One of the most fundamental aspects of implementing an agenda that looks at how inspiration happens is funding. It is my belief that inspiration develops over a much longer period of time than the typical 3-5 year cycle of grants. Below is a 3-year old story that seems like it might have been written yesterday. While it discusses the Dept of Labor, it is typical of all the federal agencies. In today's funding climate in Congress, it seems even harder for an agency to fulfill its mission when Congress arbitrarily adds funds to their budget. If the agency lacks consistency, how can a sustained agenda be developed when political winds can easily be changed every 2 years?
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We'll earmark funds if we feel like it, appropriations chair tells OMB
By Julie Rovner, CongressDaily
Feb 7, 2002
House Appropriations Chairman Bill Young, R-Fla., escalated a war of words with the Bush administration Wednesday over a sticky and territorial issue in budget diplomacy: earmarks in the Labor-HHS spending bill.
The administration has proposed eliminating funding for some of the 690 projects in the fiscal 2003 Labor-HHS bill, to make up a $1.3 billion shortfall in the Pell Grant college scholarship program. In a letter to Office of Management and Budget Director Mitch Daniels, Young threw down the gauntlet, citing chapter and clause of the Constitution.
"This leaves no ambiguity," Young's letter declared. "The power of the purse resides solely with the Congress. Unless the Constitution is amended, Congress will continue to exercise its discretion over federal funds and will earmark those funds for purposes we deem appropriate."
The letter comes in response not just to the Pell Grant problem, but also to comments made earlier this week, when the administration's 2003 budget was released.
The budget document noted, "In 2002, 100 percent of the $312 million appropriated for health facilities construction was earmarked by the Congress, leaving HHS with no discretion in deciding which construction projects would be funded."
The earmarks, including projects for at least 41 states and Puerto Rico, consumed nearly three single-spaced pages in the Congressional Record of Dec. 18.
At his budget briefing Monday, HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson complained for the second year in a row that earmarks steer money away from other needed programs.
But Young said the committee would not back down.
"All wisdom on the allocation of federal grant funding does not reside in the executive branch," he wrote. "Many of these projects are in rural communities or from small community-based organizations that lack the capacity to hire grantwriters and compete with more sophisticated organizations for funding."
Source: http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0202/020702cdam2.htm
Thursday, February 10, 2005
Wednesday, February 09, 2005
Inspiring the Next Generation of Explorers: A White Paper
I have pasted below a white paper that I have started. I attempt to define what it means to inspire in the context of NASA. The thoughts expressed in this draft have been heavily influenced by my interactions with my colleageues, Greg Meier, Brian Curry, and Todd Borghesani.
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NASA’s Challenge
“NASA faces significant human capital challenges that threaten the Agency’s ability to accomplish its mission. As a world-class science and engineering agency, NASA must be able to recruit and retain top-quality scientists and engineers to accomplish its core work and remain world-class.” (1)
In a recent report to Congress, NASA outlined a variety of factors contributing to the decline in the science and engineering workforce. The most significant external factor is the decline in the overall number of students graduating in science and engineering. It will be difficult to reverse that trend in the short term given current levels of math and science literacy in the K-12 pipeline. Students are not being prepared to pursue higher-level coursework in math and science. Without that higher-level coursework, students will not have the option to select a science or engineering major at the university level. The most significant internal factor is that as a career option, NASA has lost its luster along with both the aerospace industry and the public service sector as a whole. Those students that do graduate in technical fields are in high demand. Last year, Interbrand published a review of the NASA brand and found it to be struggling for relevancy among the very youth that NASA is attempting to attract into careers at the agency (2). It is incumbent upon NASA to become relevant to today’s youth while at the same time contribute towards improving scientific literacy.
Despite steep budget cuts and years of hiring freezes, NASA has managed to successfully retain the world’s greatest scientific and engineering talent. NASA’s world-class scientists and engineers have created a culture of creative audacity that has kept NASA at the forefront of many disciplines and led to numerous discoveries. Critical to NASA’s success as a highly technical mission agency is the mentoring relationships between experienced and new employees. Through mentoring relationships, new employees not only develop necessary skills, but just as importantly, they assimilate into the NASA culture of success. Unfortunately, NASA’s world-class talent outnumbers new talent by 3 to 1. One-fourth of that talent is eligible to retire in 5 years. It is critical that NASA take a “strategic, proactive, and aggressive approach” to ensure a smooth transition to the new generation of explorers.
NASA’s workforce challenge is similar to that faced by industry in general. Not enough students are graduating from our nation’s schools with adequate preparation for technical careers. One clear indication of this lack of preparation comes from the most recent National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), which measures science and math achievement at three levels (basic, proficient, and advanced). In the 2000 administration of the science and math NAEP test, over three-fourths of the students failed to score at the proficient level and almost half of our nation’s graduating seniors failed to score at even the basic level of achievement. Without adequate preparation in math and science, students will find it difficult to pursue technical fields of study in college and beyond. Therefore, increasing the pipeline of students entering technical fields is integrally tied to improving scientific literary at the precollege level.
Inspiring the Next Generation of Explorers
NASA has identified the expansion of the pipeline as a significant challenge for the future. To be successful in this endeavor it is imperative to improve scientific literacy at the precollege level. Improving scientific literacy and increasing the number of science and engineering graduates is a long-term challenge. Today’s technically inclined middle schoolers will be graduating from college in a decade and earning a doctorate in a decade and a half. Educational reforms intended to shepherd today’s middle schoolers into science and engineering careers must be sustained across seven congressional elections and four presidential ones. Shifting political winds pose a tremendous threat to developing and sustaining consensus over a long period of time.
As an agency, NASA has achieved tremendous success at maintaining a focused mission in the face of a changing political landscape. NASA’s earliest human space flight programs, Mercury and Apollo, survived two Republican and two Democratic presidencies. The International Space Station has survived one Democratic and three Republican presidencies as well as numerous government changes in Canada, Europe, Russia, and Japan. These are but two examples of the many programs that NASA has sustained over the course of its first four and half decades. During that timeframe, NASA has also had to overcome significant setbacks in both its manned and unmanned missions. In the aftermath of these setbacks, NASA has routinely been barraged with questions from Congress and the general public: “Is the loss of life and the hundreds of millions of dollars worth it?” NASA and their astronauts truly believe it is worth the risk. NASA’s programs have survived because they are able to remind its stakeholders of the importance of the goals as well as the challenge and risk involved in achieving those goals.
NASA’s success in sustaining long-term efforts is based on two important features of the goals that have been adopted. The first feature is that the goals are framed in such a way as to appeal to the general public, politicians and the scientific community. These goals are important, comprehendible, challenging, and achievable. Sending humans to the Moon as well as maintaining a research platform in Earth’s orbit are examples of goals that meet these criteria. The relevant stakeholders can easily see the importance of both goals. To achieve them NASA has had to overcome many challenges along the way. The second feature is that the goals balance science and engineering. In each case, NASA’s goals involve the resolution of fundamental engineering problems. Through the resolution of these problems, NASA contributes to basic science. In addition, the resulting feats of engineering create scientific platforms to explore phenomena in ways never before possible. By appealing to a broad section of the general public and making significant contributions to the scientific community, NASA has established a culture that can maintain momentum through political changes and programmatic setbacks.
NASA is in a unique position to bring its culture to bear on the scientific literacy and pipeline challenges it faces. As with many of its successful long-term endeavors, NASA has framed an overarching education goal that is important, comprehendible, challenging, and achievable: “to inspire the next generation of explorers…as only NASA can.” Many within NASA have misconstrued this inspiration goal as simply making people feel good about what NASA is doing and therefore feel that the goal ignores pipeline and scientific literacy. This view is consistent with a narrow interpretation of the definition for inspire: “to arouse a particular feeling in somebody.” (3) However, it is our belief that fostering individuals to become explorers is consistent with a broader interpretation of the definition for inspire: “to encourage people into greater efforts or greater enthusiasm or creativity.” (3) For NASA inspiration is more than a feeling; it also means spurring individuals into action that leads them to become explorers.
As a goal inspiration provides a powerful framework for addressing NASA’s long-term scientific literacy and pipeline challenges. Inspiration suggests to educators that schools need to go beyond the learning of scientific concepts and skills that are embedded in the national/state standards. School experiences should foster an emotional attachment towards STEM communities. Inspiration suggests to NASA that experiences should be sustained over a long period of time. Experiences with NASA resources can foster positive emotion, but it is the connection with people that brings individuals to the NASA community and increases the pipeline. Thus, under the goal of inspiration, NASA and educators are united in their efforts to foster growth in concepts and skills, growth of individual’s affect towards NASA, and growth of participation within the NASA community.
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(1) NASA’S WORKFORCE PLAN for the use of the NASA Flexibility Act of 2004 Authorities.
(2) Interbrand is an international brand consulting firm. Along with BusinessWeek, they annually publish the list of top 100 global brands. See http://www.brandchannel.com/features_profile.asp?prid=114 for the article on the NASA brand.
(3) Encarta World English Dictionary, Microsoft Word 2004 for Mac, Version 11.1
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NASA’s Challenge
“NASA faces significant human capital challenges that threaten the Agency’s ability to accomplish its mission. As a world-class science and engineering agency, NASA must be able to recruit and retain top-quality scientists and engineers to accomplish its core work and remain world-class.” (1)
In a recent report to Congress, NASA outlined a variety of factors contributing to the decline in the science and engineering workforce. The most significant external factor is the decline in the overall number of students graduating in science and engineering. It will be difficult to reverse that trend in the short term given current levels of math and science literacy in the K-12 pipeline. Students are not being prepared to pursue higher-level coursework in math and science. Without that higher-level coursework, students will not have the option to select a science or engineering major at the university level. The most significant internal factor is that as a career option, NASA has lost its luster along with both the aerospace industry and the public service sector as a whole. Those students that do graduate in technical fields are in high demand. Last year, Interbrand published a review of the NASA brand and found it to be struggling for relevancy among the very youth that NASA is attempting to attract into careers at the agency (2). It is incumbent upon NASA to become relevant to today’s youth while at the same time contribute towards improving scientific literacy.
Despite steep budget cuts and years of hiring freezes, NASA has managed to successfully retain the world’s greatest scientific and engineering talent. NASA’s world-class scientists and engineers have created a culture of creative audacity that has kept NASA at the forefront of many disciplines and led to numerous discoveries. Critical to NASA’s success as a highly technical mission agency is the mentoring relationships between experienced and new employees. Through mentoring relationships, new employees not only develop necessary skills, but just as importantly, they assimilate into the NASA culture of success. Unfortunately, NASA’s world-class talent outnumbers new talent by 3 to 1. One-fourth of that talent is eligible to retire in 5 years. It is critical that NASA take a “strategic, proactive, and aggressive approach” to ensure a smooth transition to the new generation of explorers.
NASA’s workforce challenge is similar to that faced by industry in general. Not enough students are graduating from our nation’s schools with adequate preparation for technical careers. One clear indication of this lack of preparation comes from the most recent National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), which measures science and math achievement at three levels (basic, proficient, and advanced). In the 2000 administration of the science and math NAEP test, over three-fourths of the students failed to score at the proficient level and almost half of our nation’s graduating seniors failed to score at even the basic level of achievement. Without adequate preparation in math and science, students will find it difficult to pursue technical fields of study in college and beyond. Therefore, increasing the pipeline of students entering technical fields is integrally tied to improving scientific literary at the precollege level.
Inspiring the Next Generation of Explorers
NASA has identified the expansion of the pipeline as a significant challenge for the future. To be successful in this endeavor it is imperative to improve scientific literacy at the precollege level. Improving scientific literacy and increasing the number of science and engineering graduates is a long-term challenge. Today’s technically inclined middle schoolers will be graduating from college in a decade and earning a doctorate in a decade and a half. Educational reforms intended to shepherd today’s middle schoolers into science and engineering careers must be sustained across seven congressional elections and four presidential ones. Shifting political winds pose a tremendous threat to developing and sustaining consensus over a long period of time.
As an agency, NASA has achieved tremendous success at maintaining a focused mission in the face of a changing political landscape. NASA’s earliest human space flight programs, Mercury and Apollo, survived two Republican and two Democratic presidencies. The International Space Station has survived one Democratic and three Republican presidencies as well as numerous government changes in Canada, Europe, Russia, and Japan. These are but two examples of the many programs that NASA has sustained over the course of its first four and half decades. During that timeframe, NASA has also had to overcome significant setbacks in both its manned and unmanned missions. In the aftermath of these setbacks, NASA has routinely been barraged with questions from Congress and the general public: “Is the loss of life and the hundreds of millions of dollars worth it?” NASA and their astronauts truly believe it is worth the risk. NASA’s programs have survived because they are able to remind its stakeholders of the importance of the goals as well as the challenge and risk involved in achieving those goals.
NASA’s success in sustaining long-term efforts is based on two important features of the goals that have been adopted. The first feature is that the goals are framed in such a way as to appeal to the general public, politicians and the scientific community. These goals are important, comprehendible, challenging, and achievable. Sending humans to the Moon as well as maintaining a research platform in Earth’s orbit are examples of goals that meet these criteria. The relevant stakeholders can easily see the importance of both goals. To achieve them NASA has had to overcome many challenges along the way. The second feature is that the goals balance science and engineering. In each case, NASA’s goals involve the resolution of fundamental engineering problems. Through the resolution of these problems, NASA contributes to basic science. In addition, the resulting feats of engineering create scientific platforms to explore phenomena in ways never before possible. By appealing to a broad section of the general public and making significant contributions to the scientific community, NASA has established a culture that can maintain momentum through political changes and programmatic setbacks.
NASA is in a unique position to bring its culture to bear on the scientific literacy and pipeline challenges it faces. As with many of its successful long-term endeavors, NASA has framed an overarching education goal that is important, comprehendible, challenging, and achievable: “to inspire the next generation of explorers…as only NASA can.” Many within NASA have misconstrued this inspiration goal as simply making people feel good about what NASA is doing and therefore feel that the goal ignores pipeline and scientific literacy. This view is consistent with a narrow interpretation of the definition for inspire: “to arouse a particular feeling in somebody.” (3) However, it is our belief that fostering individuals to become explorers is consistent with a broader interpretation of the definition for inspire: “to encourage people into greater efforts or greater enthusiasm or creativity.” (3) For NASA inspiration is more than a feeling; it also means spurring individuals into action that leads them to become explorers.
As a goal inspiration provides a powerful framework for addressing NASA’s long-term scientific literacy and pipeline challenges. Inspiration suggests to educators that schools need to go beyond the learning of scientific concepts and skills that are embedded in the national/state standards. School experiences should foster an emotional attachment towards STEM communities. Inspiration suggests to NASA that experiences should be sustained over a long period of time. Experiences with NASA resources can foster positive emotion, but it is the connection with people that brings individuals to the NASA community and increases the pipeline. Thus, under the goal of inspiration, NASA and educators are united in their efforts to foster growth in concepts and skills, growth of individual’s affect towards NASA, and growth of participation within the NASA community.
------------------------------------------------
(1) NASA’S WORKFORCE PLAN for the use of the NASA Flexibility Act of 2004 Authorities.
(2) Interbrand is an international brand consulting firm. Along with BusinessWeek, they annually publish the list of top 100 global brands. See http://www.brandchannel.com/features_profile.asp?prid=114 for the article on the NASA brand.
(3) Encarta World English Dictionary, Microsoft Word 2004 for Mac, Version 11.1
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