July 23, 2014
To: Council on Federal Relations
From: AAU Staff
Subject: CFR UPDATE (14-No. 29, 07-23-14)
· Higher Education Associations Support House Passage of Three
Higher Education Bills
· Senate Panel Releases Discussion Draft of America COMPETES Bill
· White House Issues Agency Guidance for S&T in the FY16 Budget
HIGHER EDUCATION ASSOCIATIONS SUPPORT HOUSE PASSAGE OF THREE HIGHER
EDUCATION BILLS
A group of 17 higher education associations, including AAU, sent a
letter on July 22 to House Education and the Workforce Committee Chair
John Kline (R-MN) expressing support for three bills higher education
bills that the full House is scheduled to consider this week.
The bills are: the Advancing Competency-Based Education Demonstration
Project Act (H.R. 3136), the Strengthening Transparency in Higher
Education Act (H.R. 4983), and the Empowering Students through
Enhanced Financial Counseling Act (H.R. 4984).
The associations said, “We are particularly pleased that all three of
these bills received strong and widespread bipartisan support when the
Committee approved them.”
SENATE PANEL RELEASES DISCUSSION DRAFT OF AMERICA COMPETES BILL
In advance of introducing legislation this Friday, July 25, Senate
Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) has released a
discussion draft of the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2014.
The measure has similarities to the COMPETES Acts of 2007 and 2010,
and includes some the key themes and principles found in the Guiding
Principles for the America COMPETES Act Reauthorization, a document
endorsed by more than 100 organizations, including AAU, in 2013.
The draft measure is a five-year bill (FY15 through FY19), and
includes funding authorizations for the National Science Foundation
(NSF) and the National Institute of Standards and Technology, as well
as policy provisions for NSF, the White House Office of Science and
Technology Policy (OSTP), and science, technology, engineering, and
mathematics (STEM) education programs. AAU has highlighted a few of
the discussion draft’s provisions below.
Highlights of the Senate Commerce Committee Discussion Draft:
Authorization (NSF): The authorization levels for NSF are: FY15--$7.6
billion; FY16--$8.1 billion; FY17--$8.7 billion; FY18--$9.2 billion;
and FY19--$9.9 billion. (By comparison, the FY14 funding level for NSF
is $5.8 billion.)
Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences: Sense of Congress language
in the bill underscores the value of social, behavioral, and economic
science research. It includes many of the examples that the higher
education community has used over the last few years, including:
matching organ donors to patients; using predictive models to help
reduce crime; and using social science research to identify and remove
barriers to effective disaster evacuations.
STEM Education, Consolidation, and Re-organization (OSTP, NASA, and NSF):
· OSTP: The bill contains Sense of Congress language that
requires updates to the federal five-year STEM education strategic
plan, including providing an opportunity for public comments by such
interested stakeholders as institutions of higher education.
· OSTP: The bill contains Sense of Congress language that urges
the Administration to include federal agency scientists and engineers
in the development and implementation of STEM education curricula. It
says, “…any reorganization in federal STEM education programs that
diminishes that participation of Federal science agency scientists or
engineers should be avoided.”
· NASA: The bill requires the NASA Administrator to continue to
provide education and outreach opportunities, adding that any
reorganization of NASA education programs must consider the long-term
research and workforce needs of each mission directorate.
· NSF: The bill urges caution in consolidating or reorganizing
federal STEM education programs, saying that such changes should be
supported by program evaluations and by careful consideration of each
affected program’s contribution to agency and federal education goals.
The bill lays out a process for evaluating STEM education programs.
Administrative Burdens in Federally Sponsored Research: The bill
requires the OSTP Director to convene a subcommittee of the National
Science and Technology Council (NSTC) to develop and propose for
adoption by the federal science agencies recommendations for reducing
the costs and administrative burdens associated with federal research
grants. The subcommittee would also compile and report on
research-related regulations, and evaluate them on such criteria as
the severity and likelihood of risks addressed and the benefits to
safety. Once the evaluation is completed, the subcommittee would make
recommendations for reducing the administrative burdens imposed by
federal regulations. The bill also addresses the importance of
harmonizing regulations across federal science agencies.
Merit Review: The bill includes Sense of Congress language that
recognizes the value of NSF’s merit review process. However, it also
instructs the NSF Director to submit a report to Congress that details
steps taken to improve the merit review process, the justification for
any changes, and the effect of these steps on funding recipients. The
report is also expected to describe recent agency efforts to improve
transparency and accountability in the merit review process.
Broadening Participation: The bill directs the NSF Director to invest
in broadening participation in the STEM disciplines of
underrepresented minorities, women, and students in rural areas.
Research Experiences for Undergraduates: The bill requires the NSF
Director to support initiatives in the Division of Undergraduate
Education, with a focus on the first two years of undergraduate STEM
education.
Graduate Education: The bill requires the NSF Director to establish a
grant program to encourage the establishment, improvement, or
expansion of graduate traineeship programs at institutions of higher
education.
IGERT/GRF: The bill calls for equal treatment of the Integrative
Graduate Education and Research Traineeship (IGERT) and the Graduate
Research Fellowship (GRF) programs.
Commercialization/I-Corps: The bill directs NSF to continue to award
grants to promote and bring translational research to the marketplace.
It instructs the Director to expand the successful I-Corps program by
focusing on the professional development of graduate students.
WHITE HOUSE ISSUES AGENCY GUIDANCE FOR S&T IN THE FY16 BUDGET
The White House last week issued its annual memorandum to federal
research agencies on how they should set science and technology (S&T)
priorities in their FY16 budget requests.
As described by the American Association for the Advancement of
Science, the memo, released jointly by the Office of Management and
Budget and OSTP, includes themes for FY16 that “are variations on
themes from earlier years.” These include advanced manufacturing,
clean energy, climate research, information technology, biological
innovation, national security, and R&D for informed policymaking.
End of Document
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