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CEOSE
COMMITTEE ON EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES IN SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING
MINUTES OF THE MEETING
October 17-18, 2006
Meeting Site: National Science Foundation (NSF), Room 1235 - Arlington, Virginia 22230
Members Present:
Ms. Sandra Begay-Campbell, Sandia National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM
Dr. Wesley L. Harris, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA
Dr. Beverly Karplus Hartline, Delaware State University, Dover, DE
Dr. Marshall G. Jones,GE Global Research, Niskayuna, NY
Dr. Richard E. Ladner, University of Washington, Seattle, WA
Dr. Robert L. Lichter, Merrimack Consultants, LLC, Great Barrington, MA
Dr. Marigold Linton, The University of Texas System, Austin, TX
Dr. Theresa A. Maldonado, Texas A & M University, College Station, TX
Dr. William C. McCarthy, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM
Dr. Samuel L. Myers, Jr., CEOSE Chair, HHH Institute of Public Affairs, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN
Dr. Germán R. Núñez, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, Lubbock, TX
Dr. Muriel Poston, Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, NY
Prof. Ashok Agrawal, St. Louis Community College at Florissant Valley, St. Louis, MO
Dr. Joseph S. Francisco, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN
Executive Liaison/CEOSE Executive Secretary:
Dr. Margaret E. M. Tolbert, Senior Advisor, Office of Integrative Activities, National Science Foundation (NSF)
OIA/NSF Primary Support Staff Member:
Mr. Lawrence E. Upson, Program and Technology Specialist, Office of Integrative Activities/NSF
Non-Members Who Presented Oral or Written Statements, Participated in the Discussions and/or Were Attendees without Specific Roles:
Dr. Fahmida Chowdhury, Program Director,Directorate for Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences/NSF
Dr. Walter V. Collier, President,C&A Technologies, Inc., Oak Bluffs, MA
Dr. Joan Frye, Staff Associate, Office of Integrative Activities/NSF
Ms. Pamela B. Green, Program Analyst, Office of Budget, Finance, and Award Management/NSF
Dr. John Hall, Chairman of the Department of Chemistry, Morehouse College
Dr. Mileva Hartman, IT Policy Officer, DIS, Office of Information and Resource Management/NSF
Dr. Miriam Heller, Program Director, Office of Cyberinfrastructure/NSF
Dr. Jill L. Karsten, Program Director for Diversity and Education, Directorate for Geosciences/NSF
Dr. J. V. Martinez, Senior Advisor on Scientific Institutional Outreach, U.S. Department of Energy
Dr. Tiah E. McKinney, Einstein Fellow, Directorate for Geosciences/NSF
Ms. Mayra Montrose, Science Policy Analyst, Office of the Director/NSF
Dr. Nathaniel G. Pitts, Director, Office of Integrative Activities/NSF
Dr. Julie A. Pollitt, Program Analyst,NASA Headquarters
Dr. Jacqueline Rousseau, Director of the Education Partnership Program, NOAA
Dr. Sylvia Spengler, Program Director, Directorate for Computer and Information Sciences and Engineering/NSF
Dr. Robert E. Webber, Senior Science Policy Analyst, Office of the National Science Board
Tuesday, October 17, 2006
Opening Statement: Dr. Myers called the meeting to order at 8:30 a.m. In his opening statement, he introduced Dr. Hartline—the current Vice Chair of CEOSE—as the CEOSE Chair effective February 1, 2007. He laid out the main objective of the meeting: To prioritize the long list of recommendations and action items that were identified during previous meetings. CEOSE members have a duty and responsibility to review the recommendations and ideas that have been discussed to date. He called attention to the committee’s last report to Congress, in which the committee distilled a wide range of initiatives within NSF that are designed to promote diversity by increasing the roles of women, underrepresented minorities, and persons with disabilities in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics enterprise. This report provides a look backward to respond to the question: What have we done over the past 20 years? It provides recommendations, as well as key areas for CEOSE investigation in the future, whereas the effort over the past two years has been primarily the implementation of the agenda outlined in the 2004 CEOSE Biennial Report to Congress.
In looking back over CEOSE’s past 20 years, Dr. Myers noted that a lot has been done. Although, the relative representation of certain groups appears to be about the same now as it was 20 years ago, there has been progress in other areas.
In the area of gender, there has been substantial improvement in representation in many science and engineering fields. Although the share of underrepresented racial and ethnic groups receiving undergraduate, Master’s and doctoral degrees in science and engineering increased compared to the past decade, there remains a substantial drop-off between the receipt of the Bachelor's Degree, the receipt of the Master's Degree, and receipt of the Ph.D. Degree. There is also a huge reduction from the receipt of doctoral degrees to tenure at major research universities.
Dr. Myers went on to discuss how CEOSE has accomplished a great deal in terms of providing input to NSF programs and expenditures and initiatives. Yet, pertinent to the actual increase in the representation of underrepresented groups, the report recognizes that on the output side, a lot of work remains to be done. Therefore, the committee must attempt to categorize its recommendations into those areas that need immediate attention:
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Evaluation and Accountability: If NSF is expending funds in order to increase the representation of underrepresented groups, there should be a metric to measure it. A question is: What is the science of understanding diversity and underrepresentation?
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The Role of Institutional Transformation: This refers not just to increasing the number of individuals in the STEM enterprise, but to increasing and transforming the culture of the entire enterprise so that in 20 to 30 years there will be sustained change for the better. At that time, we will be able to write a report that indicates that our culture is more receptive to diversity and that there have been substantial improvements to broaden participation through institutional transformation.
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The Role of Non-traditional Pathways: One non-traditional pathway is linking students at Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Hispanic Colleges and Universities, Tribal Colleges and Universities, and junior colleges to STEM enterprises. For example, members of the committee visited two tribal colleges in Montana, where they met with their presidents, faculty, and students. They learned a great deal about their needs and the innovative strategies that these colleges are using to prepare American Indian students to "break open"the pathways to STEM enterprises. As a result, the committeehas discussed the evaluation of science and engineering projects and the connection between NSF directorates and the Education and Human Resources Directorate (EHR). More recently, the committee has hosted a highly successful mini-conference on two-year and community colleges.
The committee recognizes that there are gaps in the 2004 report. For example, CEOSE has just begun to touch the tip of three underrepresented areas: race, gender, and disability. In these areas, there is still a great deal that we do not know; we need more information on the share of NSF reviewers who have disabilities and the share of the undergraduate population that has disabilities, etc. We must address disability issues in gender and race. For example, if it is the case that African Americans are disproportionately likely to suffer from visible and invisible disabilities and these are barriers to entry of science and engineering, we need to determine how best to address the problems. In our subsequent meetings in 2005 and 2006, we made many suggestions. NSF leadership would like these suggestions to be prioritized.
In closing, Dr. Myers gave the committee its charge: Narrow the list of recommendations and prioritize them to guide NSF with specific directions relative to broadening the participation in STEM by women, underrepresented minorities, and persons with disabilities.
Report on the September 8, 2006 Meeting with Dr. Arden L. Bement, Jr., Director of the National Science Foundation:
Drs. Myers, Tolbert, and Windham attended the meeting with NSF Director—Dr. Arden L. Bement, Jr. Dr. Hartline participated by telephone. Four main issues were discussed.
- The CEOSE Budget: Dr. Bement's reported that he could not talk about the budget, but stated that "Broadening participation remains one of our top priorities." Dr. Bement added that building capacity and strengthening pathways from secondary education to post-secondary education would also be key priorities within NSF. The NSF Director identified increases in funding for programs like LSAMP and CREST. To the question of what is NSF doing to evaluate the effectiveness of its programs in broadening participation, the Director's response was "...we are now going to do rigorous evaluation of everything. In particular we are requiring every grantee to do a self-evaluation." In other words, all grantees must now include a self-evaluation with goals, metrics and evaluation for self-improvement.
- The hiring, monitoring, evaluating, and broadening of participation within NSF:NSF is instituting a voluntary self-identification program. This will enable NSF to know how well it is doing with respect to hiring women, persons with disabilities, and persons from underrepresented minority groups. CEOSE is interested in the results of this survey of NSF staff. RECOMMENDATION: That NSF provide to CEOSE, preferable at its February 2007 meeting, the results of its workforce survey on race/ethnicity.
- The lack of gender and racial/ethnic diversity in committees: When asked what NSF is doing to monitor the situation, Dr. Bement advised "We are working on it." One of Dr. Windham's responsibilities is to monitor and help improve the diversity of the committees. To the question on what is being done with respect to awards and grantees, he responded that Cyberinfrastructure should be looked at as an example of an NSF office that has instituted more aggressive efforts to make awards to a more diverse population.
- Partnerships and the NSF's working relationship with community Colleges: CEOSE members were asked for recommendations and input on how to enhance and strengthen this type of partnership. They talked about concerns pertinent to the number of positions in EHR that were occupied by acting or interim people. They were told that they can expect to see some progress in filling those positions shortly. Before closing the meeting, the topics of NSF developing a relationship with the U.S. Department of Labor to better address education and the workforce, the cooperation of EHR with NSF research directorates, and the need to pay more attention to Cyberinfrastructure were discussed.
Reports by CEOSE Liaisons to NSF Directorates and Offices: The committee received and discussed the key points included in the reports by CEOSE Liaisons to NSF advisory committees. During the discussion period, CEOSE members discussed their roles as CEOSE Liaisons to NSF advisory committees. They also discussed the COV report presented in the GEO Advisory Committee. Of particular interest was the statement in the COV report that criterion on intellectual merit is the major one in proposal reviews. Dr. Bement corrected that statement while he was in the GEO meeting. He advised that the intellectual merit and broader impacts criteria are of equal importance, a statement with which CEOSE strongly agrees.
A Conversation with Representatives of Selected Federal Agencies: Dr. Myers set the tone for the conversation with representatives of selected Federal agencies by stating that Congress mandated CEOSE to be housed within the NSF, but the bulk of the workforce and research knowledge does not rest within this Foundation. The mandate deals with more expansive issues, many of which are addressed by other Federal agencies. Today's meeting with representatives of other Federal agencies was not designed to state the answer, rather to discuss the question of collaboration and interaction with other Federal agencies and to begin the discussion on policies, programs, initiatives, and activities to broaden participation of women, underrepresented minorities, and persons with disabilities in STEM.
Dr. Harris served as moderator and began the session by stating: What we really need in my opinion is a broader and deeper appreciation for the efforts to impact and improve the participation of underrepresented groups in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).
He introduced the agency representatives: Dr. Evelyn Kent of the U.S. Department of Defense, Dr. Jacqueline Rousseau of NOAA, Dr. J. V. Martinez of the U.S. Department of Energy, Mr. Greg Weltz and Dr. Paul Lyons of the U.S. Department of Labor, and Dr. Julie Politt of NASA. Each presented information on programs, initiatives, and policies that drive his/her agency to broaden participation in STEM. Additionally, each provided information on the kinds of activities that his/her agency conducts to attract to STEM fields students at Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Tribal Colleges and Universities, and Hispanic Serving Colleges and Universities. Some described exemplary programs that were designed to broaden participation in STEM. RECOMMENDATION: A more thorough review of the policies, programs, and initiatives (those focused on broadening participation in STEM) at other Federal agencies is recommended. This would be appropriate in reference to the CEOSE mandate and appreciated by and valuable to CEOSE. The results might eliminate duplication of programs and result in a well-designed well-documented database that would show what the various programs are, what they are doing, and what their characteristics are.
In the discussion that followed this session, several points were covered: programs for the blind, space grants, how agencies use their programs to inspire students to work in STEM, the STEM workforce, creating a pipeline to STEM, alternative learning methods, institutional transformation, measuring the effectiveness of broadening participation, determining program impact on the larger enterprise and on outcomes, return on investment, broader impacts, broadening participation in STEM, committees of visitors, review panels, accountability, program evaluation/student tracking/assessment, etc.
Since this meeting is the last one at which Dr. Myers will serve as Chair, the committee gave him a vote of thanks in appreciation for his superb leadership in the past year.
Two Subcommittee Reports: Dr. Hartline, Chair of the CEOSE Ad HocSubcommittee on Institutional Transformation, reported on the CEOSE Mini-Symposium on Institutional Transformation. This mini-symposium was held on October 16 th at NSF. A copy of the agenda, containing the names of speakers and their topics, is on the CEOSE website at http://www.nsf.gov/od/oia/activities/ceose/agenda2.pdf.
Adjournment: Following closing comments by Dr. Myers, the meeting was adjourned at 5:45 p.m.
Wednesday, October 18, 2006
Dr. Hartline called the meeting to order at 8:45 a.m. with brief comments about the sessions held on October 17 th and the ones scheduled for today.
Committee Interactions with a Senior Level NSF Official: The committee had a conversation with Dr. Nathaniel G. Pitts, Director of the NSF Office of Integrative Activities (OIA). He has worked under five NSF directors, advising some and serving as an office director for others. He is responsible for some complex programs—Science and Technology Centers Programs, the Major Research Instrumentation Program, and the Presidential Career Award Program—as well as a diversity of work within NSF. His office uses these programs to implement management changes. For example, full implementation of FastLane was piloted in OIA; eventually, it was developed into what it is today—a system through which NSF receives all of its proposals. His office implemented the GPRA for NSF.
He also oversees the review process NSF-wide and reports on the results annually to the National Science Board. OIA staff members are always looking at the human resources needed for national security. In so doing, they are concerned about science and engineering as well as economic growth and development. In addition to the above information, Dr. Pitts discussed such topics as NSF staff changes (e.g., the hiring of Dr. Jeff Nesbit as OLPA Director, Dr. Cora Marrett as Assistant Director of EHR, Dr. Tony Chan as Assistant Director of MPS, and Dr. Richard Buckius as Assistant Director of Engineering), the video displays in the NSF building for viewing recent highlights of NSF-sponsored projects (the systems are equipped with captioning service to accommodate the hearing impaired), the Major Research Instrumentation Program budget, and Centers (cooperative agreements as instruments for putting “teeth” into the Broader Impacts aspects of the evaluation of Centers and thereby holding grantees accountable for broadening participation), Committees of Visitors, Cyberinfrastructure Office and its programs (it was suggested that the Director of that office be invited to brief CEOSE on that office), and obtaining data as needed by CEOSE.
Dr. Thomas Windham joined Dr. Pitts in making brief remarks about the NSF budget in response to a question from a CEOSE member; no comments could be made about the FY 2008 budget request. Therefore, the committee focused on the NSF Strategic Plan and the American Competitiveness Initiative. Members expressed appreciation for the earlier opportunity to provide comments on the draft of the NSF Strategic Plan. When asked about the NSF Learning Academy, Dr. Pitts suggested that the committee invite the Dean of the NSF Academy to present information on its programs, with reference to broadening participation.
Subcommittee Reports Continued: Dr. Núñez, Chair of the CEOSE Ad Hoc Subcommittee on the Biennial Report, gave the status of preparations for the CEOSE Biennial Report to Congress and reminded members, especially chairs of subcommittees, of their roles in this endeavor.
Dr. Harris, Chair of the CEOSE Ad Hoc Subcommittee on Accountability, Evaluation, and Communications, reminded everyone of the conversation that he moderated with selected Federal agency representatives yesterday. This was a part of his subcommittee’s activities.
CEOSE Liaison and Subcommittee Appointments: Per their agreement, the following persons will serve as CEOSE Liaison to NSF Advisory Committees: Ms. Begay-Campbell – ERE Advisory Committee; Dr. Harris - Cyberinfrastructure Advisory Committee; Dr. Maldonado – MPS Advisory Committee; and Dr. Jones - Engineering Advisory Committee. Dr. Linton agreed to serve on the CEOSE Ad Hoc Subcommittee on Institutional Transformation. The CEOSE Ad Hoc Subcommittee on Communications was combined with the one on Accountability and Evaluation to form the CEOSE Ad Hoc Subcommittee on Accountability, Evaluation, and Communications. The Chair of this subcommittee is Dr. Harris. Dr. Poston volunteered to serve as Chair of an Ad Hoc Subcommittee on Strategic Planning. Details on this subcommittee must be developed.
Committee of Visitors: The committee discussed NSF Committees of Visitors after reviewing the template.
Recommendations Selected for Refinement: Several recommendations were discussed during the meeting. Primarily using e-mail, those recommendations were further refined for presentation to NSF. The following are the results:
- CEOSE recommends that NSF assess the outcomes of its activities over the next two years with respect to broadening participation as evidenced in its award and funding decisions, cooperative agreements, project annual reports, project final reports, COV reports, and in other venues where appropriate.
- When NSF requests annual or final reports from grantees that a box be included on the response form to focus on their efforts and progress in broadening participation in reference to their awards.
- CEOSE recommends that NSF require that all review committees, Committees of Visitors, panels, reviewer groups, and advisory committees have representation of women, underrepresented minorities, and persons with disabilities among their members and that consultation with CEOSE takes place when major committee assignments are contemplated.
Action: Dr. Poston volunteered to draft a recommendation on broadening participation, and this draft is to be refined by Drs. Hartline and Myers.
Announcements:
- Drs. Myers and Harris are scheduled to speak on “CEOSE Support for a National Academies Study of Science and Engineering Workforce Diversity”at the National Academies Committee on Science, Engineering, and Public Policy (COSPUP) meeting on November 17, 2006. Dr. Tolbert will attend the meeting as an alternate and an observer.
- The AAAS Annual Meeting is scheduled for February 15-19, 2007, in San Francisco, California. The CEOSE session, “Lessons Learned: Broadening Federal Participation Efforts”, which will be moderated by Dr. Tolbert, will be held on February 17 th at 8 a.m. Speakers and topics are:
- Prof. Agrawal - "Capitalizing on the Capacity of Community Colleges to Broaden Participation",
- Dr. Hartline - "Best Practices to Accelerate Institutional Transformation and Broaden Participation",
- Dr. Myers - "Review and Advisory Mandates at NSF", and
- Dr. Núñez - "A Report to Congress: Catalyzing Action to Broaden Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math Participation".
- Drs. Hartline and Myers participated in the Minority Access Annual Conference held on September 18, 2006. They addressed the topic “Addressing the Need for Expanding the Pool of Minority Researchers: The Committee on Equal Opportunity in Science and Engineering (CEOSE)”.
- In the part months, several CEOSE members served on NSF review panels and Committees of Visitors.
Historical Notes: CEOSE was mandated by Congress in 1980 (in the National Science Foundation Act of 1950, see 42 U.S.C. §1885c SEC. 36 (a)), and the Astronomy Advisory Committee was mandated by Congress in 2002 (P.L. 107-368, NSF Authorization Act of 2002). Information pertinent to the development of the latter mandate is available at http://www.nsf.gov/mps/ast/aaac.jsp. An amendment to the law added another Federal agency (P.L. 108-423, DOE High-End Computing Revitalization Act of 2004).
Adjournment: At 1:50 p.m., the meeting was adjourned by Dr. Hartline, acting on behalf of Dr. Myers.
CERTIFICATION OF THE ACCURACY OF THE CEOSE MEETING MINUTES
Dr. Samuel L. Myers, Jr., who is Chair of the Committee on Equal Opportunities in Science and Engineering, approved the meeting minutes on January 16, 2007, by e-mail message to Dr. Margaret E.M. Tolbert, CEOSE Executive Secretary and NSF Executive Liaison to CEOSE.
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