NASULGC's Farm Bill Provisions

462. FAS Int= ernships; University-Assisted Funding

Summary<= /o:p>

Authorizes a Foreign Agricultural Service internship= program for students in agriculture and related studies to serve as interns at FAS posts outside the = United States. Authorizes funding of $1 milli= on per year.

Legislative Language

SEC. 462. FAS INTERNSHIPS; UNIVERSITY-ASSISTED FUNDI= NG.

(a) PURPOSE.—The purp= ose of this section is to establish a new internship program to maintain and strengthen the competitiveness of the United States in international agricultural trade by authorizing the Foreign Agricultural Service to acc= ept students who are enrolled in agriculture and related studies in colleges = and universities in the United States to serve as interns for limited terms at FAS posts outside the United States.

(b) DEFINITIONS.—In t= his section:

(1) COLLEGE OR UNIVERSITY.—the term “college or university” means an institution of higher education as defined in section 102(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1002(a)); and

(2) FAS.—the term “FAS” means the Foreign Agricultural Service of the Departmen= t of Agriculture.

(1) IN GENERAL.—Each internship shall be planned and administered in accordance with a memorandum of understanding between the FAS officer-in- charge at the post and an appropriate senior academic official of the col= lege or university where the intern is a student.

(2) CONTENTS.—In orde= r to assure maximum benefit to the FAS office, the intern, the college or university, the United States Government, and the = United States citizens serv= ed by the FAS, the memorandum shall—

(A) establish the procedure= s and terms that will be followed in the relationship between the FAS and the college or university over a multi- year period;

(B) assign specific goals f= or the internship, and responsibility for the supervision of the intern and for = the evaluation of the intern’s performance; and

(3) SUPERVISION.—The responsibility for supervising and evaluating the work of an intern may be shared, at the discretion of the FAS officer-in-charge, with non-US citiz= ens employed by the FAS, faculty from the cooperating college or university, = or other Federal Government personnel outside the FAS.

(4) EXCHANGE OF LETTERS.--I= n the absence of a multi-year memorandum of understanding, a single internship = of a specific student may be arranged through an exchange of letters between t= he FAS officer-in-charge at post and the appropriate senior academic officia= l at the student’s college or university, specifying the terms of the internship.

(5) MULTIPLE AGREEMENTS.--A= n FAS officer-in-charge may accept interns under memoranda of understanding with more than one college or university, and a college or university may have entered into memoranda of understanding with more than one FAS post. Grou= ps of colleges or universities may jointly enter into memoranda of understan= ding with one FAS post for the placement of interns.

(d) FAS DUTIES.—The officer-in-charge at the FAS post shall—

(1) provide the intern with= work supervision, work space, support for security clearance, credentials, and other requirements to perform the assigned tasks for the FAS; =

(2) assist an intern, when possible, in identifying local housing and transportation that may be available at reduced or no cost; and

(3) pre= pare interns for their expected FAS responsibilities based upon planning betwe= en the FAS posts and cooperating universities.

(e) UNIVERSITY DUTIES.̵= 2;The college or university shall—

(1) select the intern, with= the concurrence of the FAS, and

(2) provide satisfactory assurances to the FAS officer-in-charge at the foreign post that the inte= rn has or will be provided sufficient financial resources to cover round-trip international airfare to the post, medical insurance while at the post, c= osts of food and lodging, local travel costs to and from the post, and any applicable stipend, as agreed upon by the FAS and the college or universi= ty.

(f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There are authorized to = be appropriated to carry out this section not to exceed $1,000,000 for each = of the fiscal years 2008 through 2014. Not more than 10 percent of funds appropriated to carry out this section in any fiscal year may be used to = pay administrative expenses of the FAS.