183 



The New USDA and Higher Education: 

 An Imperative 



INTRODUCTION: 



Mr. Chairman and members of the Subcommittee, I am Jim Mortensen, chairman of the 

 Academic Programs Section of the Board on Agriculture, NASULGC. I am very pleased to have 

 this opportunity to participate in these hearings regarding priorities for the USDA of the future. 



Like the function 1 represent. Academic Programs and Higher Education, this testimony will be 

 small but very, very significant 



RATIONALE: 



Recently the Federal Coordinating Council for Science, Engineering, and Technology (FCCSET), 

 and the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PC AST), issued their 

 reports dealing with the relationship of the federal government to research-intensive universities. 

 Two recommendations from these reports demand your attention. 



First from the PCAST report, "The federal agendes should ensure that tfieir programs 

 encourage universities to re-emphasize education rather than discourage them;" and from 

 the FCCSET report, "Federal agencies should examine the impact of federal research 

 support on university undergraduate and graduate education and identify strategies to 

 ensure against unintentional degradation of the educational mission and excellence of the 

 research-intensive universities." 



