Administration officials outlined the program in a meeting with college educators who had expressed misgivings about President Bush's order last fall to restrict foreigners from pursuing certain technology and science areas.
Under the plan, Immigration and State Department officials will refer some cases to a new interagency advisory entity, the Interagency Panel on Advanced Science and Security (IPASS), which will review perhaps 1,000 to 2,000 visa applications a year of students or researchers from overseas who want to enroll in what the administration described as "uniquely available" courses of study in science and technology.
"The goal of IPASS would be to ensure that international scholars do not acquire uniquely available [technology at] U.S. institutions that may be used in a terrorist attack," said James Griffin, assistant director for social, behavioral and education sciences at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.
"We're not talking about all international students and all science areas, but, rather, those who are going into advanced programs," Griffin said.
The reviews would cover some of the students and researchers in two categories: Those seeking to come to the country to study and those who are already here and want to move into graduate or postgraduate areas of study with technology that is available only in the United States.
The administration still must decide what subject matter or research will fall under the restrictions but pointed to a State Department list of 16 topics already reviewed for visa applications.
Educators welcomed news of the plan.
"We're very encouraged by the meeting," said Jon Fuller, senior fellow at the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities. "The main emphasis is on using the process to deny visas to people who, because of their background and intended course of study, are suspect."
"We wanted a plan that focused on a major field of study rather than on a specific course, and we wanted the emphasis on stopping people before they entered the United States; this plan does that," said Terry Hartle, senior vice president of the American Council on Education, which represents 1,800 public and private colleges and universities.
In an hour-long meeting with administration officials, the educators offered their expertise to define what technologies are unique to the United States and could be turned to harmful uses.
The new system formalizes a process in place at the State Department regarding the possible illegal transfer of sensitive technology.
The State Department has a technology alert list that points to 16 high-tech areas that consular officers should be wary of when examining reasons for a visa applicant's planned visit.
Topics include study involving lasers, high-performance metals, navigation and guidance systems, nuclear technology and missile propulsion.
When President Bush issued a broadly worded directive to set up the plan last October, Hartle said, "We feared a highly invasive bureaucratic approach. The ultimate nightmare was that a government official would go through every course catalogue and identify courses that students from certain countries could not take."
The Bush administration plan "does not involve a check-off list for specific courses or a blanket exclusion saying that no students from Saudi Arabia can study religions," Hartle added.
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