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the agricultural research facilities, despite the fact that it 

 was this issue that kicked off the call for infrastructural 

 reform. 



THE UAB PLAN FOR ACTION — EXTERNAL FACILITIES REVIEW PANEL 



The UAB recommends the establishment of a National External 

 Peer Review Panel to ensure accountability in facility planning 

 and operations. The Panel would be an arm of the USDA and 

 members would be appointed by the Secretary of Agriculture with 

 recommendations from the Chairman and Ranking members of the 

 Senate and House Agriculture Committees, National Academy of 

 Science and other user, academic, and agri-industry 

 organizations . 



The Panel would be composed of individuals from both the 

 public and private sector with expertise in science, engineering, 

 management, research and development, and technology transfer. 

 Panel members from Federal or University facilities being 

 considered by the Panel must be excused from that particular 

 evaluation and merit assessment. Administrative support should 

 come from research agencies at USDA to carry out the duties of 

 this Panel. 



Purposes of the Panel would be to evaluate the status and 

 progress of Federal and University agricultural research 

 facilities for the Congress and the Secretary. 



External Peer Review Teams 



In addition to the Panel, the UAB recommends establishment 

 of several External Peer Review Teams. The purpose of these 

 teams would be to conduct on-site evaluations of existing Federal 

 and University agricultural research facilities. Expenses for 

 the Team evaluation would be incurred by the Facility submitting 

 the proposal or being reviewed. These evaluations would be 

 submitted to the Panel for the merit assessment being conveyed to 

 the Secretary and the Congress. 



The Teams would include individuals from the public and 

 private sector in science, engineering, finance, business 

 management, marketing, and like fields, with expertise in 

 science/technical merit, management, research facilities, and 

 technology transfer. Team members of Federal or University 

 facilities being reviewed by the Team must be excused from that 

 particular evaluation. 



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