Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 19 / Friday, January 30, 2009 / Notices 5687 

Science Foundation, 4201 Wilson Boulevard, 

Arlington, VA 22230, Telephone (703) 292– 

8562. 

Purpose of Meeting: To provide advice and 

recommendations concerning further support 

of the MRSEC at Caltech, Pasadena, CA. 

Agenda: 

Thursday, February 26, 2009 

7:45 a.m.–9 a.m. Closed—Executive 

Session. 

9 a.m.–4:30 p.m. Open—Review of the 

Caltech MRSEC. 

4:30 p.m.–6 p.m. Closed—Executive 

Session. 

6 p.m.–9 p.m. Open—Poster Session and 

Dinner. 

Friday February 27, 2009 

8 a.m.–9 a.m. Closed—Executive session. 

9 a.m.–10:15 a.m. Open—Review of the 

Caltech MRSEC. 

10:15 a.m.–4:30 p.m. Closed—Executive 

Session, Draft and Review Report. 

Reason for Closing: The work being 

reviewed may include information of a 

proprietary or confidential nature, including 

technical information; financial data, such as 

salaries and personal information concerning 

individuals associated with the proposals. 

These matters are exempt under 5 U.S.C. 552 

b(c), (4) and (6) of the Government in the 

Sunshine Act. 

Dated: January 27, 2009. 

Susanne Bolton, 

Committee Management Officer.. 

[FR Doc. E9–1998 Filed 1–29–09; 8:45 am] 

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NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION 

Notice of Public Meeting and Request 

for Stakeholder Input 

SUMMARY: The National Science 

Foundation (NSF) is requesting 

stakeholder input on Section 7033 of the 

America COMPETES Act, which 

authorizes the NSF Director to establish 

a new program to award grants on a 

competitive, merit-reviewed basis to 

Hispanic-serving institutions to enhance 

the quality of undergraduate science, 

technology, engineering, and 

mathematics (STEM) education at such 

institutions and to increase the retention 

and graduation rates of students 

pursuing associate or baccalaureate 

degrees in STEM. 

DATES: The meeting will be held on 

Sunday, March 1, 2009, from 2 p.m. to 

5 p.m. All comments not presented or 

submitted for the record at the meeting 

must be received by close of business 

Monday, March 23, 2009, to be 

considered. 

ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held at 

the Madison Hotel in Washington, DC, 

at 1177 15th Street Northwest, 

Washington, DC 20005. You may submit 

comments, identified by the title NSF– 

HSI, using any of the following 

methods: 

E-mail: nsf-hsiinput@lists.nsf.gov. 

Please include NSF–HSI in the subject 

line of the message. 

Fax: 703–292–9232. Please address 

the cover sheet to Dr. Fae Korsmo. 

Mail: Paper, disk or CD–ROM 

submissions should be submitted to: Dr. 

Fae Korsmo, Senior Advisor, Office of 

the Director, National Science 

Foundation, 4201 Wilson Boulevard, 

Suite 1205, Arlington, VA 22230. 

All comments received will be posted 

to a publicly available Web page on 

http://www.nsf.gov, including any 

personal information provided. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. 

Fae Korsmo, (703) 292–8002 (phone), 

(703) 292–9232 (fax), or 

fkorsmo@nsf.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Additional Meeting and Comment 

Procedures 

Persons wishing to present oral 

comments at the March 1, 2009 meeting 

are requested to pre-register by e-mail 

to: nsf-hsiinput@lists.nsf.gov. 

Participants may reserve one 5-minute 

comment period each. More time may 

be available, depending on the number 

of people wishing to make oral 

comments and the time needed for 

questions following those comments. 

Reservations will be confirmed on a 

first-come, first-served basis. Written 

comments may also be submitted for the 

record at the meeting. All other 

attendees may register at the meeting. 

All comments not presented or 

submitted for the record at the meeting 

must be received by close of business 

Monday, March 23, 2009, to be 

considered. All comments and the 

official transcript of the meeting, when 

they become available, may be reviewed 

on the NSF Web page for six months. 

Participants who require a sign language 

interpreter or other special 

accommodations should contact Dr. 

Korsmo as directed above. A Spanish 

language interpreter will be present. 

Background and Purpose 

Section 7033 of the America 

Competes Act states the following: 

(a) In General.—The Director is 

authorized to establish a new program 

to award grants on a competitive, meritreviewed basis to Hispanic-serving 

institutions (as defined in section 502 of 

the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 

U.S.C. 1101a)) to enhance the quality of 

undergraduate science, technology, 

engineering, and mathematics education 

at such institutions and to increase the 

retention and graduation rates of 

students pursuing associate’s or 

baccalaureate degrees in science, 

technology, engineering, and 

mathematics. 

(b) Program Components.—Grants 

awarded under this section shall 

support— 

(1) Activities to improve courses and 

curriculum in science, technology, 

engineering, and mathematics; 

(2) Faculty development; 

(3) Stipends for undergraduate 

students participating in research; and 

(4) Other activities consistent with 

subsection (a), as determined by the 

Director. 

(c) Instrumentation.—Funding for 

instrumentation is an allowed use of 

grants awarded under this section. 

NSF is requesting stakeholder input 

on promising evidence-based practices 

that have enhanced the quality of 

undergraduate science, technology, 

engineering, and mathematics (STEM) 

education at Hispanic-serving 

institutions and increased the retention 

and graduation rates of Hispanic 

students pursuing associate or 

baccalaureate degrees in STEM. NSF is 

interested in learning more about 

successful partnership activities that 

have contributed to the increased 

participation and success of Hispanics 

in undergraduate STEM education. 

These might involve partnerships that 

include two-year and four-year 

institutions, state and local government 

organizations, K–12 institutions, 

private-sector firms, community groups, 

and other organizations involved in the 

science and technology enterprise. 

Research findings and experiential 

information are especially welcome; 

NSF would like to learn about strategies 

that have worked to increase Hispanic 

retention and graduation rates in STEM, 

as well as those strategies that have not 

proven effective. 

Implementation Plans 

NSF plans to consider the stakeholder 

input received at the meeting and in the 

written comments to develop the 

agency’s programmatic response to 

Section 7033 of the America Competes 

Act. 

Dated: January 27, 2009. 

Suzanne H. Plimpton, 

Reports Clearance Officer, National Science 

Foundation. 

[FR Doc. E9–2004 Filed 1–29–09; 8:45 am] 

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