In addition, it says, any funds remaining for undergraduate or graduate student support should go to HSIs.
The vote by the Senate Appropriations Committee is a blow to consolidation plans since this panel recommends federal funding for hundreds of federal education programs. The House of Representatives’ Appropriations Committee has not yet released its recommendations. However, the House Science and Technology Committee also has recommended that current programs remain intact.
“It’s good news to see strong support in the House and Senate,” Bartley said.
A spokesman for the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) also welcomed the action.
“Any consolidation that focuses only on minority-serving programs is going to be met with opposition,” said Dr. Daryl Chubin, director of AAAS’ Center for Advancing Science & Engineering Capacity.
The nation has not made enough progress to increase minority participation in STEM fields, he said. “But that responsibility doesn’t just fall on these three small programs.”
Allowing large majority-White institutions to apply for funds originally earmarked for MSIs is likely to be counterproductive, he said. “If you award the funding to major research institutions, minority-serving institutions will end up on the short end,” he told Diverse.
Instead of consolidation, he said, NSF should encourage greater participation on minority STEM issues by the foundation’s many large directorates.
NSF officials did not respond to phone calls Tuesday.
