Trump Administration Begins
BU IN DC
Eric Kolaczyk of the College of Arts & Sciences was appointed co-chair of the Roundtable on Data Science Post-Secondary Education at the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine. The Roundtable held its first meeting in December.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION BEGINS
Donald J. Trump will be sworn in as the 45th President of the United States today, pledging to restructure the nation’s health insurance system, improve infrastructure, and alter immigration laws. With Republicans in control of the White House and both chambers of Congress, a flurry of legislative activity is expected in the coming months. Lawmakers will have to quickly complete work on the pending fiscal year 2017 spending bills in order to finalize agency budgets for this calendar year and decide whether to lift current budget caps that will restrict spending for next year. These decisions will impact the trajectory of available federal funding for research and student aid. Looking ahead, Congress may also try to renew the Higher Education Act or update tax laws impacting charitable giving and college affordability.
EDUCATION NOMINEE DEVOS FACES TOUGH QUESTIONS
On Wednesday, the Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions Committee held a confirmation hearing for Betsy DeVos, the nominee for Education Secretary in the Trump Administration. While most of the questions centered on elementary and secondary education, DeVos did respond to a few inquiries on higher education:
- Student debt: DeVos expressed concern about indebtedness and pledged to learn more about the issue.
- Federal regulations: DeVos agreed with Senators who urged her to reduce regulations facing colleges and universities.
- Campus safety: DeVos declined to commit to maintaining the Obama Administration’s interpretation of how to enforce the Title IX law addressing sexual assault on college campuses.
Despite what some observers felt was a shaky performance at the hearing, DeVos is expected to be confirmed by the full U.S. Senate next week.
FINAL HUMAN SUBJECTS RULE RELEASED
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services unveiled final changes to the regulations that govern how human subjects participate in federally-funded research, also known as the Common Rule. The final rule released Wednesday eliminates some controversial proposals that had been included in a September 2015 proposed draft, and was largely praised by the academic research community. For example, the final version no longer requires researchers to get a donor’s consent for the use of non-identifiable biospecimens like blood or tissue and it makes a distinction between research that poses a high or low risk to participants. The Common Rule had not been updated since 1991, and this version is designed to reflect advances in science over the last two decades. Most provisions are expected to go into effect in 2018.