National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences; Notice of Closed Meeting, 61464 [05-21132]
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61464
Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 204 / Monday, October 24, 2005 / Notices
Dated: October 14, 2005.
Anthony M. Coelho, Jr.,
Acting Director, Office of Federal Advisory
Committee Policy.
[FR Doc. 05–21131 Filed 10–21–05; 8:45 am]
Dated: October 14, 2005.
Anthony M. Coelho, Jr.,
Acting Director, Office of Federal Advisory
Committee Policy.
[FR Doc. 05–21132 Filed 10–21–05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4140–01–M
BILLING CODE 4140–01–M
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND
HUMAN SERVICES
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND
HUMAN SERVICES
National Institutes of Health
National Institutes of Health
National Institute of Environmental
Health Sciences; Notice of Closed
Meeting
National Institutes of Health Town Hall
Meeting on Ruth L. Kirschstein
National Research Service Award
(NRSA) Tuition, Fees and Health
Insurance Policies
Pursuant to section 10(d) of the
Federal Advisory Committee Act, as
amended (5 U.S.C. Appendix 2), notice
is hereby given of the following
meeting.
The meeting will be closed to the
public in accordance with the
provisions set forth in sections
552b(c)(4) and 552b(c)(6), Title 5 U.S.C.,
as amended. The grant applications and
the discussions could disclose
confidential trade secrets or commercial
property such as patentable material,
and personal information concerning
individuals associated with the grant
applications, the disclosure of which
would constitute a clearly unwarranted
invasion of personal privacy.
Name of Committee: National Institute of
Environmental Health Sciences Special
Emphasis Panel Review of Institutional
National Research Service Award (T32) and
NRSA Short-Term Research Training (T35)
Date: November 15, 2005
Time: 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.
Agenda: To review and evaluate grant
applications.
Place: Nat. Inst. of Environmental Health
Sciences, Building 101, Rodbell Auditorium,
111 T. W. Alexander Drive, Research
Triangle Park, NC 27709, (Telephone
Conference Call).
Contact Person: Leroy Worth, PhD,
Scientific Review Administrator, Scientific
Review Branch, Division of Extramural
Research and Training, Nat. Institute of
Environmental Health Sciences, P.O. Box
12233, MD EC–30/Room 3171, Research
Triangle Park, NC 27709, 919/541–0670,
worth@niehs.nih.gov.
(Catalogue of Federal Domestic Assistance
Program Nos. 90.115, Biometry and Risk
Estimation-Health Risks from Environmental
Exposures; 93.142, NIEHS Hazardous Waste
Worker Health and Safety Training; 93.143,
NIEHS Superfund Hazardous SubstancesBasic Research and Education; 93.894,
Resources and Manpower Development in
the Environmental Health Sciences; 93.113,
Biological Response in Environmental Health
Hazards; 93.114, Applied Toxicological
Research and Testing; National Institutes of
Health, HHS)
VerDate Aug<31>2005
15:19 Oct 21, 2005
Jkt 208001
ACTION:
Notice.
SUMMARY: The purpose of this notice is
to announce that the National Institutes
of Health (NIH) will hold a Town Hall
meeting to hear comments and insights
concerning possible revisions to certain
fiscal policies that govern the Ruth L.
Kirschstein National Research Service
Awards (NRSA), which comprise
institutional training grants (T32 and
T34s) and individual fellowships (F30,
F31, F32, F33). The meeting which is
open to the public will focus primarily
on the funding of educational costs such
as tuition, fees and health insurance
provided through institutional training
grants. The meeting will be held
November 30, 2005 in the Natcher
Conference Center, Room E1/E2 on the
NIH campus in Bethesda, Maryland.
Background: NRSA programs
currently support over 17,000
predoctoral and postdoctoral research
training positions mostly in the nation’s
academic laboratories. While the budget
for the NRSA programs grew smartly
during the five years in which the
overall appropriation for the NIH was
doubled, since fiscal 2003, the last of
the growth years, the appropriation for
NRSA training programs has grown
rather modestly. Given this reality, the
NIH must re-examine aspects of its
NRSA policies that may not be
sustainable in a period of limited budget
expansion.
The largest of the NRSA programs
funds institutional training grants that
use the T32 mechanism to support both
pre- and post-doctoral research training.
Currently, the direct cost funding of
these programs is segmented into four
categories: stipend, tuition/fees/health
insurance (referred to collectively as
tuition), travel, and training related
expenses. The funding levels for three of
these (stipend, travel, and training
related expenses) are stipulated and
controlled by NIH, although each can be
adjusted as fiscal circumstances and
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Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
program needs evolve. The funding for
tuition, on the other hand, is not fully
controlled by NIH; the funding for
tuition is governed by a formula tied to
the amount each institution requests for
this expense. The formula provides for
each T32 trainee the sum of $3,000 plus
sixty percent of the requested tuition in
excess of $3,000. This formula is used
to determine the tuition level provided
via each competing grant; that level,
once established for a given competing
grant, is used for the subsequent noncompeting renewal awards during the
project period. This formula has been
employed since fiscal 1996 and has
been modified once.
During the five year growth period,
the increased funding devoted to NRSA
activities was used for meaningful, and
long overdue, trainee stipend increases
and for covering some of the escalating
requests in the tuition category of
training grants. However, in fiscal 2004
and 2005, when there was limited
NRSA budget growth, the requests and
outlays for tuition continued to rise
substantially. Barring other adjustments,
the continuation of this trend in tuition
growth will result in a significant
annual decrease in the number of NRSA
trainee positions, and to fewer programs
supported by T32 training grants. Since
these outcomes could have a substantial
disruptive effect on biomedical research
training, NIH has frozen the tuition
expenses on competing renewals of T32
awards in fiscal 2006. (See https://
grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/
NOT-OD–05–059.html) Moreover, NIH
training officials have decided to study
various options for handling the funding
of trainee tuition in the future. The goal
of this effort is to find an approach that
equips the agency both to adjust to
budgetary challenges and to continue to
provide appropriate support to
institutions to help defray the
educational costs of NRSA trainees.
This town hall meeting is being held to
gather the views of the training
community on this issue.
Among the options that will be
studied are the following:
1. The current tuition formula could
be applied in conjunction with a ceiling;
the funds provided would be the
amount dictated by the currently-used
formula or the amount dictated by the
ceiling, whichever is less. The
magnitude of the ceiling would be based
on the fiscal resources available as well
as on applicable data. For the sake of
discussion, those offering comments
may assume the ceiling could be in the
range of $16,000 to $18,000.
2. A fixed allowance could be
provided for tuition; the same allowance
per trainee would be provided to each
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]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 204 (Monday, October 24, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Page 61464]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-21132]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
National Institutes of Health
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences; Notice of
Closed Meeting
Pursuant to section 10(d) of the Federal Advisory Committee Act, as
amended (5 U.S.C. Appendix 2), notice is hereby given of the following
meeting.
The meeting will be closed to the public in accordance with the
provisions set forth in sections 552b(c)(4) and 552b(c)(6), Title 5
U.S.C., as amended. The grant applications and the discussions could
disclose confidential trade secrets or commercial property such as
patentable material, and personal information concerning individuals
associated with the grant applications, the disclosure of which would
constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy.
Name of Committee: National Institute of Environmental Health
Sciences Special Emphasis Panel Review of Institutional National
Research Service Award (T32) and NRSA Short-Term Research Training
(T35)
Date: November 15, 2005
Time: 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.
Agenda: To review and evaluate grant applications.
Place: Nat. Inst. of Environmental Health Sciences, Building
101, Rodbell Auditorium, 111 T. W. Alexander Drive, Research
Triangle Park, NC 27709, (Telephone Conference Call).
Contact Person: Leroy Worth, PhD, Scientific Review
Administrator, Scientific Review Branch, Division of Extramural
Research and Training, Nat. Institute of Environmental Health
Sciences, P.O. Box 12233, MD EC-30/Room 3171, Research Triangle
Park, NC 27709, 919/541-0670, worth@niehs.nih.gov.
(Catalogue of Federal Domestic Assistance Program Nos. 90.115,
Biometry and Risk Estimation-Health Risks from Environmental
Exposures; 93.142, NIEHS Hazardous Waste Worker Health and Safety
Training; 93.143, NIEHS Superfund Hazardous Substances-Basic
Research and Education; 93.894, Resources and Manpower Development
in the Environmental Health Sciences; 93.113, Biological Response in
Environmental Health Hazards; 93.114, Applied Toxicological Research
and Testing; National Institutes of Health, HHS)
Dated: October 14, 2005.
Anthony M. Coelho, Jr.,
Acting Director, Office of Federal Advisory Committee Policy.
[FR Doc. 05-21132 Filed 10-21-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4140-01-M
