would only require a modest economic investment and 

 organizational structure change. Because the Legislative 

 Services Office in North Carolina has no partisan commitments, 

 the professional SET staff would likewise be non-partisan in 

 perspective. The same consideration would also apply to the 

 selection and hiring of technically oriented student interns to 

 augment the program. 



The professional SET staff would be integrated into, and a 

 part of, the presently existing professional staff structure of 

 the Legislative Services Office. This staff would have duties in 

 addition to those relating solely to the SET program. The 

 imposition of these additional duties on the professional SET 

 staff is necessary because of the modest budget and limited 

 number of staff people available to research issues for the 

 members of the General Assembly. The primary functions of the 

 professional SET staff would be to organize, coordinate, and 

 supervise the technically-oriented interns used in the SET 

 program. Also, the professional SSET staff would be expected to 

 be scientific counsel on a limited basis to the members of the 

 General Assembly and act as a clearinghouse for information flow 

 from SET sources within and without the State. At the threshold 

 level, the overall duty of the professional SET staff would be to 

 act as a conduit for the SET information going to the legislative 

 members and as a coordinator of information transfer from the 

 public and private sectors to the members of the General 

 Assembly. 



