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Establishment. There is
established within the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) the
National Institute of _____________ (“Institute”), an independent
agency reporting directly to the
Secretary of Agriculture. Agencies,
programs, and activities currently within the USDA’s Research,
Education, and Economics mission area and U.S. Forest Service R&D are
consolidated in the Institute.
Purposes. The Institute is established to meet the
purposes set
forth in Section 1402 of the National Agricultural Research,
Extension, and Teaching Policy Act of 1977 (as amended), and these
additional purposes:
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To provide and cause to be provided the
highest quality fundamental and applied research in the
food and
agricultural sciences; to maintain and enhance the health, social and
economic welfare, and security of the people of the United States;
and to preserve and enhance the environment.
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To provide
education and
extension
programs for the citizens of the United States in order to: enhance
the vitality of youth, families, and communities; ensure an
increasing quality of life; and provide a supply of highly educated
and trained human capital to meet the workforce needs of the food,
agriculture, and natural resource industries.
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To sustain and enhance the capacity of
the Institute and its land-grant and related university partners.
Capacity. The Institute shall
sustain and expand the capability of the
Department to carry out
intramural research programs and the capability of the Department’s
land-grant and
related university partners to perform
extramural
research, extension, education, and international programs. The Institute’s effort to
sustain and expand land-grant and related university infrastructure
shall include increased funding through traditional base funding
mechanisms (with appropriate matching requirements), with particular
attention placed on building infrastructure at
minority-serving
institutions.
Programs. The Institute’s portfolio of programs will be
collaboratively determined by the
Director, the Deputy Directors, and
the Institute’s land-grant and related university partners consistent
with recommendations from the
National Stakeholder Advisory Committee.
The portfolio will include robust intramural and extramural research,
extension, education, and international programs, to include a variety of
peer-reviewed
competitive grants programs. Open to all
eligible
institutions, these competitive grants programs may be single or
multi-institutional,
multistate, single or multidisciplinary,
subject-matter-directed, and/or functionally integrated as well as
those best suited for singular functions.
Director. The Institute shall be headed by a
Director who is an
eminent scientist/educator, nominated by the President, and confirmed
by the Senate for a six-year term to ensure continuity of programs.
The Director shall appoint a Deputy Director for each area of focus
and each such Deputy Director will coordinate the integrated funding
portfolio under their jurisdiction. The Director shall also assemble
other personnel necessary to conduct the work, business, and
administration of the Institute. The Director shall be advised by the
National Stakeholder Advisory Committee. The Director shall also
establish mechanisms for input from local, state, tribal, or regional
stakeholder groups as to the immediate, emerging, and future needs for
research, extension, education, and international programs. The Director shall ensure
a positive, interactive, and collaborative relationship is established
and enhanced among the Institute, its various units and personnel, and
the Institute’s land-grant and related university partners.
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