The Secretary shall promote and strengthen higher education in the food and agricultural sciences by formulating and administering programs to enhance college and university teaching programs in agriculture, natural resources, forestry, veterinary medicine, home economics, disciplines closely allied to the food and agricultural system, and rural economic, community, and business development.
The Secretary may make competitive grants (or grants without regard to any requirement for competition) to land-grant colleges and universities (including the University of the District of Columbia), to colleges and universities having significant minority enrollments and a demonstrable capacity to carry out the teaching of food and agricultural sciences, and to other colleges and universities having a demonstrable capacity to carry out the teaching of food and agricultural sciences, for a period not to exceed 5 years—
(1) to strengthen institutional capacities, including curriculum, faculty, scientific instrumentation, instruction delivery systems, and student recruitment and retention, to respond to identified State, regional, national, or international educational needs in the food and agricultural sciences, or in rural economic, community, and business development;
(2) to attract and support undergraduate and graduate students in order to educate the students in national need areas of the food and agricultural sciences, or in rural economic, community, and business development;
(3) to facilitate cooperative initiatives between two or more eligible institutions, or between eligible institutions and units of State government or organizations in the private sector, to maximize the development and use of resources such as faculty, facilities, and equipment to improve food and agricultural sciences teaching programs, or teaching programs emphasizing rural economic, community, and business development;
(4) to design and implement food and agricultural programs, or programs emphasizing rural economic, community, and business development, to build teaching, research, and extension capacity at colleges and universities having significant minority enrollments;
(5) to conduct undergraduate scholarship programs to meet national and international needs for training food and agricultural scientists and professionals, or professionals in rural economic, community, and business development; and
(6) to conduct graduate and postdoctoral fellowship programs to attract highly promising individuals to research or teaching careers in the food and agricultural sciences.
In awarding grants under subsection (b) of this section, the Secretary shall give priority to—
(1) applications for teaching enhancement projects that demonstrate enhanced coordination among all types of institutions eligible for funding under this section; and
(2) applications for teaching enhancement projects that focus on innovative, multidisciplinary education programs, material, and curricula.
To be eligible for a grant under subsection (b) of this section, a recipient institution must have a significant demonstrable commitment to higher education teaching programs in the food and agricultural sciences, or in rural economic, community, and business development, and to each specific subject area for which the grant is to be used.
The Secretary may set aside a portion of the funds appropriated for the awarding of grants under subsection (b) of this section, and make such amounts available only for grants to eligible colleges and universities (including the University of the District of Columbia) that the Secretary determines have unique capabilities for achieving the objective of full representation of minority groups in the food and agricultural sciences workforce, or in the rural economic, community, and business development workforce, of the United States.
An eligible college or university under subsection (b) includes a research foundation maintained by the college or university.
From amounts made available for grants under this section, the Secretary may maintain a national food and agricultural education information system that contains—
(1) information on enrollment, degrees awarded, faculty, and employment placement in the food and agricultural sciences; and
(2) such other similar information as the Secretary considers appropriate.
The Secretary shall conduct programs to develop, analyze, and provide to colleges and universities data and information that are essential to the evaluation of the quality of teaching programs and to facilitate the design of more effective programs comprising the food and agricultural sciences higher education system of the United States.
The Secretary shall conduct special programs with colleges and universities, and with organizations in the private sector, to support educational initiatives to enable food and agricultural scientists and professionals to maintain their knowledge of changing technology, the expanding knowledge base, societal issues, and other factors that impact the skills and competencies needed to maintain the expertise base available to the agricultural system of the United States. The special programs shall include grants and technical assistance.
Funds authorized in section 22 of the Act of June 29, 1935 (49 Stat. 439, chapter 338; 7 U.S.C. 329) are transferred to and shall be administered by the Secretary of Agriculture. There are transferred to the Secretary all the functions and duties of the Secretary of Education under such Act applicable to the activities and programs for which funds are made available under section 22 of such Act.
The Secretary shall establish a National Food and Agricultural Sciences Teaching, Extension, and Research Awards program to recognize and promote excellence in teaching, extension, and research in the food and agricultural sciences at a college or university.
The Secretary shall make at least 1 cash award in each fiscal year to a nominee selected by the Secretary for excellence in each of the areas of teaching, extension, and research of food and agricultural science at a college or university.
The Secretary may transfer funds from amounts appropriated for the conduct of any agricultural research, extension, or teaching program to an account established pursuant to this section for the purpose of making the awards. The Secretary may accept gifts in accordance with section 2269 of this title for the purpose of making the awards.
In this subsection:
The term "institution of higher education" has the meaning given the term in section 1001 of title 20.
The term "secondary school" has the meaning given the term in section 7801 of title 20.
The Secretary shall—
(A) promote and strengthen secondary education and 2-year postsecondary education in agriscience and agribusiness in order to help ensure the existence in the United States of a qualified workforce to serve the food and agricultural sciences system; and
(B) promote complementary and synergistic linkages among secondary, 2-year postsecondary, and higher education programs in the food and agricultural sciences in order to promote excellence in education and encourage more young Americans to pursue and complete a baccalaureate or higher degree in the food and agricultural sciences.
The Secretary may make competitive or noncompetitive grants, for grant periods not to exceed 5 years, to public secondary schools, institutions of higher education that award an associate's degree, other institutions of higher education, and nonprofit organizations, that the Secretary determines have made a commitment to teaching agriscience and agribusiness—
(A) to enhance curricula in agricultural education;
(B) to increase faculty teaching competencies;
(C) to interest young people in pursuing higher education in order to prepare for scientific and professional careers in the food and agricultural sciences;
(D) to promote the incorporation of agriscience and agribusiness subject matter into other instructional programs, particularly classes in science, business, and consumer education;
(E) to facilitate joint initiatives by the grant recipient with other secondary schools, institutions of higher education that award an associate's degree, and institutions of higher education that award a bachelor's degree to maximize the development and use of resources, such as faculty, facilities, and equipment, to improve agriscience and agribusiness education;
(F) to support other initiatives designed to meet local, State, regional, or national needs related to promoting excellence in agriscience and agribusiness education; and
(G) to support current agriculture in the classroom programs for grades K–12.
The Federal Advisory Committee Act and title XVIII of the Food and Agriculture Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 2281 et seq.) shall not apply to a panel or board created for the purpose of reviewing applications and proposals for grants or nominations for awards submitted under this section.
The Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Agriculture of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate a biennial report detailing the distribution of funds used to implement the teaching programs under subsection (j).
There are authorized to be appropriated for carrying out this section $60,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 1990 through 2012.
(Pub. L. 95–113, title XIV, §1417, Sept. 29, 1977, 91 Stat. 996; Pub. L. 97–98, title XIV, §1418, Dec. 22, 1981, 95 Stat. 1305; Pub. L. 99–198, title XIV, §1412, Dec. 23, 1985, 99 Stat. 1548; Pub. L. 101–624, title XVI, §1608, Nov. 28, 1990, 104 Stat. 3716; Pub. L. 102–237, title IV, §402(6), Dec. 13, 1991, 105 Stat. 1863; Pub. L. 104–127, title VIII, §805, Apr. 4, 1996, 110 Stat. 1160; Pub. L. 105–185, title II, §223, title III, §301(a)(1), June 23, 1998, 112 Stat. 539, 562; Pub. L. 105–244, title I, §102(a)(1)(B), Oct. 7, 1998, 112 Stat. 1617; Pub. L. 107–110, title X, §1076(c), Jan. 8, 2002, 115 Stat. 2091; Pub. L. 107–171, title VII, §7102, May 13, 2002, 116 Stat. 431; Pub. L. 110–234, title VII, §§7106–7109(c), May 22, 2008, 122 Stat. 1217, 1218; Pub. L. 110–246, §4(a), title VII, §§7106–7109(c), June 18, 2008, 122 Stat. 1664, 1978, 1979.)
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