48

In response to the question, "Who was the first to question you regarding your availability for membership on the advisory council?" 40.1 percent of the respondents said an employee of the Department of 'Health, Eduction, and Welfare, 32.1 percent said a White House staff person, 8.8 percent said a staff person of the U.S. Congress, 2.2 percent, a member of the advisory council, and 16.8 percent said "someone else." A majority of the members who selected the "someone else" category indicated that the initial contact regarding their availability to serve came from a state education official or the executive director of the advisory council (see Table 5, Page 48.)

TABLE 5

OFFICIAL AND/OR AGENCY RESPONSIBLE FOR DETERMING MEMBERS
AVAILABILITY TO SERVE ON A NATIONAL ADVISORY COUNCIL

49

The length of time members had served on a council ranged from

a minimum of two months to a maximum of 72 months (6 years). Approximately one-fourth (26.3%) of the members indicated that they had served less than one year, 24.1 percent reported having served for 12-23 months, 27.0 percent said 24-35 months, 13.1 percent indicated 36-47 months, 4.4 percent said 48-54 months and 5.1 percent reported having served for more than 55 months (see Table 6, Page 49.)

Age

50

Only three of the 137 respondents indicated that they were under

25 years of age and two out of every three members reported being over 45 years of age. A breakdown of the age of council members is given in Table 7, Page 52.

In 1968 members of education advisory councils were slightly older according to the findings of Cronin and Thomas. They reported that 12 percent of the members were under 40 years of age, 24 percent were between the ages of 40 and 49, 43 percent between the ages of 50 and 59, and 20 percent over the age of 60.1

In the 1969 study of advisory councils to the National Academy of Sciences, it was reported that only 3 percent of science advisers were 35 years old or younger. "At the same time," according to the report, "'old' scientists were heavily 'overutilized,' 50 percent of the advisers being older than 50 years, a range that included only 22

percent of the doctorate holders."2 The report describes the reason

for the underutilization of the young and overutilization of the old as follows:

...First is the fact that appointment processes...
depend heavily on multiple chains of personal acquaint-
anceship. The better known the individual becomes in
his field, the more likely he is to come under consider-
ation for an advisory appointment; and the more favorably
he becomes known professionally, the more likely he is
to be actually appointed.

1Thomas E. Cronin and Norman C. Thomas, Educational Policy Advisors and the Great Society (Washington, D.C.: The Brookings Institute, 1970) p. 668.

2National Academy of Sciences, Appendixes to the Science Committee (Washington, D.C.: National Academy of Sciences, 1972),

51

Second, there is unquestionably a preference among
appointing authorities for appointees who have matured
and become seasoned in their fields. It is probably
a sound preference, based on the feeling that if a
person is to be depended upon to judge larger affairs,
he should be expected to have demonstrated sound judge-
ment for a period of years in his own career as it has
developed and broadened. An individual's professional
and personal reputation among his colleagues takes time
to build; and the circle widens with the years, especially
the early years.

The Advisory Council on Women's Educational Programs is an example of a council which requires student membership. The legislation stipulates that the council shall be composed of "seventeen individuals, some of whom shall be students, who shall be appointed by the President, by and with the consent of the Senate...."2

Sex

Eighty eight or 64.2 percent of the members indicated that they are male and 49 or 35.8 percent indicated that they are female (see Table 7, Page 52.)

Education

Members of national advisory councils tend to be highly educated. Nearly half (45.3 percent) have Doctoral degrees and 70.1 percent have completed at least a Master's degree. Table 7, Page 52, provides the breakdown.

Annual Personal Income

More than half of the respondents (54.1%) indicated having an annual personal income of $25,000 and above, 27.7 percent reported an

1Ibid.

2Women's Educational Equity Act of 1974, P.L. 93-380, 20 U.S.C.

1866, sec. 408, 88 Stat. 554, 556 (1974).