Sec. 9. Research and related activities to expand STEM opportunities
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Section 305 of the American Innovation and Competitiveness Act ( 42 U.S.C. 1862s–5 ) is amended— by redesignating subsections
(e)and
(f)as subsections
(g)and (h), respectively; and by inserting after subsection
(d)the following: The Director of the Foundation shall award grants to institutions of higher education (or consortia thereof) for the development and assessment of innovative reform efforts designed to increase the recruitment, retention, and advancement of individuals from underrepresented minority groups in academic STEM careers. Grants shall be awarded under this subsection on a merit-reviewed, competitive basis. Activities supported by grants under this subsection may include— institutional assessment activities, such as data analyses and policy review, in order to identify and address specific issues in the recruitment, retention, and advancement of faculty members from underrepresented minority groups; implementation of institution-wide improvements in workload distribution, such that faculty members from underrepresented minority groups are not disadvantaged in the amount of time available to focus on research, publishing papers, and engaging in other activities required to achieve tenure status and run a productive research program; development and implementation of training courses for administrators and search committee members to ensure that candidates from underrepresented minority groups are not subject to implicit biases in the search and hiring process; development and hosting of intra- or inter-institutional workshops to propagate best practices in recruiting, retaining, and advancing faculty members from underrepresented minority groups; professional development opportunities for faculty members from underrepresented minority groups; activities aimed at making undergraduate STEM students from underrepresented minority groups aware of opportunities for academic careers in STEM fields; activities to identify and engage exceptional graduate students and postdoctoral researchers from underrepresented minority groups at various stages of their studies and to encourage them to enter academic careers; and other activities consistent with paragraph
(1), as determined by the Director of the Foundation. An institution of higher education (or a consortium of such institutions) seeking funding under this subsection shall submit an application to the Director of the Foundation at such time, in such manner, and containing such information and assurances as such Director may require. The application shall include, at a minimum, a description of— the reform effort that is being proposed for implementation by the institution of higher education; any available evidence of specific difficulties in the recruitment, retention, and advancement of faculty members from underrepresented minority groups in STEM academic careers within the institution of higher education submitting an application, and how the proposed reform effort would address such issues; how the institution of higher education submitting an application plans to sustain the proposed reform effort beyond the duration of the grant; and how the success and effectiveness of the proposed reform effort will be evaluated and assessed in order to contribute to the national knowledge base about models for catalyzing institutional change. In selecting grant recipients under this subsection, the Director of the Foundation shall consider, at a minimum— the likelihood of success in undertaking the proposed reform effort at the institution of higher education submitting the application, including the extent to which the administrators of the institution are committed to making the proposed reform effort a priority; the degree to which the proposed reform effort will contribute to change in institutional culture and policy such that greater value is placed on the recruitment, retention, and advancement of faculty members from underrepresented minority groups; the likelihood that the institution of higher education will sustain or expand the proposed reform effort beyond the period of the grant; and the degree to which evaluation and assessment plans are included in the design of the proposed reform effort. The Director of the Foundation shall ensure, to the extent practicable, that grants awarded under this section are made to a variety of types of institutions of higher education. There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this subsection $8,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2020 through 2024. . Section 305 of the American Innovation and Competitiveness Act ( 42 U.S.C. 1862s–5 ), as amended by subsection (a), is further amended by inserting after subsection
(e)the following: The Director of the Foundation shall award grants to institutions of higher education (or a consortium of such institutions) to implement or expand research-based reforms in undergraduate STEM education for the purpose of recruiting and retaining students from minority groups who are underrepresented in STEM fields. Grants shall be awarded under this subsection on a merit-reviewed, competitive basis. Activities supported by grants under this subsection may include— implementation or expansion of innovative, research-based approaches to broaden participation of underrepresented minority groups in STEM fields; implementation or expansion of bridge, cohort, tutoring, or mentoring programs, including those involving community colleges and technical schools, designed to enhance the recruitment and retention of students from underrepresented minority groups in STEM fields; implementation or expansion of outreach programs linking institutions of higher education and K–12 school systems in order to heighten awareness among pre-college students from underrepresented minority groups of opportunities in college-level STEM fields and STEM careers; implementation or expansion of faculty development programs focused on improving retention of undergraduate STEM students from underrepresented minority groups; implementation or expansion of mechanisms designed to recognize and reward faculty members who demonstrate a commitment to increasing the participation of students from underrepresented minority groups in STEM fields; expansion of successful reforms aimed at increasing the number of STEM students from underrepresented minority groups beyond a single course or group of courses to achieve reform within an entire academic unit, or expansion of successful reform efforts beyond a single academic unit or field to other STEM academic units or fields within an institution of higher education; expansion of opportunities for students from underrepresented minority groups to conduct STEM research in industry, at Federal labs, and at international research institutions or research sites; provision of stipends for students from underrepresented minority groups participating in research; development of research collaborations between research-intensive universities and primarily undergraduate minority-serving institutions; support for graduate students and postdoctoral fellows from underrepresented minority groups to participate in instructional or assessment activities at primarily undergraduate institutions, including primarily undergraduate minority-serving institutions and two-year institutions of higher education; and other activities consistent with paragraph (1), as determined by the Director of the Foundation. An institution of higher education (or a consortium thereof) seeking a grant under this subsection shall submit an application to the Director of the Foundation at such time, in such manner, and containing such information and assurances as such Director may require. The application shall include, at a minimum— a description of the proposed reform effort; a description of the research findings that will serve as the basis for the proposed reform effort or, in the case of applications that propose an expansion of a previously implemented reform, a description of the previously implemented reform effort, including data about the recruitment, retention, and academic achievement of students from underrepresented minority groups; evidence of an institutional commitment to, and support for, the proposed reform effort, including a long-term commitment to implement successful strategies from the current reform beyond the academic unit or units included in the grant proposal; a description of existing or planned institutional policies and practices regarding faculty hiring, promotion, tenure, and teaching assignment that reward faculty contributions to improving the education of students from underrepresented minority groups in STEM; and how the success and effectiveness of the proposed reform effort will be evaluated and assessed in order to contribute to the national knowledge base about models for catalyzing institutional change. In selecting grant recipients under this subsection, the Director of the Foundation shall consider, at a minimum— the likelihood of success of the proposed reform effort at the institution submitting the application, including the extent to which the faculty, staff, and administrators of the institution are committed to making the proposed institutional reform a priority of the participating academic unit or units; the degree to which the proposed reform effort will contribute to change in institutional culture and policy such that greater value is placed on faculty engagement in the retention of students from underrepresented minority groups; the likelihood that the institution will sustain or expand the proposed reform effort beyond the period of the grant; and the degree to which evaluation and assessment plans are included in the design of the proposed reform effort. The Director of the Foundation shall ensure, to the extent practicable, that grants awarded under this subsection are made to a variety of types of institutions of higher education, including two-year and minority-serving institutions of higher education. All grants made under this subsection shall include an education research component that will support the design and implementation of a system for data collection and evaluation of proposed reform efforts in order to build the knowledge base on promising models for increasing recruitment and retention of students from underrepresented minority groups in STEM education at the undergraduate level across a diverse set of institutions. The Director of the Foundation shall coordinate with relevant Federal agencies in disseminating the results of the research under this paragraph to ensure that best practices in broadening participation in STEM education at the undergraduate level are made readily available to all institutions of higher education, other Federal agencies that support STEM programs, non-Federal funders of STEM education, and the general public. There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this subsection $15,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2020 through 2024. .
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- 42 USC 1862s–5
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Sec. 9
Research and related activities to expand STEM opportunities
Cite42 USC 1862s–5
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