Research Apprenticeships Program Announcement of the Program.

The President today announced a program of apprenticeships in research laboratories for minority high school students, beginning in the summer of 1980. The program was developed by Jim McIntyre, Director of the Office of Management and Budget, and Frank Press, Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy, together with Special Assistants to the President Louis Martin and Esteban Torres.

The objectives of this research apprenticeships program are to stimulate broader interest in minority communities in careers in science and engineering and to establish individual working relationships between students and active researchers. The program is designed to strengthen the Nation's and the Government's efforts to recruit and sustain minority students in science and engineering fields. The numerical goal for 1980 is to employ at least 1,000 students in summer jobs through this program. The goal for subsequent years is 2,000.

Participating agencies are the Department of Defense, the Department of Energy, the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, the Department of Agriculture, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and the Environmental Protection Agency.

Individual researchers who wish to participate in the program will submit a supplemental request to existing or pending research grants and contracts. The request will state the kinds of work experience which can be offered, the routes through which interested students will be sought in local or other high schools, and the special activities that will be organized to provide educational enrichment beyond the work itself.

The student and the researchers will be expected to submit a brief evaluation of the experience, to guide assessment and expansion of the program.