NSF Under the Microscope

The grant that I work on is still being held up by the congressional budget process.  It's not just the debt cap and taxes that are at issue.  It's also waste and mismanagement at the National Science Foundation that are being held under scrutiny by some on Capitol Hill.  U.S. Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK) has recently published a report called NSF: Under the Microscope calling the agency out on some of the issues that he sees are bogging it down and hurting its credibility.  I definitely don't have the time or ability to provide an analysis of this report, but I just want to share it in case anyone wants to read it for themselves.  It has some good points, but the main thing that I think needs to be understood in research, human resources, and education in science and technology fields as well as any other is that as educators and student support and development professionals is that we are not creating widgets or machine parts.  We're in the process of helping individuals find their way into a very complex economy and of course the job market.  Everyone can agree that the United States needs to increase graduation rates of scientists, engineers, etc.  But we are trying to do that in a way that is based on sound research, best practices, and distinctly American attitudes about fairness and equal opportunity.  I would love it if politics would keep its distance from education, although I know it can't.  I hope that as discussions and negotiations go forward we remember that the NSF is an important tool in not only supporting scientific research, but it is also helping individuals - particularly women, minorities, and persons with disabilities - have the same opportunities to pursue careers in fields where they are so underrepresented.  Diversity, in the end, has always been a great asset to countries as well as the world itself.  I hope that the NSF can continue to do good work in this area.