Government Shutdown Averted
BU IN DC
Karen Antman, dean of the School of Medicine and provost of the Medical Campus, attended an Association of American Medical Colleges Council of Deans meeting on September 28 and 29.
Azer Bestavros of the Rafik B. Hariri Institute for Computing and Computational Science met with Rep. Katherine Clark (D-MA) and officials at the Department of Defense on September 29
Nicole Hawkes and Julie Sandell of the Office of the Provost participated in an Education Advisory Board meeting on September 28 and 29.
GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN AVERTED
Hours before the start of the 2016 federal fiscal year, President Barack Obama signed into law a continuing resolution on Wednesday that keeps the federal government operating at current funding levels through December 11. The measure sped through Congress this week after House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) surprised political observers last week by announcing he would resign from Congress at the end of October. His tenure as Speaker has been marked by Republican infighting that has stymied Boehner’s attempts to compromise with Democrats on government funding and other issues. The continuing resolution gives Congress and the White House more time to reach a budget agreement, but leaves federal agencies unlikely to launch new initiatives while they are uncertain about their budgets for the year ahead.
Read more
CONGRESS DECLINES TO EXTEND PERKINS LOANS
A last-minute attempt from lawmakers in both chambers of Congress to keep the expiring Federal Perkins Loan Program operational for one more year failed on Wednesday, allowing the program to end on September 30. While the U.S. House of Representatives unanimously approved a Perkins extension bill, Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-TN) refused to allow the measure to go forward in the U.S. Senate. Alexander has long advocated for consolidating federal student loans into a single product, and wants to consider the future of Perkins in a comprehensive renewal of the Higher Education Act. Students currently receiving Perkins loans, including more than 17% of BU undergraduates, will continue to be eligible for the duration of their course of study.
Learn more
NIH NAMES NEW HEAD OF EXTRAMURAL RESEARCH
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced on Monday that Dr. Michael Lauer will replace Dr. Sally Rockey as Deputy Director for Extramural Research, a role Rockey held for five years before announcing her departure this summer. Dr. Lauer is currently director of the Division of Cardiovascular Sciences at the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute and co-leads NIH’s Precision Medicine Initiative. He has numerous Boston-area ties, including a previous research fellowship with the Framingham Heart Study. In his new position, Lauer will oversee the policies and procedures for NIH’s significant extramural research portfolio.