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Category: Federal Agency Developments

COGR Releases Summer Update

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The Council on Government Relations (COGR) has released its summer 2009 update, which details new and proposed federal agency guidelines of interest to the higher education community. Topics discussed include:

  • NIH Stem Cell Guidelines
  • Scientific Integrity
  • IRB Accountability
  • NIH Financial Conflicts of Interest
  • Update on Recovery Act Activities and Issues
     F&A Rate Proposals and Negotiations – Strategies and Expectations
     Audit Implications
     Job Creation and Retention
     Section 1512 Reporting Requirements
     Summary of COGR Comment and Request Letters Addressing ARRA
     Department of Energy Cost Sharing Requirements on ARRA Funding for ARPA-E
     Direct Charging of Research Specialist/Administrative Personnel and 26% Cap
     Direct Charging of Research Specialist/Administrative Personnel – Help Requested
     ARRA and the Potential for Overreach by Federal Officials
  • Other Costing Discussions
  • F&A Limitations and Not-for-Profit Research Foundations
  • President Issues New Memorandum on Classified/Controlled Unclassified Information
  • MTAs Continue to Receive Considerable Attention
  • COGR Joins Other Associations in Statement on Visa Delays
  • Updates on Other CIP Issues
     Status of Patent Reform Legislation Remains Unclear
     NAS Committee on University IP Management and Metrics-Related Activities
     In Re Bilski Case Will be Heard by Supreme Court
     GAO Draft Report on March-In Rights to be Issued Soon
     Export Control Developments
     E-Verify Implementation Delayed Yet Again

COGR Report

Secretary of Education Calls for Measurable School Reforms

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FOR RELEASE:

June 8, 2009 

Contact: John White, Press Secretary
(202) 401-1576

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said today that school reforms should be monitored and judged by results that can be backed up by research proving their effectiveness.

Speaking at the fourth annual conference of the Institute of Education Sciences, Duncan told an audience of education researchers that supporting states’ efforts to build warehouses of data on student achievement is one of his top priorities.

“Education reform is not about sweeping mandates or grand gestures,” Duncan told the group of researchers who conduct research for IES, which is an independent section of the Education Department. “It’s about systematically examining and learning, building on what we’ve done right, and scrapping what hasn’t worked for kids.”

Under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, states must make assurances that they are making progress in four key areas of school reform:

  • Adopting rigorous standards that prepare students for success in college and the workforce;
  • Recruiting and retaining effective teachers, especially in classrooms where they’re needed most;
  • Turning around low-performing schools; and
  • Building data systems to track student achievement and teacher effectiveness.

States must report their progress toward completing these assurances in their applications to receive money under the $48.6 billion State Fiscal Stabilization Fund. The Department of Education will evaluate states’ success in meeting the four assurances when considering states’ applications for competitive grants under the $4.35 billion Race to the Top Fund.

Duncan told the researchers today that the data systems should inform education policies that will improve practices. He urged them to work on improving accountability models based on the growth of student test scores and developing fair models of compensating teachers and other school staff based on the achievement of their students. Ultimately, he added, the data should be used to ensure that students are on track to graduation and success in college.

“Hopefully some day we can track kids from pre-school to high-school and from high school to college and college to career,” Duncan said. “Hopefully we can track good kids to good teachers and good teachers to good colleges of education.”

Duncan’s speech is the first in a series over four weeks in which the secretary will detail the Department of Education’s policies on each of the four assurances.

DOE Issues Grant Solicitation for Wind Energy Consortia between Universities and Industry

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June 02, 2009

DOE has issued a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) entitled, “Recovery Act: Wind Energy Consortia between Institutions of Higher Learning and Industry.” This funding was originally announced by Secretary Chu on April 29. The FOA provides $24 million for the development of consortia between universities and industry to focus on critical wind energy challenges. The FOA and can be found at FedConnect by searching for the Reference Number DE-FOA-0000090.

This $24 million program initiative will fund consortia between institutions of higher learning and industry that will perform focused research on critical wind energy challenges. DOE intends to award 2-3 grants. The maximum range of a DOE award will be between $8-12 million. Applicants must provide at least a 10% cost share of total project costs including at least 20% for R&D. DOE funds will be provided under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 to preserve and create jobs, promote economic recovery, and provide investments needed to increase wind energy R&D. Continue reading “DOE Issues Grant Solicitation for Wind Energy Consortia between Universities and Industry”

President Obama Nominates Former Congressman to Chair NEH

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THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary
_________________________________________________________________
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 3, 2009

President Obama Announces Intent to Nominate former GOP Congressman Jim Leach as Chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities
WASHINGTON – Today, President Barack Obama announced his intent to nominate former Republican Congressman Jim Leach as Chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

President Obama said, “I am confident that with Jim as its head, the National Endowment for the Humanities will continue on its vital mission of supporting the humanities and giving the American public access to the rich resources of our culture.  Jim is a valued and dedicated public servant and I look forward to working with him in the months and years ahead.”

President Obama announced his intent to nominate the following individual today:

Jim Leach, Nominee for Chairman, National Endowment for the Humanities
Jim Leach served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives for the state of Iowa for 30 years. He founded and co-chaired the Congressional Humanities Caucus, which is dedicated to  advocating on behalf of the humanities in the House of Representatives and to raising the profile of humanities in the United States. The Caucus worked to promote and preserve humanities programs and commissions such as the Historical Publications and Records Commission. Mr. Leach and his co-founder, Rep. David Price, received the Sidney R. Yates Award for Distinguished Public Service to the Humanities from the National Humanities Alliance in 2005. During his tenure in Congress, Mr. Leach also served as Chairman of the House Committee on Banking and Financial Services (1995-2001), a senior member of the House Committee on International Relations and Chairman of the Committee’s Subcommittee on Asian and Pacific Affairs (2001-2006). In addition, Mr. Leach is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the Vice Chairman of the Century Foundation’s Board of Trustees and has served on the boards of the Social Sciences Research Council, ProPublica, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and the Kettering Foundation. Since leaving Congress in 2007, he has taught at Princeton University and served as the interim director of the Institute of Politics at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government.

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Several national associations, including the Association of American Universities and the National Humanities Alliace, have reacted positively to the announcement.

NSF to Move to Fastlane Only

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NSF Dear Colleague Letter

Dear Colleagues:

Due to an expected increase in Grants.gov submissions relating to the processing of Recovery Act proposals, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has authorized agencies to use alternative methods for proposal submission and acceptance. As you know, NSF is able to accept directly its full complement of proposals, both regular submissions and those additional proposals anticipated under the Recovery Act, using our long-established FastLane capabilities for proposal submission and acceptance. Therefore, in order to assist Grants.gov in the effort to alleviate system strain and increase system capacity, proposers will now be required to prepare and submit proposals to NSF through use of the NSF FastLane system.

Effective immediately, new funding opportunities issued by NSF will exclusively require the use of FastLane to prepare and submit proposals. In addition, NSF plans to revise existing funding opportunity documents to reflect this change and to remove all active application packages from Grants.gov APPLY. NSF will continue to post information about available funding opportunities to Grants.gov FIND. 

Detailed instructions regarding the technical aspects of proposal preparation and submission via FastLane are available at: http://www.fastlane.nsf.gov/.

If you have any questions regarding this change, please contact the Policy Office on 703.292.8243 or by e-mail to policy@nsf.gov.

Best,

Jean Feldman
Head, Policy Office
Division of Institution & Award Support
Office of Budget, Finance & Award Management