§ 2194. Education partnerships
(a)
The Secretary of Defense shall authorize the director of each defense laboratory to enter into one or more education partnership agreements with educational institutions in the United States for the purpose of encouraging and enhancing study in scientific disciplines at all levels of education. The educational institutions referred to in the preceding sentence are local educational agency, colleges, universities, and any other nonprofit institutions that are dedicated to improving science, mathematics, and engineering education.
(b)
Under a partnership agreement entered into with an educational institution under this section, the director of a defense laboratory may provide, and is encouraged to provide, assistance to the educational institution by—
(1)
loaning defense laboratory equipment to the institution for any purpose and duration in support of such agreement that the director considers appropriate;
(2)
notwithstanding the provisions of subtitle I of title
40 and division C (except sections
3302,
3501
(b),
3509,
3906,
4710, and
4711) of subtitle I of title
41 or any provision of law or regulation relating to transfers of surplus property, transferring to the institution any computer equipment, or other scientific equipment, that is—
(3)
making laboratory personnel available to teach science courses or to assist in the development of science courses and materials for the institution;
(c)
The Secretary of Defense shall ensure that the director of each defense laboratory shall give a priority under this section to entering into an education partnership agreement with one or more historically Black colleges and universities and other minority institutions referred to in paragraphs (3), (4), and (5) of section 312(b) [1] of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1058
(b)).
(d)
The Secretary of Defense shall ensure that, in entering into education partnership agreements under this section, the director of a defense laboratory gives a priority to providing assistance to educational institutions serving women, members of minority groups, and other groups of individuals who traditionally are involved in the engineering and science professions in disproportionately low numbers.
(e)
The Secretary of Defense may permit the director of a defense laboratory to enter into a cooperative agreement with an appropriate entity to act as an intermediary and assist the director in carrying out activities under this section.
(f)
In this section:
[1] See References in Text note below.