New England Provosts Call for Broader Access to Publicly Funded Research

[Jennifer Heffelfinger <jennifer@arl.org>]

Alliance for Taxpayer Access
www.taxpayeraccess.org

Media Advisory
For Immediate Release
September 19, 2006

New England Provosts Call for Broader Access to Publicly Funded Research
Washington, DC September 19, 2006

Six public land-grant universities in New England, representing
six states and $700 million in annual research investments, have
issued a letter of support for the Federal Research Public Access
Act of 2006 (S.2695). The letter is signed by the Chief Academic
Officers from University of Connecticut, University of Maine,
University of Massachusetts Amherst, University of New Hampshire,
University of Rhode Island, and University of Vermont. This
brings the total number of leaders from the higher education
community who have spoken out in support of the Act to 125.

The legislation, originally introduced by Senator John Cornyn (R-TX)
and Senator Joseph Lieberman (D-CT), would require federal agencies
that fund over $100 million in annual external research to make
manuscripts of peer-reviewed journal articles stemming from that
research publicly available via the Internet. The bill is currently
under consideration by the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and

Issued on September 6, 2006 by the Council of Presidents - New
England Land-Grant Universities, the letter reads:

Dear Senator Cornyn,

As the chief academic officers of the six public land-grant
universities, in New England, we are writing to you in support of
the Federal Research Public Access Act of 2006. Our universities
enroll over 100,000 students. They confer about 17% of the
bachelor's degrees and 20% of the doctoral degrees in New
England. Collectively they invest more than $700 million per year
on research, largely with the support of federal grants.

Dissemination of results is an essential component of the
land-grant tradition of research and of our investment in
science. We share your concern that far too often the results of
research funded by the U.S. government are not broadly available
to researchers, scientists, and members of the public. In
addition to ensuring that this research is made available
quickly, it is also critical that the published information
remain broadly available for future use. We are pleased to see
that your bill is designed to support both early, as well as
long-term, access to scientific research results.

Open access to publicly funded research facilitates the candid
discussion needed to accelerate research, share knowledge,
improve treatment of diseases, and increase human understanding.
Your bill is a crucial step in realizing this goal, and we look
forward to working with you to secure the bill's passage.

The provosts whose names appear below have endorsed the FRPAA.
The deans and directors of the universities' libraries also
strongly endorse the FRPAA.

Sincerely,

Peter J. Nicholls, Provost and Executive Vice President for
Academic Affairs, University of Connecticut

Edna Szymanski, Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and
Provost, University of Maine

Charlena Seymour, Provost and Senior Vice Chancellor for Academic
Affairs, University of Massachusetts Amherst

Bruce L. Mallory, Provost and Executive Vice President,
University of New Hampshire

M. Beverly Swan, Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs,
University of Rhode Island

John M. Hughes, Provost and Senior Vice President, University of
Vermont

[--End of letter text--]