Defense Bill; Cyber Engagement; Seedlings to Scale
BU IN DC
Tami Gouveia of the Center for Innovation in Social Work and Health discussed access to mental healthcare and other matters with Massachusetts Congressional offices during the National Association of Social Workers advocacy day on June 18th and American Promise’s advocacy day on June 12th.
HOUSE DEFENSE BILL WOULD LIMIT INTERNATIONAL COLLABORATION
A defense policy bill passed by the U.S. House of Representatives last week would restrict some research collaborations with organizations in China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea. The proposed restrictions were included in the National Defense Authorization Act (H.R. 8070), which was agreed to by a largely party-line vote. Notably, proposals to make university employees publicly disclose gifts from foreign sources and require the Department of Defense (DoD) to review grantee universities that did not forcefully condemn recent campus protests were not voted upon after colleges raised concerns. The White House objected to the proposed restrictions on certain international collaborations, saying they “would harm DoD’s ability to keep pace with technology by limiting the pool of scientists that the Department engages.” The Senate is expected to consider its version of the defense policy bill this summer and then the two chambers will negotiate a final version.
BUZZ BITS…
- The Department of Defense (DoD) announced last week it had established a new DoD Cyber Academic Engagement Office which will coordinate universities’ engagement with the agency’s cyber programs. DoD Principal Director for Resources and Analysis Mark Gorak will direct the office, created by Congress in last year’s defense policy bill.
- Last week, the White House hosted “AI Aspirations: R&D for Public Missions,” a summit to showcase how federal science agencies use artificial intelligence (AI) for the public good. Leaders — including National Center for Special Education Research Commissioner Nate Jones, who is currently on leave from BU — described how they are using AI to address education, health, weather, and clean energy challenges.
- The House Education and the Workforce Committee passed bills on a party-line vote last week that would block the Biden Administration’s update to Title IX rules prohibiting gender discrimination, prohibit college athletes from forming unions, and require universities to share more information about how they adjudicate civil rights complaints. The bills have not yet been scheduled for consideration by the full House of Representatives and the Senate is not expected to consider them.
GRANT NEWS YOU CAN USE
The Institute of Education Sciences at the U.S. Department of Education has released its new From Seedlings to Scale grant program. The agency will fund up to a dozen projects for the first round of the program, which focuses on “innovative solutions that allow teachers to seamlessly provide personalized instruction for PreK-12 grade students.” Winners of Phase 1 awards will have the opportunity to apply for a second round of funding to put their ideas into action. Applications are due no later than August 15th and applicants are strongly encouraged to submit a letter of intent by July 11th.
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