CGA NEWS
(8-5-14)
To: CGA
From: A۰P۰L۰U Congressional and Governmental Affairs Staff
Last week, Senator Claire McCaskill (D-MO) and a bipartisan group of Senators released their campus sexual assault legislation, Campus Accountability and Safety Act (S. 2692). Highlights of the bill include: a requirement for campuses to have Confidential Advisors, campuses would be required to provide a minimum level of training to responsible personnel, institutions would be required to provide additional Clery reporting, campuses would be required to have memoranda of understanding with local law enforcement, and the requirement of a yearly campus climate survey completed by a representative sample of the campus’ student population. The legislation also includes extensive new penalties for violations of the bill. For further information, please see the McCaskill press release, one-page summary, and bill section-by-section (attached).
A companion bipartisan bill, HR 5354, was introduced in the House, led by Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) (press release). There are currently more than 20 House cosponsors of that legislation.
As the White House hosts the U.S. Africa Leaders Summit and Congress continues work on a bill to authorize Feed the Future, APLU joined the non-governmental organization (NGO) community in a statement of support for global food security legislation. Of particular interest to universities, the statement notes the need for the administration to coordinate with the academic and research community and include research and capacity development among its global food security priorities. APLU continues to work with the potential sponsors of the legislation, Senator Robert Casey (D-PA) and Representative Betty McCollum (D-MN), on language related to higher education’s priorities.
The Department of Energy (DoE) announced a new measure to increase access to scholarly publications and digital data that is a result of DoE-funded research. The DoE launched the Public Access Gateway for Energy and Science (PAGES), a website that provides free public access to accepted peer-reviewed manuscripts or published scientific journal articles within 12 months of being published.
The DoE Office of Science also announced new requirements regarding digital research data. Beginning October 1, all proposals submitted to the Office of Science will be required to include a plan to describe how applicable research data will be shared and preserved. Other DoE research offices will implement their data management plan requirements within the next year.