Final Report to the IEEE-USA
Government Fellowship Committee

Executive Summary

I accepted the nationally competitive Fellowship in Washington, D.C. primarily to learn about, and contribute to, the federal policy making process by being as close to it as I could get. By being there, I certainly have a much greater appreciation for the political process, the commitment of well informed policy makers, and how public opinion and the media can and do influence the ultimate outcomes. Policy is not crafted in vacuum; rather a confluence of individual and collective voices, as well as facts and data help shape policy decisions and budget priorities.

Initially I was chosen as a Congressional Fellow (sponsored by the Institution of Electrical and Electronic Engineers, IEEE) and had three offers to work on the Capitol Hill. However, I decided to work as an Executive Fellow at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP). It was all unplanned. In retrospect, when I first went to OSTP for a briefing by Dr. Neal Lane, Assistant to the President on Science and Technology, during our fellowship orientation, I had the sense then that I was going to be lot closer to the policy process and the learning would be a lot more intensive and interactive at OSTP than on the Hill. Here I have come across a great diversity of issues, learned something new almost every day, and often had a chance to contribute to the debate. The experiences and learning are as good as the people one works with, and OSTP has certainly stood very high in those respects.

The major focus of my fellowship tenure at OSTP has been K-12 science and mathematics education and its relationship to, and impact on, higher education and workforce issues. There are many indicators that not all is well in our nation’s public schools. For example, students’ achievements have not matched our expectations, and on aggregate fewer students are majoring in science and engineering. Both are impacting the nation’s workforce in quantity and quality. Although federal role in public education is limited, I believe it is significant in leveraging change and supporting long-term projects with measurable national impact.

From a policy perspective the Washington experience is unique. There facts are balanced against politics and the public good, and the tug of war is played and compromises reached between the Legislative and the Executive branch. It is not uncommon that many issues are debated and voted based on differences in political philosophy and ideologies rather than on substance or merit. As the saying goes, all politics is local; the passage of a particular bill often depends whether it will draw applause from voters at home.

In summary, the networking, learning and exposure to issues during my Fellowship tenure in Washington have been of very practical significance. Working at OSTP has been like being a research student all over again. I have developed a mentor-mentee relationship with colleagues and my perspective has become more global on many education, science and technology related issues than ever before.

OSTP and the Work Environment

OSTP is a part of the Executive Office of the President with its key functions as follows;

1. Advising the President on fast-breaking science and technology (S&T) developments with significant economic, social and/or political impact here or internationally.
2. Coordinating the R&D efforts of various agencies to ensure that the taxpayers get the biggest bang for their S&T investments; and
3. Promoting strategic partnerships among S&T stakeholders including State and local governments, industry, academia and various international players.

In a nutshell, OSTP with its very limited staff and budget (about $5 million/year) covers the world when it comes to S&T developments and as they relate to national security, economic development and international affairs. Dr. Neal Lane holds the distinction of being Assistant to the President on Science and Technology and Director of OSTP. Within OSTP there are four distinct policy areas: Environment, National Security and International Affairs, Science, and Technology. I was assigned to the Science Division under Associate Director Dr. Arthur Bienenstock.

On day to day, I worked with many professional societies and federal agencies as the need arose. In this respect, the name White House meant a lot in getting the information expeditiously. Generally, the culture at OSTP was to have any given information by "yesterday", and most agency folks fully understood that (not always appreciated, however) and worked with us as best as they could.

Almost everyone working at OSTP has to submit to a top-secret clearance and background check going back 15 years or 18 years of age. Everyone has to go through metal detectors, and punch their code to get in the Executive Office of the President, and thus there is complete account of when you went in and out. In other words, the security is very tight and all communication systems are well protected. For instance, one has to go through three different codes to access communication system from outside of the Executive Office complex. There have been some other perks such as an opportunity to dine in the White House mess, access to several functions in the White House south lawn, and having a tour of the West Wing and the Oval Office.

What is really great about OSTP is that the people are very creative and intelligent, and have very broad vision. Dr. Lane and the Associate Directors have a great reputation for being very sharp, articulate and easy going. There’s a sense of history and a definite sense of teamwork, camaraderie, identity and a culture of work ethics about the place.

In many other respects, OSTP is not the easiest place to work in, however. People’s roles are not very well defined which has its pluses and minuses; so it is difficult for setting a structured pace but at the same time you have flexibility of venturing into other things. For instance, I attended many AAAS sponsored seminars, briefings on the Hill, workshops and conferences that were S&T or education related but not necessarily germane to my project(s) at OSTP. Some issues can be very broad and demanding, and occasionally determined by outside forces. Most people put in long hours, and many times, it seems as if your work disappears in a big ‘sink’ without any further feedback. Some days you feel excited about your accomplishments and on other days you leave disappointed and that is the way life is at OSTP. Some days you come in with plans to do certain things but those plans may quickly evaporate because of other priorities. The turnover in people is ferocious—sometimes it seems that people are leaving just when we get to know them. The turnover also means that there is constant learning by new staff from colleagues. However, the pace of work never slowed down.

It’s probably a little harder to quantify what all I did at OSTP on day-to-day basis. Despite having top-secret clearance, I did not work on any defense related or secret stuff. Nevertheless, I had access to sensitive information such as President’s address that he gave at Caltech to release his S&T budget for FY 2001.We were also asked to send suggestions for President’s State of the Union address. Our input was constantly sought on national issues that may or may not have been ever made public.

Responsibilities at OSTP

On the official roster of the OSTP’s Science Division, I was responsible for Census 2000, Children’s Initiative, Department of Labor (wage issues), Education at all levels (including education technology and science education), Interagency Education Research Initiative (an initiative of OSTP), Fundamental Science, Mathematics and Science Education Standards, Metric Conversion, PCAST (President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology) Educational Technologies Panel, Project Kaleidoscope, Science/Technology Literacy, Social and Behavioral Sciences issues, and Youth/children issues. I contributed many of these issues in varying proportions depending on the urgency and priority, often dictated by outside forces. One of the issues that is not explicitly included on the list but I contributed significantly is the workforce issue, particularly, those requiring scientific and technical background. A summary of significant tasks and projects is included as Appendix A. I fully participated in the Glenn Commission hearings (report released on September 27,2000) as an OSTP representative because Dr. Lane, Assistant to the President, was an ex-officio member of the Glenn Commission. I also worked very diligently on getting a Presidential Proclamation on National Teacher Appreciation Week but that never came to fruition because of a variety of reasons including the politics.

Professional Benefits

This professional development opportunity and experience at OSTP was unique and different than what I ever had before. This experience led to a substantive change in my perspective on many education issues i.e. looking at them from national policy perspective and not just a local perspective. The ongoing interaction and networking with think tanks, professional societies, federal agencies, and staff at the Capitol Hill made me rethink and change my own views and beliefs on issues. Participation in discussions both within OSTP staff meetings and various Commission meetings provided global view on issues. Learning about and contributing to the policy-making process and how politics enters in decision making in Washington has been a significant benefit. The whole political process and functional relationship between the Executive branch and the Capitol Hill was another important learning experience.

Additional Professional Work

While engaged in policy issues as an IEEE Executive Fellow at OSTP, I maintained many of my regular professional responsibilities. The examples include;

1. DEIS/IEEE Conference on Electrical Insulation and Dielectric Phenomena where I organized a technical session (Austin, TX in October 1999).
2. Technical program committee meeting for CEIDP in March 2000 at New Port Beach, VA.
3. WestEd’s Leadership Academy meeting in Orlando, FL in April 2000.
4. Tri-State Meeting of Science Academies at MSUM in April 2000. I was the local arrangements chair for the conference.
5. National meeting of Physics department chairs in Washington in April to keep myself abreast of disciplinary issues.
6. Councilor’s meeting and the national conference sponsored by the Council on Undergraduate Research at Wooster, Ohio in June 2000. I organized and chaired a panel discussion on promoting undergraduate research.

SUMMARY OF TASKS AND PROJECTS AT OSTP

1. Preparation of Science and Mathematics (k-12) Teachers
1. Glenn Commission (National Commission on Mathematics and Science Teaching for the 21^st Century) meetings and hearings (Report released on September 27, 2000)
2. Federal funding: Internal issues and monitoring developments on the Hill and communicating with agencies.
3. Monitoring existing programs
4. Congressional hearings and tracking Ehler’s bills (The National Science Education Acts of 2000) to improve Science/Math education and provide additional resources to NSF, Dept. of ED, and tax benefits/incentives to teachers and corporations
5. Visited institutions in California to assess their teacher preparation initiatives in UCLA, Cal State, private and community colleges.
6. Participation in meetings and discussion groups.
7. Collaboration between schools of arts/sciences/engineering and schools of education at colleges and universities
8. Presidential proclamation to honor teachers (prepared by me but still pending)
2. Minority Serving Institutions
1. Status and review of federal programs/funds to strengthen programmatic capacity building of Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Hispanic Serving Institutions and Tribal Colleges
2. Their role in workforce preparation for the 21^st century

3. Two-year (Community and Technical) Colleges
1. Capacity building issues and their role in workforce preparation, particularly science and mathematics teachers and technicians for information technology industry
2. Seamless collaboration with K-12 as well as four year institutions
4. Workforce Related Issues
1. Guest workers from overseas (H1B visas) and their impact on national economy/IT industry
2. White House workforce report (Ensuring a Strong U.S. Scientific, Technical and Engineering Workforce in the 21^st Century, April 2000)
3. A Nation of Opportunity: Building America’s 21^st Century Workforce; A report issued by 21^st Century Workforce Commission (June 2000)
4. Report of the Morella Commission (Advancement of Women and Minorities in Science, Engineering and Technology Development, July 2000)
5. Education (kindergarten- graduate level) Issues
1. Preparing briefs and Questions/Answers
2. Keeping track of funding and related bills on the Hill
3. Gathering and analyzing data and information as needed
4. Meeting with federal agencies as needed
5. OSTP correspondence related to education
6. TIMSS-R (repeat) Technical Review Panel (results due in December 2000)
7. Math-wars (controversy on the Math education programs that were evaluated by an Expert Panel under Congressional mandate)
8. NSF’s Graduate- k12 fellowships program
9. Data and statistics on degrees granted in Sciences, Mathematics and Engineering and their long term impact on education and workforce in the nation.

The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers - United States of America