In the April 23, 1999 Issue:

Copyright State Science & Technology Institute 2002. Information in this issue of the SSTI Weekly Digest was prepared under a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Department of Commerce, Economic Development Administration. Redistribution to all others interested in tech-based economic development is strongly encouraged — please cite the State Science & Technology Institute whenever portions are reproduced or redirected. Any opinions expressed in the Digest do not necessarily reflect the official position of the U.S. Department of Commerce.

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NSF Offers $20 Million for S&T Scholarships
In May, the National Science Foundation (NSF) will release a request for proposals to disburse $20 million to 100 two-year community colleges, undergraduate and graduate institutions for computer science, computer technology, engineering, and math scholarships.  NSF anticipates the funds will support 8,000 one-year scholarships of up to $2,500 each over the two-year span of the grants.

Pending Congressional appropriations, two additional funding cycles are planned in FY 2000 and FY 2001. The result would be up to 300 educational institutions awarding up to 24,000 scholarships over the next four years.

The scholarship program is targeting economically disadvantaged students as determined by the U.S. Department of Education criteria used for Pell Grants or Graduate Assistance in Areas of National Need. The first scholarships are expected to be made in January 2000.

The scholarship fund created during the first year of the program will be funded by a $500 fee the U.S. employers pay for each immigrant employee they hire for technology positions under the terms of the H-1B visas application.

The program will be managed by the NSF Directorate for Education and Human Resources. Criteria for selecting the 100 educational institutions will be available in the request for proposals. For more information, contact Norman Fortenberry at 703/306-1670 or nfortenb@nsf.gov

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Two States Consider Paying Tech School Tuition
In what could be the beginning of a new trend in state economic development incentive/inducements, bills receiving bi-partisan support in the Michigan and Delaware state legislatures would address businesses= needs for more technically skilled workers by having the states pick up the students' tab for community college tuition and technical training.

Governors in at least 14 other states have proposed establishing, increasing or expanding scholarship programs this year, according to SSTI's latest Issue Brief Science & Technology in the States: Excerpts from the 1999 Governors' Addresses (see related article in this Digest).

Michigan
A bill introduced in the Michigan Senate last week would provide a $300 state tax credit to cover the balance of a student's Michigan community college tuition that is not covered by the federal Hope Scholarship tax credit. The state tax credit would be available to all students from two-parent households with incomes under $100,000 and single-parent families with less than $50,000 in annual income. The bill's sponsor estimates 90 percent of Michigan's 120,000 community college students would be eligible to use the credit.

Possible revenue sources to cover the tax credit's $30 million cost to the state include a portion of the state=s share of the national tobacco settlement, new revenues generated from the strength of the Michigan economy, and existing jobs' program monies.

Delaware
In Delaware, the House Education Committee unanimously approved last week a bill that would allow any Delaware student who graduates from a public or private high school with at least a 3.0 grade point average to attend the Delaware Technical and Community College free for two years. Students must be accepted and enrolled as a technology student. Funds would be available on a reimbursement basis, after the student passes each semester with a minimum 2.7 average (3.0 average cumulative).

Students also must apply for all appropriate state financial aid programs and the Federal Pell grant. Pell grant recipients may only receive half-tuition reimbursement from the state program.

State education officials estimate 150 students of the school would be eligible under the tuition incentive program, making the cost to the state approximately $425,000 annually.

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Current NASA Research Opportunities
The following table lists several of the open solicitations for research proposals to NASA. All of the announcements except STTR are open to researchers in any organization, including businesses, nonprofit organizations, educational institutions, federal labs or research centers. STTR is only open to for-profit U.S. businesses with fewer than 500 employees. The Advanced Information Systems Technology Request for Information (#10-0007) provides interested parties the opportunity to help design and influence the development of future research plans and solicitations in the NASA Office of Earth Science.

Hyperlinks to each research funding announcement can be found at: www.hq.nasa.gov/office/procurement/grants/

RFP No.

Title

Due Date

Funds Available

NRA 99-OSS-02

Compton Gamma Ray Observatory Guest Observer

5/6/99

$500,000

NRA 99-OSS-01

Research Opportunities in Space Science: 21 topic titles open

various: 5/6/99 thru 12/8/99

varied

10-0007

Advanced Information Systems Technology Request for Information

5/18/99

not relevant

NRA 99-OES-01

New Millennium Program Earth Observing-1 Mission

5/17/99 (letters of intent)

$3 million (NASA)

$400,000 (USGS)

STTR C Phase I

Small Business Technology Transfer

5/14/99

$5.6 million

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Position Available
The Oklahoma Center for the Advancement of Science and Technology (OCAST) is seeking a chief executive officer. OCAST's statutory mandate is to contribute to the public policy goals of expanding and diversifying Oklahoma=s economy, providing new and higher quality jobs to improve Oklahoma's per capita income and encouraging the development of new products, new processes, and whole new industries in Oklahoma. The full description can be found on the SSTI homepage at http://www.ssti.org

Applications are due by May 7.

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Governors Talk Technology
Science, technology and workforce development are prominent themes in the plans 42 governors outlined for their states, according to the latest SSTI Issue Brief, Science & Technology in the States: Excerpts from the 1999 Governors' Addresses.  The publication provides a collection of 109 research, workforce development and technology-related quotes from 1999 Inaugural Addresses, State of the State Addresses, and Budget Addresses by the governors.

An SSTI review of more than 80 gubernatorial speeches delivered during the past four months revealed several common technology-related themes for many governors:

"The number of references in so many states and in so many recent major speeches is noteworthy," said Dan Berglund, executive director of SSTI. "Science and technology has moved to the frontline of many Governors' agendas."

Copies of the 30-page Issue Brief are available from SSTI for $10 each, including shipping and handling. They can be ordered by calling SSTI at 614/901-1690.

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