Education and Training of Marine Professionals 
Present Federal Policy 
Today Federal policy on the training of marine 
professionals seems guided by three general ideas.* 
First, Federal programs are intended to help ensure 
that the Nation has the professionals it needs, par- 
ticularly scientists and engineers to perform research 
important to national defense and general economic 
development. Second, the Federal effort has been 
tailored to fit within the existing, largely decentralized 
framework of American higher education. It has not 
been Federal policy to take over the operation of 
State and private schools or to establish alternative, 
nonuniversity centers for the training, though some 
advanced training of professionals is still provided 
within the Navy, the Coast Guard, and the civilian 
ocean agenies. Third, a more recent development in 
the marine fields, as elsewhere, is the new emphasis 
on training public policy specialists, including marine 
awyers, economists, analysts, and planners. 
It is important to note that the Federal Govern- 
ment is only one of several groups which determine 
the Nation’s marine education policies. Others in- 
clude the professional societies of scientists and engi- 
neers, State governments, and the universities them- 
selves. However, the Federal role is central, because 
of the importance of its financial support. 
Federal Support 
The importance of ensuring adequate numbers 
of scientific and technical personnel first was articu- 
lated in the creation of the Office of Naval Research 
and later in the National Science Foundation (NSF) 
Act of 1950. The 1950 Act, among other things, 
authorized NSF to provide fellowships and_ training 
grants to graduate students. A key assumption behind 
thi icy is the presumed connection between 
trained scientific manpower and the national R&D 
capability. One of NSF’s major responsibilities “is to 
assure an adequate supply of highly trained young 
scientists to maintain the strength of the Nation’s 
scientific research capabilities . . .”° Research, in 
turn, has been supported because of the role applied 
research can play in meeting civilian and defense 
needs and because of the role basic research plays in 
laying the groundwork for applied efforts.’° Most, 
though not all, Federal assistance to graduate stu- 
dents comes indirectly, in the form of research assist- 
antships rather than direct fellowships or loans. 
® This section discusses scientists, engineers, and policy special- 
ists. Maritime officers, another important group of marine pro- 
fessionals, are discussed in the next section. 
®U.S. National Science Foundation. National Science Founda- 
tion Annual Report 1975. Washington, D.C., Government Print- 
ing Office, 1975, p. 83. 
See chapter VII, Marine Science and Technology. 
The Sea Grant College and Program Act of 1966 _ 
also mentioned the importance of trained profession- 
als. Section 1121(b) of the Act stated “‘that it is the 
national interest of the United Siates to develop the 
skilled manpower, including scientists, engineers, and 
technicians, and the facilities and equipment neces- 
sary for the exploitation of these [marine] re- 
sources. ...” 
Historically, this emphasis on linking education to 
research has resulted in young science and engineer- 
ing professors being trained more as researchers than 
as teachers, though since 1952 NSF has operated 
some summer institutes for the advanced training of 
college teachers.1: Today the program is known as 
the NSF Chautauqua-Type Short Courses for College 
Teachers, conducted by the American Association for 
the Advancement of Science with support from NSF. 
In the 1960s, there was concern about the perceived 
lack of good marine science teachers. For example, 
in 1969 the staff of the Stratton Commission’s Panel 
on Education, Manpower, and Training observed:*” 
“In the past, most funds in marine science 
and technology went into research; not 
enough have gone into teaching, with the 
result that the Nation is now short of com- 
petent teaching personnel.” 
But in recent years there has been little discussion 
of téacher shortages, perhaps because graduate school 
programs expanded in the late 1960s, producing addi- 
tional teachers as well as more researchers. Also, 
over the years the Sea Grant program has improved 
college-level marine education through its curriculum 
development efforts. 
Role of the Universities 
Until the Second World War, almost all Govern- 
ment-sponsored research—and much advanced train- 
ing associated with it—went on in Government labo- 
ratories; to this day large laboratory systems are 
maintained by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
Administration (NOAA), the Navy, and other Fed- 
eral agencies ranging from the Department of Agri- 
culture and NASA to the Veterans Administration. 
Yet, for many years the Government has relied on 
outside institutions to provide the basic training for 
11U.S. Congress, House Committee on Science and Technology. 
The National Science Foundation and Pre-College Science Edu- 
cation: 1950-1975. 94th Congress, 2nd Session, Serial T, Wash- 
ington, D.C., Government Printing Office, 1976. 
22 Panel Reports of the Commission on Marine Science, Engi- 
neering, and Resources, Volume 1, Science and Environment, 
Part IV, Report of the Panel on Education, Manpower, and 
Training. Washington, D.C., Government Printing Office, 1969, 
p. IV-8. 
VII-7 
