Generic Policv Issues 9 



By 

 performer 



By character 

 of work 



Federal Government 



Industry 



Universities 



Otfier 



nonprofit 

 and colleges 3% 3% ,„3,„^^,|on3 



FIGURE 4. The National R&D Effort (expenditures for R&D = 69.1 billion, 1981 (est.)] 

 'Federally funded research and developmeni centers administered by universities and colleges. 

 Source: National Science Foundation. National Pallerns of Science and Technologx Resources. 1981. 



nence in science and technology during World War II and 

 in the succeeding decades. That growth was due in large 

 measure to the infusion of Federal support for scientific 

 research. In recognition of the unique contributions made 

 by university laboratories, the President's March 1981 

 budget proposed an increase of 6.1 percent in university 

 R&D support between fiscal years 1981 and 1982. 



During the past decade, American universities, includ- 

 ing their science and engineering departments, have been 

 subject to unusual pressures resulting from demographic 

 changes and continuing high rates of inflation. Those 

 pressures have strained their effectiveness both as teach- 

 ing and as research institutions. Since the size of the 18- 

 to-24-year-old age group will continue to decrease until 

 well into the 1990s, competition for undergraduates 

 among American colleges and universities is likely to 

 become even more severe during the next 5 years and 

 beyond." While university research in science and engi- 

 neering is supported heavily by funds from external 

 sources , financial problems experienced by a university as 

 a whole have direct effects on its science and engineering 

 capabilities. For example, most university research is 

 conducted by teaching faculty who receive at least a 

 portion of their salaries from general university funds. 

 Thus, the size of university science and engineering de- 

 partments and the amount of research they can conduct are 

 strongly dependent on student enrollments and on the 

 general health of the universities. 



University science and engineering departments are 

 currently experiencing two major problems that limit their 

 effectiveness in both teaching and research: faculty re- 

 cruitment and retention, and equipment obsolescence. 

 Faculty problems are almost diametrically different in 

 science and engineering departments; the dimensions of 

 the equipment problem are very similar. 



in most science departments, the major faculty prob- 

 lem is one of limited opportunities for younger scientists. 

 Because of financial stringencies, decreasing enroll- 

 ments, and the fact that an appreciable fraction of the 

 tenured faculty is well below retirement age, science 



departments have fewer openings for new Ph.D. scientists 

 than they did a decade ago. This situation is particularly 

 apparent in mathematics and physics. Since young scien- 

 tists are often among the most creative and productive, 

 their decreased presence raises serious problems for the 

 health of the universities and the scientific enterprise in 

 general (NRC-13; ASTR-HI). 



In contrast, engineering and computer science depart- 

 ments are experiencing faculty shortages at all levels, and 

 little relief is in sight during the next 5 years. Undergradu- 

 ate enrollments in those fields have been increasing for the 

 past 5 years, while the number of Ph.D.'s awarded has 

 been declining for almost a decade.'" Thus, the total pool 

 from which new doctoral-level engineers can be drawn to 

 staff a research faculty has been decreasing, while, at the 

 same time, competition from industry has been increas- 

 ing. Not only can industry offer Ph.D. engineers better 

 salaries than universities can, but, importantly, research 

 facilities available in industry have become decidedly 

 superior to those in universities, a situation that has grown 

 worse during the past decade with the improvement of 

 industrial laboratories and some deterioration of univer- 

 sity engineering laboratories. Imbalances between aggre- 

 gate supply and demand for engineers in industry may 

 well be resolved by free market mechanisms. On the other 

 hand, problems faced by engineering and computer sci- 

 ence departments in universities have resulted in large 

 measure from their failure to compete for qualified per- 

 sonnel. Current steps being taken by the Federal Govern- 

 ment to ease the severity of the problems include provi- 

 sion of research assistantships as a component of grants 

 and contracts to engineering departments for graduate 

 students who are interested in, and qualified for, academic 

 careers. Increased cooperation between universities and 

 industry to facilitate joint appointments and cooperative 

 exchange programs would be an additional, useful com- 

 ponent of any long-term solution to faculty personnel 

 problems." 



Equipment obsolescence is a second severe problem for 

 university science and engineering laboratories. During 



