II 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1857 

To establish a digital and wireless network technology program, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 23, 2007 

Mr. WARNER introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To establish a digital and wireless network technology 

program, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Minority Serving Insti5 tutions for Advanced Technology and Education Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PURPOSES. 

7 The purposes of the program under this Act are to— 

8 (1) strengthen the ability of eligible institutions 

9 to provide capacity for instruction in digital and 

10 wireless network technologies; and 


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1 (2) strengthen the national digital and wireless 

2 infrastructure by increasing national investment in 

3 telecommunications and technology infrastructure at 

4 eligible institutions. 

5 SEC. 3. DEFINITION OF ELIGIBLE INSTITUTION. 

6 In this Act, the term ‘‘eligible institution’’ means an 

7 institution that is— 

8 (1) a historically Black college or university 

9 that is a part B institution, as defined in section 

10 322 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 

11 U.S.C. 1061); 

12 (2) a Hispanic-serving institution, as defined in 

13 section 502(a) of such Act; 

14 (3) a Tribal College or University, as defined in 

15 section 316(b) of such Act (20 U.S.C. 1059c(b)); 

16 (4) an Alaska Native-serving institution, as de17 fined in section 317(b) of such Act (20 U.S.C. 

18 1059d(b)); 

19 (5) a Native Hawaiian-serving institution, as 

20 defined in section 317(b) of such Act (20 U.S.C. 

21 1059d(b)); or 

22 (6) an institution determined by the Secretary 

23 to have enrolled a substantial number of minority, 

24 low-income students during the previous academic 


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1 year who received a Federal Pell Grant for that 

2 year. 

3 SEC. 3A. DEFINITION OF SECRETARY. 

4 In this Act, the term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Sec5 retary of Education. 

6 SEC. 4. MINORITY SERVING INSTITUTIONS FOR ADVANCED 

7 TECHNOLOGY AND EDUCATION. 

8 (a) GRANTS AUTHORIZED.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary is authorized 

10 to award grants, on a competitive basis, to eligible 

11 institutions to enable the eligible institutions to 

12 carry out the activities described in subsection (d). 

13 (2) GRANT PERIOD.—The Secretary may award 

14 a grant to an eligible institution under this Act for 

15 a period of not more than 5 years. 

16 (b) APPLICATION AND REVIEW PROCEDURE.— 

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible to receive a 

18 grant under this Act, an eligible institution shall 

19 submit an application to the Secretary at such time, 

20 in such manner, and containing such information as 

21 the Secretary may reasonably require. The applica22 tion shall include— 

23 (A) a program of activities for carrying out 

24 1 or more of the purposes described in section 

25 2; and 


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1 (B) such other policies, procedures, and as2 surances as the Secretary may require by regu3 lation. 

4 (2) REGULATIONS.—After consultation with ap5 propriate individuals with expertise in technology 

6 and education, the Secretary shall establish a proce7 dure by which to accept and review such applications 

8 and publish an announcement of such procedure, in9 cluding a statement regarding the availability of 

10 funds, in the Federal Register. 

11 (3) APPLICATION REVIEW CRITERIA.—The ap12 plication review criteria used by the Secretary for 

13 grants under this Act shall include consideration 

14 of— 

15 (A) demonstrated need for assistance 

16 under this Act; and 

17 (B) diversity among the types of eligible 

18 institutions receiving assistance under this Act. 

19 (c) MATCHING REQUIREMENT.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—An eligible institution that 

21 receives a grant under this Act shall agree that, with 

22 respect to the costs to be incurred by the institution 

23 in carrying out the program for which the grant is 

24 awarded, such institution will make available (di25 rectly or through donations from public or private 


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1 entities) non-Federal contributions in an amount 

2 equal to 25 percent of the amount of the grant 

3 awarded by the Secretary, or $500,000, whichever is 

4 the lesser amount. 

5 (2) WAIVER.—The Secretary shall waive the 

6 matching requirement for any eligible institution 

7 with no endowment, or an endowment that has a 

8 current dollar value as of the time of the application 

9 of less than $50,000,000. 

10 (d) USES OF FUNDS.—An eligible institution shall 

11 use a grant awarded under this Act— 

12 (1) to acquire equipment, instrumentation, net13 working capability, hardware and software, digital 

14 network technology, wireless technology, and infra15 structure; 

16 (2) to develop and provide educational services, 

17 including faculty development, related to science, 

18 technology, engineering, and mathematics; 

19 (3) to provide teacher preparation and profes20 sional development, library and media specialist 

21 training, and early childhood educator and teacher 

22 aide certification or licensure to individuals who seek 

23 to acquire or enhance technology skills in order to 

24 use technology in the classroom or instructional 

25 process to improve student achievement; 


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1 (4) to form consortia or collaborative projects 

2 with a State, State educational agency, local edu3 cational agency, community-based organization, na4 tional nonprofit organization, or business, including 

5 a minority business, to provide education regarding 

6 technology in the classroom; 

7 (5) to provide professional development in 

8 science, technology, engineering, or mathematics to 

9 administrators and faculty of eligible institutions 

10 with institutional responsibility for technology edu11 cation; 

12 (6) to provide capacity-building technical assist13 ance to eligible institutions through remote technical 

14 support, technical assistance workshops, distance 

15 learning, new technologies, and other technological 

16 applications; and 

17 (7) to foster the use of information communica18 tions technology to increase scientific, technological, 

19 engineering, and mathematical instruction and re20 search. 

21 (e) DATA COLLECTION.—An eligible institution that 

22 receives a grant under this Act shall provide the Secretary 

23 with any relevant institutional statistical or demographic 

24 data requested by the Secretary. 


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1 (f) INFORMATION DISSEMINATION.—The Secretary 

2 shall convene an annual meeting of eligible institutions re3 ceiving grants under this Act for the purposes of— 

4 (1) fostering collaboration and capacity-building 

5 activities among eligible institutions; and 

6 (2) disseminating information and ideas gen7 erated by such meetings. 

8 (g) LIMITATION.—An eligible institution that receives 

9 a grant under this Act that exceeds $2,500,000 shall not 

10 be eligible to receive another grant under this Act until 

11 every other eligible institution that has applied for a grant 

12 under this Act has received such a grant. 

13 SEC. 5. ANNUAL REPORT AND EVALUATION. 

14 (a) ANNUAL REPORT REQUIRED FROM RECIPI15 ENTS.—Each eligible institution that receives a grant 

16 under this Act shall provide an annual report to the Sec17 retary on the eligible institution’s use of the grant. 

18 (b) EVALUATION BY SECRETARY.—The Secretary 

19 shall— 

20 (1) review the reports provided under sub21 section (a) each year; and 

22 (2) evaluate the program authorized under this 

23 Act on the basis of those reports every 2 years. 

24 (c) CONTENTS OF EVALUATION.—The Secretary, in 

25 the evaluation under subsection (b), shall— 


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1 (1) describe the activities undertaken by the eli2 gible institutions that receive grants under this Act; 

3 and 

4 (2) assess the short-range and long-range im5 pact of activities carried out under the grant on the 

6 students, faculty, and staff of the institutions. 

7 (d) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 3 years 

8 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall 

9 submit a report on the program supported under this Act 

10 to the authorizing committees that shall include such rec11 ommendations, including recommendations concerning the 

12 continuing need for Federal support of the program, as 

13 may be appropriate. 

14 SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

15 There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

16 this Act such sums as may be necessary for fiscal year 

17 2008 and each of the 5 succeeding fiscal years. 

Æ 


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