Memorandum on Report "The Competition for Quality" by the federal Council for Science and Technology.
Memorandum to Department and Agency Heads:
The federal Council for Science and Technology has transmitted to me a report entitled "The Competition for Quality" which sets forth steps urgently needed to assure competence within the Government establishment to carry out its program of scientific research and development. With the increasing importance of science and technology in developing our military defenses, in achieving our foreign policy objectives, and in sustaining the health and welfare of every citizen, the federal Government must attract and retain its share of talented scientists and engineers at all levels.
The proposals I submitted to the Congress for pay reform which embody the principles of comparability with salaries in the private sector and internal adjustment to permit rewards for competence meet the recommendations contained in Part I of the report.
In Part II the Council suggests additional steps that should be taken to develop a more favorable environment for science within the Government. These are largely administrative in character. I am attaching this portion of the report. All practicable action should be taken to implement these recommendations. The Special Assistant to the President for Science and Technology will report to me from time to time as to the measures which have been taken.
JOHN F. KENNEDY
Note: The report was based on a study by a panel under the chairmanship of Dr. Allen V. Astin, Director of the National Bureau of Standards. Part I, dated January 1962 (48 pp. processed), deals with salaries; Part II, dated April 1962 (20 pp. processed), with non-salary factors affecting the selection and retention of superior personnel in the scientific service of the federal Government.
Part II of the report urges that scientists and engineers be accorded greater participation in decision making and that Government laboratory directors be given more technical responsibility and administrative authority. Actions are also suggested for improving public information about the opportunities and challenges offered by science and technology in the public service and for developing within the Government short and long-term career opportunities for scientists and engineers. Other recommendations deal with increasing the flexibility of working schedules, the need for more relocation assistance for transferred employees, and the desirability of government-wide policy guidelines regarding official travel and attendance at scientific meetings.
John F. Kennedy, Memorandum on Report "The Competition for Quality" by the federal Council for Science and Technology. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/235540