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Category: Federal Agency Developments

President Obama Nominates Under Secretary of Education

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On April 1st, President Obama nominated Martha Kanter to serve as Under Secretary of Education -the nation’s top post-secondary education post. If confirmed, Dr. Kanter would be the first community college official to serve at or above the number 3 slot in the Department of Education.

Excerpt from Biography 

Martha J. Kanter is chancellor of the Foothill-De Anza Community College District, one of the most prominent community college districts in the nation, serving more than 44,000 students with a total budget of approximately $400 million. She came to California in 1977 after serving as an alternative high school teacher at Lexington High School, the Public Schools of the Tarrytowns and later at The Searing School in New York City. In California, she established the first program for students with learning disabilities at San Jose City College. She then served as a director, dean and subsequently as vice chancellor for policy and research for the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office in Sacramento. She then returned to San Jose City College as vice president of instruction and student services. In 1993 she was named president of De Anza College, where she served until becoming chancellor in 2003.

The full biography is available here.

Education and NSF Guidance on Stimulus Funds

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The Department of Education (ED) released today its much anticipated guidance to states on the state fiscal stabilization funds, which were created by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).  The set of documents published today on the stabilization funds includes:  1) a cover letter; 2) application for funds; and, 3) the actual guidance.  The complete set of documents is available on the ED ARRA website at the following URL:  http://www.ed.gov/policy/gen/leg/recovery/index.html.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) has also issued additional guidance on the use and disbursement of funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).  The most recent set of documents from NSF is available at the following URL:  http://www.nsf.gov/recovery/.

Source:  Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities (APLU)

ED Secretary Duncan to Announce First Round of Education Stimulus Funding

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Tomorrow Secretary Duncan will visit Doswell Brooks Elementary School in Capital Heights, Maryland, to announce the first round of education stimulus funding available from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Doswell Brooks is a 2008 Title I Distinguished School in the Prince George’s County school district, where administrators plan to use ARRA funds to avoid employee furloughs, layoffs, increases in class sizes, and other education program cuts. Fact sheets and guidance on how states and school districts can begin receiving this first installment of education stimulus funding will be available at www.ed.gov/recovery.

Source:  Department of Education

US Department of Energy Announces Key Administrtation Post

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The President made the following announcement this afternoon regarding Department of Energy nominations.

Cathy Zoi, Nominee for Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Department of Energy

In January 2007, Cathy Zoi joined the Alliance for Climate Protection as its founding CEO. Established and chaired by former Vice President Al Gore, the Alliance is a non-profit organization  spearheading a multi-year, multimillion dollar effort aimed at persuading Americans of both the urgency and solvability of global warming. From 2003 until joining the Alliance, Zoi served as Group Executive Director at the Bayard Group. The firm, recently renamed Landis+Gyr Holdings, is a world leader in energy measurement technologies and systems, with operations in 30 countries and revenues in excess of $1.2 billion. Her work focused on the key role of smart metering to improving energy efficiency in markets in North America, Europe, India, China , Brazil and Australia. Prior to joining Bayard, Cathy was Assistant Director General of the New South Wales EPA in Sydney, Australia. She was also the founding CEO of the NSW Sustainable Energy Development Authority, a $50 million fund to commercialize greenhouse-friendly technology, from 1996-1999. Under her leadership, SEDA launched the world’s first nationwide Green Power program (1997) and the world¹s largest solar-powered suburb (1998). Cathy has served on boards and advisory committees of a variety of companies in the clean technology sector. Cathy was Chief of Staff in the White House Office on Environmental Policy in the Clinton-Gore administration, where she managed the team working on environmental and energy issues (1993-95). She was also a manager at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency where she pioneered the Energy Star Program. Ms. Zoi earned a B.S. in Geology from Duke University and an M.S. in Engineering from Dartmouth College.

First Confirmation Hearing Set for Sebelius

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The Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee scheduled the first of two confirmation hearings on the nomination of Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius to be the next Secretary of Health and Human Services.  That hearing will take place on March 31.  The second hearing will be in the Senate Finance Committee, which also has jurisdiction over the nomination.  This hearing has not yet been scheduled.