Institutional Grants of the National Science Foundation: The value of flexibility and autonomy in the use of these funds is appraised in a four-year review.
The simplicity of the institutional grants program, the government's recognition of institutional autonomy, and the flexibility with which the funds may be used have naturally gratified administrators of colleges and universities. Presidents and deans have had an opportunity to use the grants to foster programs they think deserve more financial support. They have been able to ease some of the strain caused by tight travel and library budgets, furnish equipment that would persuade a promising Ph.D. to accept an appointment or keep a valued professor from accepting a position elsewhere, or speed the establishment of a computing center to serve the entire institution.
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