CONTENTS:
- Mary Sue's Desk: Our Collective Efforts to Improve Undergraduate Education
- Congress Fails to Reach Immigration Deal
- Administration's FY19 Budget Summary and Materials Available
- AAU Submits Higher Ed Accountability Comments to Senate HELP Committee
- AAU, Others Ask Appropriators for Strong L-HHS-Ed Funding Allocation
- UCLA Releases University-Led Grand Challenges Report
MARY SUE'S DESK: OUR COLLECTIVE EFFORTS TO IMPROVE UNDERGRADUATE EDUCATION
Today, AAU President Mary Sue Coleman released a blog post to profile our collective efforts to improve undergraduate teaching and learning. She references the Undergraduate STEM Initiative and member campus efforts, including those at Brown University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Share her blog on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.
CONGRESS FAILS TO REACH IMMIGRATION DEAL
After months of bipartisan immigration negotiations, Congress has failed to produce a permanent legislative solution to enshrine DACA protections. The Senate began debate in earnest Monday, but each legislative proposal brought forth failed to garner the required 60 votes to pass. After coming up short yesterday, leaders of both parties have said they will try again, but have not offered concrete steps.
AAU President Mary Sue Coleman issued a statement yesterday criticizing Congress for its inability to produce a solution, leaving hundreds of thousands of young people in the lurch. Ahead of the votes yesterday, AAU joined several other organizations in a letter to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer to express support of amendments offered by Senators John McCain and Chris Coons, and another by Senators Mike Rounds, Angus King, Susan Collins, Joe Manchin, Lindsey Graham, and Tim Kaine. The letter notes that each amendment would allow young undocumented immigrants to continue their lives with stability, providing a permanent solution.
President Trump announced in September last year that absent legislation to make DACA protections permanent, the program would be terminated March 5, 2018. Since this announcement, two federal judges have issued injunctions blocking the administration from ending the program. The Department of Justice has appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. It is unclear if or when the Court make consider the case.
ADMINISTRATION'S FY19 BUDGET SUMMARY AND MATERIALS AVAILABLE
The administration on Monday released its FY19 budget proposal, "Efficient, Effective, Accountable: An American Budget." AAU prepared summary materials and updated funding tables to outline the proposed funding levels for AAU priority higher education and research programs.
AAU President Mary Sue Coleman issued a statement Monday to express deep concerns with the proposed budget, saying "this budget would slash investment in the very research and education programs critical to our nation's continued prosperity."
AAU SUBMITS HIGHER ED ACCOUNTABILITY COMMENTS TO SENATE HELP COMMITTEE
Yesterday, AAU President Mary Sue Coleman wrote to Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee Chairman Lamar Alexander in response to his February 1 higher education accountability white paper. His white paper provides an overview of current federal accountability requirements in higher education and considers various proposals for updating current measures. President Coleman wrote that AAU agrees with the paper's overall goal of updating accountability measures to better serve students and offered comments and recommendations on specific components of the white paper, including the gainful employment rule, default and repayment rates, accreditation, and the 90-10 rule.
AAU, OTHERS ASK APPROPRIATORS FOR STRONG L-HHS-ED FUNDING ALLOCATION
AAU joined several other higher education associations in a joint letter to ask that House and Senate appropriators provide the largest possible funding allocation for the FY18 Labor-HHS-Ed appropriations bill. Doing so, the letter says, will maintain Congress's historic commitment to student financial aid and medical research.
UCLA RELEASES UNIVERSITY-LED GRAND CHALLENGES REPORT
UCLA yesterday released a Report on University-Led Grand Challenges, which stems from an October 2017 Workshop and Strategy Session. The report outlines best practices and information exchanged between representatives of 21 universities, including 17 AAU members, already engaged in or considering university-led grand challenges. Also known as "moonshots," grand challenges give institutions the opportunity to connect with the public and demonstrate the value of university research by helping solve a major societal challenge.
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