Policymakers Focus on College Athletics
BU IN DC
Roscoe Giles of the College of Engineering participated in a meeting of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Scientific Computing Advisory Committee, of which he is a member, on September 29th and 30th.
POLICYMAKERS FOCUS ON COLLEGE ATHLETICS
The general counsel of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) issued a memorandum on Wednesday which asserts that student athletes at private colleges should be classified as employees. While the memo does not immediately change the status of athletes on campus, it lays the groundwork for a future update to the NLRB’s rules governing the ability of college athletes to form a union. The memo cites the Supreme Court’s unanimous NCAA v. Alston decision this summer, which paved the way for student athletes to be compensated for their name, image, and likeness (NIL). NIL was also the subject of a House Subcommittee on Consumer Protection and Commerce hearing which took place on Thursday. At the hearing, NCAA President Mark Emmert urged lawmakers to enact a federal law governing NIL in order to avoid a patchwork of conflicting state laws.
BUZZ BITS…
- On Thursday, Congress passed a continuing resolution (CR) that will keep the government operating at its current funding level through December 3rd. A CR is necessary because Congress did not complete the annual spending bills which determine federal budgets prior to the statutory deadline of October 1st.
- Last week, President Joseph Biden announced his intent to nominate Dr. Christopher Frey as the assistant administrator of the Office of Research and Development at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Dr. Frey was previously Deputy Assistant Administrator for Science Policy at the EPA, and had been a professor of environmental engineering at North Carolina State University since 1994.
- The U.S. Department of Homeland Security published a notice of proposed rulemaking on Tuesday for new regulations that would “preserve and fortify” the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. The Biden Administration is seeking to restore a path to legal status and work authorization for undocumented immigrants who were brought into the U.S. as children. Public comments are due by November 29th.
EVENTS NEWS YOU CAN USE
Are you interested in securing funding for medical research from the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD)? The BU Center for Military Health will host an online seminar on “How to Secure DoD Funding” on October 5th at 12:00 p.m. Experts from Lewis-Burke Associates will explain how the agency considers health research proposals and provide tips on increasing your chances of success. Professor Darren Roblyer of the College of Engineering will also share his experience in successfully applying for DOD funding, followed by a Q&A session.