaching no undergraduate courses. (6) The number and percentage of faculty supported by active Federal research grants teaching freshman or sophomore lecture courses. (7) The number and percentage of lecture sources [sic] [courses] taught by individuals other than faculty. (8) The number of students per course in each introductory course.
Information shall be provided for the most recent academic year for which it is available. For purposes of this section, the term “educational institution” means an institution of higher education that is ranked among the top 100 of the institutions receiving Federal research and development funding, as documented in the latest annual report of the Foundation entitled “Federal Support to Universities, Colleges, and Selected Non-Profit Institutions”. The term “faculty” means tenured or tenure-track employees not serving in full-time administrative positions. The Foundation shall compile this information and submit it to the Congress no later than December 31, 1995. Sec. 502. Recommendations. The Director shall transmit to the Congress, at the time of the President’s budget request for fiscal year 1997, recommendations as to how Foundation research funds could be used to increase the focus on undergraduate education at institutions of higher education.
