- Education Department Announces Proposed Rule on “Religious Liberty and Free Inquiry”
- National Science Board Releases Report on State of U.S. Science and Engineering
- AAU, Associations Comment on NLRB Proposed Rule on Student Unionizing Rights
- AAU, APLU Comment on Draft NIH Policy for Data Management and Sharing and Supplemental Draft Guidance
- Upcoming Events
EDUCATION DEPARTMENT ANNOUNCES PROPOSED RULE ON “RELIGIOUS LIBERTY AND FREE INQUIRY”
The Education Department yesterday announced a proposed rule to implement two executive orders: the first addressing “equal treatment and constitutional rights of religious organizations and faith-based institutions,” and the second concerning campus free speech. To implement the first executive order, the rule would prohibit public institutions from denying faith-based student organizations “any of the rights, benefits, or privileges otherwise afforded to non-faith-based student organizations” and “clarify how an educational institution may demonstrate that it is controlled by a religious organization for purposes of Title IX.” The rule would implement the second executive order by adding conditions to grant funding, requiring public institutions to comply with the First Amendment and private institutions to comply with their own speech policies. Importantly, an institution would be deemed out of compliance with the rule’s speech-related provisions only if there is a final, nondefault state or federal court judgment to that effect. Comments are due on February 18.
NATIONAL SCIENCE BOARD RELEASES REPORT ON STATE OF U.S. SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING
The National Science Board this week released its 2020 Science and Engineering Indicators Report, “The State of U.S. Science and Engineering.” The report notes that the United States is no longer “the uncontested leader of science and engineering” as other countries, like China, continue to expand their scientific capacity. The report also found the U.S. science and engineering workforce grew faster than the overall workforce, a trend that has remained true since 1960. According to the report, many of these workers are born in other countries, and nearly 6 in 10 people in the workforce who hold PhDs are foreign-born.
AAU, ASSOCIATIONS COMMENT ON NLRB PROPOSED RULE ON STUDENT UNIONIZING RIGHTS
AAU Wednesday joined ACE, CUPA-HR, and three other higher education organizations to submit comments to the National Labor Relations Board about its proposed rule to establish that students at private colleges and universities who perform any services for compensation – including, but not limited to, teaching or research – in connection with their studies are not “employees” under the National Labor Relations Act and thus do not have the right to collectively bargain under the auspices of the NLRA.
In the comment letter, the associations thank the NLRB for its interest in applying its rulemaking authority to resolve recurring changes, based on case-by-case adjudication, to the Board’s position on student collective bargaining. The letter emphasizes that the proposed rule will “promote consistency and predictability for the higher education landscape.” The comments also support the rationale expressed in the proposed rule that students have a primarily academic (not economic) relationship with their educational institutions and that collective bargaining would have a detrimental effect on the relationship between students and their schools and encroach on universities’ control over academic matters.
AAU, APLU COMMENT ON DRAFT NIH POLICY FOR DATA MANAGEMENT AND
SHARING AND SUPPLEMENTAL DRAFT GUIDANCE
AAU and APLU recently submitted comments to the NIH Office of Science Policy regarding their Draft NIH Policy for Data Management and Sharing and Supplemental Draft Guidance. In the letter, the associations thank NIH for its engagement with the university community on data sharing. The letter also highlights the importance of achieving “the appropriate balance between public access and privacy to support and enable scientific inquiry.” The letter further outlines the associations’ concerns with certain aspects of the proposed policy, including: the broad definition of “scientific data;” potentially burdensome and vague information collection requirements; and local data management costs.
UPCOMING EVENTS
MARCH 8 – 10 NHA ANNUAL MEETING AND HUMANITIES ADVOCACY DAY; Washington Court Hotel, 525 New Jersey Avenue NW. Sunday, March 8, 1:00 p.m. ET –Tuesday, March 10, 5:00 p.m. More information and registration available here.
MARCH 30 – 31, COSSA SOCIAL SCIENCE ADVOCACY DAY; Spire Conference Center, 750 1st Street NE. More information and registration availablehere.