Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 57 / Friday, March 24, 1995 / Notices 15609

confidence to the agency by grant

applicants. In accordance with the

determination of the Chairman of

February 8, 1994, these sessions will be

closed to the public pursuant to

subsection (c) (4), (6) and (9)(B) of

section 552b of Title 5, United States

Code.

Any person may observe meetings, or

portions thereof, of advisory panels

which are open to the public, and may

be permitted to participate in the

panel’s discussions at the discretion of

the panel chairman and with the

approval of the full-time Federal

employee in attendance.

If you need special accommodations

due to a disability, please contact the

Office of Special Constituencies,

National Endowment for the Arts, 1100

Pennsylvania Avenue, NW.,

Washington, DC 20506, 202/682–5532,

TYY 202/682–5496, at least seven (7)

days prior to the meeting.

Further information with reference to

this meeting can be obtained from Ms.

Yvonne Sabine, Committee Management

Officer, National Endowment for the

Arts, Washington, DC 20506, or call

202/682–5788.

Dated: March 20, 1995.

Yvonne M. Sabine,

Director, Office of Council and Panel

Operations, National Endowment for the Arts.

[FR Doc. 95–7290 Filed 3–23–95; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 7537–01–M

NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION

Collection of Information Submitted for

OMB Review

In accordance with the Paperwork

Reduction Act and OMB Guidelines, the

National Science Foundation is posting

an expedited notice of information

collection that will affect the public.

Interested persons are invited to submit

comments by April 7, 1995. Copies of

materials may be obtained at the NSF

address or telephone number shown

below.

(A) Agency Clearance Officer. Herman

G. Fleming, Division of Contracts,

Policy, and Oversight, National Science

Foundation, 4201 Wilson Boulevard,

Arlington, VA 22230, or by telephone

(703) 306–1243. Comments may also be

submitted to:

(B) OMB Desk Officer. Office of

Information and Regulatory Affairs,

ATTN: Dan Chenok, Desk Officer, OMB,

722 Jackson Place, Room 3208, NEOB,

Washington, DC 20503.

Title: NSF Review of Undergraduate

Education in Science, Mathematics,

Engineering, and Technology.

Affected Public: Individuals, state or

local governments, nonprofit

institutions.

Respondents/Reporting Burden: 100

respondents: average two hours per

response.

Abstract: The NSF Organic Act as

amended requires the NSF to oversee

the health of the Nation’s

undergraduate education in science,

mathematics, engineering, and

technology, and to provide leadership

education in these areas. This planed

up-to-date collection of information

from national leaders will help us to

identify important improvements and

critical problems that NSF can help to

address.

Dated: March 20, 1995.

Herman G. Fleming,

Reports Clearance Officer.

National Science Foundation,

4201 Wilson Boulevard, Arlington, Virginia

22230

Office of the Assistant Director for Education

and Human Resources

NSF Review of Undergraduate Education

The Education and Human Resources

(EHR) Directorate of the National Science

Foundation (NSF) is undertaking a general

review of the condition and needs of

undergraduate education in the United States

in the areas of science, mathematics,

engineering, and technology (SMET). The

project will consult widely with students,

educators, and employers. It is planned to

take about a year to complete the review,

which will produce a set of

recommendations for accelerating the process

of improving undergraduate education.

Acting in an advisory capacity to Luther S.

Williams, Assistant Director of NSF, for EHR,

are members of the EHR Advisory

Committee, Subcommittee for Undergraduate

Education:

Sadie Bragg, Borough of Manhattan

Community College,

Federick P. Brooks, Jr., University of North

Carolina, (Ex Officio)

Melvin George, University of Minnesota,

(Chair)

James Rosser, California State University at

Los Angeles,

David Sanchez, Texas A&M University, and

Carolyn Meyers, Georgia Institute of

Technology, (Consultant)

The Foundation undertakes this review of

the central enterprise of undergraduate

education at a critical moment. The national

efforts, including those of the NSF, to

improve precollege education in SMET have

been extensive and have involved efforts to

create both innovative local improvement

and larger systemic changes. The support of

undergraduate educational improvement is

more recent and has emphasized innovative

improvement projects at single sites. The

necessity for and possibility of larger-scale

changes in undergraduate education is the

primary question that the study will

investigate. The Foundation recognizes that it

raises this question at a time that the nation’s

colleges and universities are facing

unprecedented financial and programmatic

challenges. It is expected that the review will

reveal ways of strengthening the effectiveness

of these institutions in undergraduate

education. The provision of excellent

educational services requires a robust

infrastructure whose components at all

institutions include faculty, curriculum, and

capabilities for teaching and scholarship. The

condition of these components will be

examined.

The goals of improved undergraduate

education in SMET are:

• Citizens who are empowered to be full

participants in a scientific and technological

society;

• A technically well-prepared workforce

who can both participate and lead in the high

performance workplace of advanced

technologies;

• Teachers who are both scientifically and

pedagogically well-prepared, and scientists

and engineers who are well-prepared for

their occupations;

• Young people with diverse backgrounds

successfully involved in SMET in numbers

that reflect their representation in the

population.

Consistent with its chartered responsibility

to ‘‘initiate and support * * * science

education programs at all levels * * *’’, the

NSF seeks to ascertain the extent of effective

innovation in undergraduate education in

SMET, and what next steps, if any, should be

taken to cause large-scale improvements to

take place. The specific areas of inquiry

listed below are designed to provide

guidance on the question of how the nation

should capitalize on its recent investment in

the improvement of undergraduate

education:

• What are the innovations and what is the

evidence that a significant number of them

represent superior practice of undergraduate

education? The areas of inquiry regarding

superior practice will involve: curriculum of

all types and levels, faculty maintenance and

development, pedagogy, instructional

technology, instrumentation and facilities,

research opportunities for students and

faculty, and connections of instructional

programs to the world of work.

• What are the unmet needs of those who

are receiving and have received

undergraduate SMET instruction?

• What are the infrastructural needs across

the diverse providers of undergraduate

instruction in order to implement the best

instructional practice and meet the needs of

students and employers?

• What are the problems in the context of

an institution’s entire undergraduate

enterprise that need to be addressed to

achieve the goals of undergraduate SMET

education?

The effort through which the Foundation

plans to address these questions will consist

of three phases. Phase I will involve direct,

systematic investigation of the considered

points of view of Americans across a broad

spectrum who might be considered the

‘‘customers’’ of the diverse educational

programs and settings that deliver

undergraduate education. It will also involve
15610 Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 57 / Friday, March 24, 1995 / Notices

intensive study of existing reports and data

on the subject, and open-ended inquiry to

experienced providers of undergraduate

education. Phase II of the project will rely

upon a preliminary summary of the findings

from Phase I prepared by NSF staff that will

be presented for comment and elaboration to

a large number of persons experienced in

undergraduate education, particularly to

those faculty and administrators attending

key professional society meetings. In Phase

III, the NSF will seek to publicize and

encourage implementation of those practices

that will achieve improved science and

engineering literacy; a technically capable

workforce; well-prepared teachers, scientists

and engineers; and greater participation in

SMET careers by women and minorities.

For further information contact the

Division of Undergraduate Education (DUE)

of EHR, Robert F. Watson, Division Director.

[FR Doc. 95–7275 Filed 3–23–95; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 7555–01–M

Special Emphasis Panel in Advanced

Scientific Computing; Notice of

Meeting

In accordance with the Federal

Advisory Committee Act (Pub. L. 92–

463, as amended), the National Science

Foundation announces the following

meeting:

Name: Special Emphasis Panel in

Advanced Scientific Computing.

Date and Time: April 10, 1995, 8:30 am to

5 pm.

Place: National Science Foundation, 4201

Wilson Boulevard, Suite 1122, Arlington, VA

22230.

Type of Meeting: Closed.

Contact Person: Dr. Richard Hirsh, Deputy

Division Director, Centers Program, Suite

1122, National Science Foundation, 4201

Wilson Boulevard, Arlington, VA 22230 (703)

306–1970.

Purpose of Meeting: To provide

recommendations and advice concerning

preproposals submitted to NSF for financial

support.

Agenda: To review and evaluate

Multidisciplinary Research preproposals as

part of the selection process for awards.

Reason for Closing: The preproposals being

reviewed 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. 552b(c), (4) and (6) of the Government

in the Sunshine Act.

Dated: March 20, 1995.

M. Rebecca Winkler,

Committee Management Officer.

[FR Doc. 95–7214 Filed 3–23–95; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 7555–01–M

Advisory Panel for Cell Biology

Program; Notice of Meeting

In accordance with the Federal

Advisory Committee Act (Pub. L. 92–

463, as amended), the National Science

Foundation announces the following

meeting.

Name and Committee Code: Advisory

Panel for Cell Biology (1136).

Date and Time: April 12–14, 1995, 8:30 am

to 5:00 pm.

Place: Room 370, National Science

Foundation, 4201 Wilson Boulevard,

Arlington, VA 22230.

Type of Meeting: Closed.

Contact Person: Dr. Barbara Zain, Dr. Larry

Griffing and Dr. David Capco, Program

Directors, for Cell Biology, Division of

Molecular and Cellular Biosciences, National

Science Foundation, 4201 Wilson Boulevard,

Room 655, Arlington, VA 22230, Telephone:

(703) 306–1442.

Purpose of Meeting: To provide advice and

recommendations concerning proposals

submitted to NSF for financial support.

Agenda: To review and evaluate research

proposals submitted to the Signal

Transduction and Regulation Program as part

of the selection process for awards.

Reason for Closing: The proposals being

reviewed include information of a

proprietary of 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.

552b(c) (4) and (6) of the Government in the

Sunshine Act.

Dated: March 20, 1995.

M. Rebecca Winkler,

Committee Management Officer.

[FR Doc. 95–7213 Filed 3–23–95; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 7555–01–M

Task Force on the Future of the NSF

Supercomputer Centers Program

In accordance with the Federal

Advisory Committee Act (Pub. L. 92–

463, as amended), the National Science

Foundation announces the following

meeting:

Name: Task Force on the Future of the NSF

Supercomputer Centers Program (#1982).

Date and Time: April 6, 1995 1:00–9:00

p.m., April 7, 1995 8:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m.

Place: O’Hare Hilton, Chicago, IL (Room to

be posted at meeting site).

Type of Meeting: Open.

Contact Person: Dr. Robert Borchers,

Director, Division of Advanced Scientific

Computing, Directorate for Computer and

Information Science and Engineering,

National Science Foundation, 4201 Wilson

Boulevard, Arlington, VA 22230, 703/306–

1970.

Minutes: May be obtained from the contact

person listed above.

Meeting Purpose: The objective of the Task

Force is to advise the NSF on the future of

its Supercomputing Centers Program

considering the changing nature of

computing and information science and

technology. Its scope will be limited to NSF’s

support for advanced computational science.

This meeting is to seek advice and testimony

from representatives of the supercomputer

industry, academic leaders in High

Performance Computing, representative users

of the NSF Supercomputing Centers and

some principal investigators of Grand

Challenge Projects. The task force will

continue its discussions on the principles to

be used in evaluating the options of future

programs, and hear reports on visits of

members to the four existing Supercomputer

Centers.

Agenda:

April 6, 1995—1:00 to 9:00 p.m.

1:00–5:00 Advice and testimony from

members of the High Performance

Computing Community

6:00–9:00 Working Dinner—Subcommittee

Meetings

April 7, 1995—8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

8:00–9:00 Assemble, Continental Breakfast

9:00–12:00 Advice and testimony from

members of the High Performance

Computing Community

12:00–1:00 Working Lunch

1:00–2:00 Advice and testimony (if required)

2:00–4:00 Subcommittee Meetings, trip visit

reports.

Reason for Late Notice: Difficulty in

locating suitable meeting accommodations.

Dated: March 20, 1995.

M. Rebecca Winker,

Committee Management Officer.

[FR Doc. 95–7216 Filed 3–23–95; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 7555–01–M

Special Emphasis Panel in

Mathematical Sciences; Notice of

Meeting

In accordance with the Federal

Advisory Committee Act (Pub. L. 92–

463, as amended), the National Science

Foundation announces the following

meeting.

Name: Special Emphasis Panel in

Mathematical Sciences (1204).

Date and Time: April 10–11, 1995; 8:30

a.m. til 5 p.m.

Place: National Science Foundation, 4201

Wilson Boulevard, Room 310, Arlington, VA

22230.

Type of Meeting: Closed.

Contact Person: Dr. Alvin Thaler, National

Science Foundation, 4201 Wilson Boulevard,

Arlington, VA 22230 Telephone: (703) 306–

1880.

Purpose of Meeting: To provide advice and

recommendations concerning proposals

submitted to National Science Foundation for

financial support.

Agenda: To review and evaluate Research

Planning Grants and Career Advancement

Awards for Women Scientists and Engineers

proposals as part of the selection process for

awards.