White House Announces Executive Orders Tackling Climate Change, Scientific IntegrityToday, President Joe Biden is expected to sign executive orders aimed at addressing climate change nationally and internationally, restoring scientific integrity, and reestablishing the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology. According to a press release from the Office of Science and Technology Policy, the president’s scientific integrity executive orders will: direct agencies to make decisions using the best-available science and data; charge the OSTP to ensure and evaluate scientific integrity across all federal agencies; require all agencies that oversee, direct, or fund research to designate a chief science officer; and direct all agencies to designate a scientific integrity official. The president will also issue an order to reestablish the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, which will be co-chaired by the president’s science advisor. ( Association of American Universities - Jan. 27, 2021)
***See also, the following related news item:
- Biden Orders Sweeping Review of Government Science Integrity Policies - Science Magazine - Jan. 27, 2021
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AAU, Associations Urge Congress to Include $26B for Research Universities in Pandemic Aid BillAAU, APLU, AAMC, and ACE have sent a letter to congressional leaders to renew their request for $26 billion in critical aid for the scientists, engineers, and research operations that support America’s research enterprise. The letter notes that while Congress provided limited relief for colleges and universities in the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund, these funds cannot be used to address the impact of the pandemic on federally funded researchers and their research. The request is consistent with the bipartisan, bicameral Research Investment to Spark the Economy, or “RISE,” Act ( H.R. 7308/ S. 4286), which was cosponsored by more than 150 members of congress and endorsed by AAU and more than 320 universities and science, engineering, and business organizations. ( Association of American Universities - Jan. 27, 2021)
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Land-grant Universities Tell Congress They Lost $17 Billion During Pandemic
The Association of Public and Land-grant Universities’ 199 public research universities have lost $17.7 billion in revenues during the pandemic and had to spend another $3.1 billion to take safety measures last fall. However, they have only received $5.7 billion in help from the CARES Act and the COVID relief package approved in December, the association wrote members of Congress on Tuesday, asking for more aid. In addition, the association said its institutions are facing cuts in state funding. The public universities are also facing more losses, APLU wrote, supporting a request by a number of associations representing the range of colleges and universities for another $97 billion in coronavirus relief aid for higher education. In comparison, President Biden is proposing only $35 billion in additional aid for all of higher education. ( Inside Higher Ed - Jan. 28, 2021)
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AAU, Organizations Urge USCIS to Provide Flexibility for Optional Practical Training Applications Delayed by Pandemic
AAU yesterday joined 38 other higher education organizations on a letter to Department of Homeland Security acting Secretary David Pekoske urging the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services to provide flexibility to Optional Practical Training work authorization applicants due to processing delays caused by the pandemic. Among other requests, the letter asks that USCIS: grant conditional approval for I-765 OPT applicants; grant conditional work authorization extensions for STEM OPT applicants; drop penalties for OPT applicants that stem from a sudden address change for the USCIS lockbox; and more. The letter says that these provisions would help prevent graduates and students from missing course and employment start dates and potentially falling out of status. ( Association of American Universities - Jan. 27, 2021)
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Parents, Loans and FairnessAccording to researchers, the cost of higher education has raised the total amount borrowed by parents to pay for their children's college by about $30 billion in just the last few years. Little discussed in the debate over canceling student debt is the impact it would have on about three million parents . . . . That canceling student debt would bring help to parents as well as their children isn’t explicit in President Biden’s proposal to lop $10,000 from the balance of all student loans. Democratic Senators Chuck Schumer of New York, who leads the Senate, and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, have called for canceling $50,000 of debt. A spokeswoman for Warren said their plan would also include canceling the debt of parents. However, the debate over whether to cancel loans taken out by parents reflects the broader questions around debt cancellation. ( Inside Higher Ed - Jan. 28, 2021)
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GAO Criticizes Ed Dept. Scrutiny of For-profit College Conversions
The Education Department and the Internal Revenue Service do not sufficiently examine conversions of for-profit colleges to nonprofits, a General Accounting Office report found Wednesday. The exemptions without proper review could lead to improprieties, when officials or owners of a for-profit are involved in the new tax-exempt entity. The IRS is first supposed to examine the transactions. The Education Department is supposed to examine conversions approved by the IRS and strengthened its reviews in 2016, the report said. However, the department acknowledged to the GAO it does not follow up and examine for improper benefits for the former owners of a college once the conversion is approved. The GAO said it examined financial records of recently converted colleges and found some red flags missed by the department. ( Inside Higher Ed - Jan. 28, 2021)
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