- Supreme Court Blocks ED from Partially Enforcing New Title IX Rule in 10 States
- AAU, Associations Submit Comments on NIH Draft Public Access Policy
- AAU, Associations Submit Comments on DOE’s Proposed COI, COC Policy Requirements
- AAU, Associations Ask DOE to Engage with the Research Community Before Implementing New Research Security Review Processes
- DOD Awards $46.8 Million in Grants Under Minerva Research Initiative
- Volunteers Needed for CFR Annual Meeting Planning Committee
- Save the Dates: 2025 CFR Monthly Meeting Schedule
- Job Announcements
- Upcoming Events
Supreme Court Blocks ED from Partially Enforcing New Title IX Rule in 10 States
Last Friday, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to lift lower court orders preventing the Department of Education from enforcing its 2024 final rule on Title IX regulations in 10 states (Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, Ohio, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia). The rule strengthens protections for LGBTQI+ students by prohibiting discrimination and harassment based on sexual orientation, gender identity, and sex characteristics. The Biden administration had sought to partially stay the lower courts’ injunctions and to enforce portions of the rule that were not under dispute, but the Supreme Court ruled otherwise.
ED is now blocked from enforcing the rule due to various court injunctions in at least 26 states, including the 10 states subject to the Supreme Court’s decision, until lawsuits challenging the regulations are resolved.
AAU, Associations Submit Comments on NIH Draft Public Access Policy
Last week, AAU joined AAMC, APLU, and COGR in submitting comments in response to a request for information issued by the National Institutes of Health on its draft public access policy. The policy is informed by the NIH Public Access Plan released in February 2023 and the 2022 White House Office of Science and Technology Policy memorandum on ensuring free and equitable access to federally funded research. The agency is proposing to implement the updated policy on October 1, 2025.
The comment letter emphasized that the associations strongly support the NIH’s “goal of providing public access to scholarly publications resulting from NIH-funded research.” The associations raised several concerns, however, about issues the policy’s scope and effective date; publication costs associated with implementing the policy; accessibility requirements; and government use licenses and rights. “Researchers will need clear guidance and the appropriate resources and support to successfully navigate this change,” the letter noted, continuing: “We appreciate NIH’s commitment to working with the research community to prepare for the implementation of the new policy.”
AAU, Associations Submit Comments on DOE’s Proposed COI, COC Policy Requirements
AAU joined APLU and COGR last week in submitting comments to the Department of Energy in response to its notice of proposed rulemaking on “Financial Assistance Regulations – Conflict of Interest and Conflict of Commitment Policy Requirements.”
The comments raised two primary concerns about the NPRM – first, that the NPRM’s requirement for institutions to develop a standalone conflict of commitment (COC) policy is duplicative of the agency’s efforts to implement National Security Presidential Memorandum 33 and is therefore not necessary; and second, the NPRM substantially differs from DOE’s interim conflict of interest (COI) policy and existing Public Health Service regulations. “The current approach undercuts the federal government’s efforts (via OSTP) to bring cross-agency harmonization to regulations concerning COI and COC as outlined in the NSPM-33 Implementation Guidance,” the letter noted, continuing: “Further, it adds significant burdens to awardee institutions that will need to develop DOE-specific policies and processes, as well as creating confusion and added burden for researchers who receive funding from multiple funding agencies.”
AAU, Associations Ask DOE to Engage with the Research Community Before Implementing New Research Security Review Processes
AAU joined AAAS, APLU, APS, and COGR in sending a letter to Deputy Secretary of Energy David M. Turk requesting that “the Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Office of Research, Technology and Economic Security (RTES) fully engage with – and solicit feedback from – the research community broadly prior to implementation of the [research security] risk matrices currently under development.”
As the letter explained, RTES is expected to publish its new research security review processes in September “without soliciting input on its proposed risk matrices from key stakeholders or offering any formal period for public comment.” The associations noted that, while they support DOE’s efforts to develop and implement the processes, RTES’s lack of engagement with the research community “will likely result in a weaker research security review process that lacks buy-in from the research community and also may be difficult to implement.” The letter urged DOE to “fully engage the research community in its effort to implement transparent, risk-based research security reviews.”
DOD Awards $46.8 Million in Grants Under Minerva Research Initiative
The Department of Defense announced earlier this week that it has awarded “$46.8 million in grants to 19 university-based faculty teams under its Minerva Research Initiative.” The awards “support basic research in social and behavioral sciences on topics relevant to U.S. national security.”
Faculty teams at Duke University; Emory University; the Georgia Institute of Technology; New York University; the University of Chicago; the University of Maryland; the University of Michigan; the University of Pennsylvania; the University of Washington; and Washington University in St. Louis are among the winners.
Volunteers Needed for CFR Annual Meeting Planning Committee
AAU is looking for volunteers to serve on the CFR Annual Meeting Planning Committee. The committee will help plan the 2025 CFR Strategic Planning Conference, which will be held January 12-14 in San Diego, CA. The committee will meet biweekly until the conference; volunteers will help shape the agenda, determine topics for strategic discussions, and identify guest speakers. Please fill out this form to express your interest in volunteering.
Save the Dates: 2025 CFR Monthly Meeting Schedule
The 2025 CFR monthly meeting schedule is now available (login required); the page also includes a list of upcoming AAU constituent group meetings. The CFR Strategic Planning Conference will be held January 12-14, 2025, in San Diego, CA, at the Hilton San Diego Bayfront Hotel.
Job Announcements
The University of Iowa Office of Governmental Relations is seeking an associate director of federal relations to join its DC office. The associate director will be responsible for communicating institutional priorities, developing and maintaining positive working relationships with Capitol Hill and federal agencies, and raising the profile of the University of Iowa within the federal establishment.
Just a reminder that you can submit job announcements for inclusion in the CFR Update using this form: http://aau.cfr-job-postings.alchemer.com/s3/.
Upcoming Events
AUGUST 28 INNOVATION TASK FORCE VIRTUAL MEETING; 2:00 p.m. ET; speaker: Department of Energy Office of Critical and Emerging Technologies Director Helena Fu; register here.
SEPTEMBER 17 CFR MONTHLY MEETING; 10:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. ET; register here.
SEPTEMBER 19 HUMANITIES TASK FORCE VIRTUAL MEETING; 3:00 p.m. ET; speakers: House Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies professional staff members Maggie Earle and Rita Culp; register here.
SEPTEMBER 24 GOLDEN GOOSE AWARD CEREMONY AND RECEPTION; 5:30 p.m. ET; Coolidge Auditorium at the Library of Congress; invitations will be sent soon.
CFR EVENT CALENDAR: Information about CFR events, including task force meetings and monthly meeting dates, can be found here.