BASIC RESEARCH AND THE STATE UNIVERSITY 



planning to the expansion of university scientific facilities at 

 this stage in our development. 



It has also been pointed out that the alternative to direct 

 federal financing of laboratory construction on our campuses 

 would be the adoption of policies which would provide schools 

 with incentives to finance such facilities on their own. The sug- 

 gestions made at a National Research Council meeting included 

 allowances for more rapid amortization and depreciation of 

 university-financed facilities. However, it seems to me that it is 

 also imperative that when a large project is undertaken, one 

 requiring construction of additional buildings and the acquisi- 

 tion of expensive equipment, we be assured of continuing sup- 

 port. This is particularly important to us now in engineering 

 and medicine. In both of these fields I believe we can anticipate 

 particularly rapid expansion in the near future. The high costs 

 of the laboratories and equipment needed for the expanding 

 research programs in these particular areas are inclined to 

 render universities somewhat cautious about undertaking proj- 

 ects on a short-term basis, with the possibility that future main- 

 tenance will have to be deducted from the funds now obtained 

 from non-federal sources and devoted largely to instruction in 

 the humanities and social sciences, arts and letters. 



There is one more aspect of this rapid expansion based 

 on contract which I think could be improved. I believe it is 

 unfair to ask some of our finest scientific investigators to be 

 continually on the alert for a place to land when their contracts 

 expire. As our programs expand, more and more of our scien- 

 tific personnel will fall into the non-tenure category, and we 

 will be at a severe competitive disadvantage in securing staff 

 members of the quality we will need. To meet this particular 

 problem we may find it necessary to expand greatly our practice 

 of establishing research professorships so that outstanding re- 

 search scientists can be attracted to universities to work without 



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