Montana University Regents concerned about use of NASA funding. Wants to know what UM's Northern Rockies Center for Space Privatization has to show for the $3 million it received from noncompetitive NASA grants
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| February 27, 2006 |  View for printing |
Montana Commissioner of Higher Education Sheila Stearns this week will call for an independent audit of a University of Montana space research center that UM created in 2003 without the required approval of the state Board of Regents.
Regents Chairman John Mercer wants to know what UM's Northern Rockies Center for Space Privatization has to show for the $3 million it received from noncompetitive NASA grants intended to promote the commercialization of spaceflight technologies.
Regents never approved of the center, which was on their September 2003 board agenda, but was pulled by UM President George Dennison and never discussed. * Since then, the center has not come before the board - and UM has continued, without authorization, to promote the center and to use part of the NASA funding to create a spinoff private company called the Inland Northwest Space Alliance.
Meanwhile, the space privatization center has yet to produce results for its original mission, which according to UM's top research administrators, was to “coordinate activities exploring scientific and commercial applications of spaceflight technologies, joint research and development projects, and related educational activities.”
The Inland Northwest Space Alliance (INSA) http://www.inwspace.org
By BETSY COHEN of the Missoulian
Full Story: http://www.missoulian.com/articles/2 ... /news03.txt
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7/23/02
BURNS ANNOUNCES $19M FOR MONTANA
VA-HUD Appropriations Go On To Full Committee With MT Projects Washington, D.C. – Montana Senator Conrad Burns today announced the Veterans Administration and Housing and Urban Development Appropriations Bill for fiscal year 2003 had passed out of its’ Subcommittee and would be voted on by the full committee with a total of $18,900,000 in Montana projects. Burns is a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee and the Subcommittee that oversees the VA-HUD appropriations.
U of M Northern Rockies Center for Space Privatization $1,000,000
http://burns.senate.gov/index.cfm?Fu ... 7&Year=2002
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February 12th, 2003 BURNS ANNOUNCES VA-HUD APPROPRIATIONS Montana Senator Conrad Burns announced the latest figures allocated to Montana projects in the VA-HUD section of the FY03 Omnibus Appropriations Bill heading out of the joint House-Senate Conference Committee.
U of M Northern Rockies Center for Space Privatization - $1,800,000
http://burns.senate.gov/index.cfm?Fu ... 2&Year=2003
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9/17/03
UM wants to build new NASA research center on campus
By BETSY COHEN of the Missoulian
The University of Montana is hoping to cash in on the exploration of space technologies with a new campus research center funded by NASA.
To move forward with the venture - called the Northern Rockies Center for Space Privatization - UM is seeking formal approval from the Montana Board of Regents at their Billings meeting next week. UM is expecting this week to receive a $1.78 million NASA contract to fund the center, and another $1.5 million from NASA early next year, said Wes Snyder, assistant vice president for research and development.
The bulk of the center's research will be conducted in an established laboratory facility on Reserve Street, which the program will rent for a nominal fee, Snyder said.
"The idea of the program is really about the commercialization of NASA technologies, and to use some of the innovations in the private sector," Snyder said.
http://www.missoulian.com/articles/2 ... /news05.txt
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September 25-26, 2003
ITEM 120-1002-R0903 Authorization to Establish The Northern Rockies Center for Space Privatization; The University of Montana - Missoula
THAT: The Board of Regents of Higher Education authorizes the establishment of The Northern Rockies Center for Space Privatization: The University of Montana - Missoula
Full Proposal: http://www.montana.edu/wwwbor/ITEM120-1002-R0903.htm
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9/30/03
Meanwhile, a plan to create the Northern Rockies Center for Space Privatization at UM was removed from the meeting’s agenda. The center would have overseen a number of research projects, including several involving nanotechnology.
Dennison asked that the center be removed from the agenda at the meeting Thursday. The proposal was accidentally put on the agenda. Instead, there was supposed to be a notice that the center was under consideration.
The center will be a scholarly and industrial-research center offering undergraduate, graduate and post-doctoral training in space research. It will also assist in forming spin-off companies in the field of space research.
Dennison said it is unclear whether the new center should instead be designated an office. An office would allow the University to collaborate with different organizations on the project, whereas a center would be its own separate entity on campus.
http://www.matr.net/article-8218.html
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Reader Comments:
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Ugh! As a UM alumnus and as someone who has struggled for years in Montana to develop and commercialize innovations, my initial take on this is that I would have loved to have access to a small percentage of these Federal dollars. But I am naive and and have little information other than what has been presented in the Missoulian. It is too soon to make conclusions and I look forward to dialogue that will end any confusion or questions regarding how the Fed dollars have been spent and what pockets the $ went in. Again, I'm naive... don't know the facts, but in print this looks bad. Of course staff salaries and benefits are a part of running a business. The questions in my mind have do do with the efficiency of getting Fed $ into the hands of tech-oriented entrepreneurs who really need it. -David |
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