Senate Seeks Input on Research Legislation
BU IN DC
Barbara Shinn-Cunningham of the College of Engineering spoke about the science of learning at a Capitol Hill briefing on June 24.
Vice President and Associate Provost for Global Programs Willis Wang spoke at the National Association of College and University Attorneys annual meeting and met with officials at the U.S. Department of State on June 29.
Ioannis Paschalidis of the College of Engineering attended a National Science Foundation workshop for the Smart and Connected Health program on June 30 and July 1.
Azer Bestavros of the Rafik B. Hariri Institute for Computing and Computational Science & Engineering discussed cybersecurity with officials at the U.S. Department of Defense and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security on July 8.
Swathi Kiran of Sargent College attended a White House event on precision medicine on July 8.
SENATE SEEKS INPUT ON RESEARCH LEGISLATION
The Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee announced Wednesday it is seeking input from stakeholders on federal research policies as it drafts legislation to update the America COMPETES Act, which governs activities at the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science, and the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. The Committee is interested in ideas for bolstering basic research, improving science education, and successfully transitioning research to the marketplace. The U.S. House of Representatives passed its own COMPETES update in May, but it was opposed by the scientific community due to proposals to sharply reduce support for social, behavioral, and climate research.
2016 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES TALK HIGHER ED
As the 2016 Presidential campaign begins to take shape, BU Federal Relations is taking a closer look at the candidates’ higher education proposals. This week, Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) and former Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley (D) discussed their plans to improve college education.
- In a July 7 speech, Rubio proposed reforming the accreditation system to include non-traditional education providers, having colleges publish the average salaries of their graduates, and automatically enrolling graduates with debt into income-based repayment plans.
- On July 8, O’Malley unveiled his plan to use federal funding to incentivize states to freeze tuition and increase support of higher education, allow student borrowers to refinance their loans, and triple the Federal Work Study program and make its student placements more career-focused.
GRANT NEWS YOU CAN USE
The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) released its Annual Program Statement (APS) for the Higher Education Partnerships for Innovation and Impact (HEPII) program. The APS seeks concept papers from higher education institutions to work on USAID priorities to achieve sustainable development outcomes and impacts. Funding to support projects under this APS will be allocated by USAID Missions, Bureaus, or Independent Offices, which can also add addenda to the APS on an ad hoc basis to request proposals for a specific mission, topic, or program. The agency will hold webinars on the APS in the months ahead, and concept papers will be accepted through June 29, 2016.