Lawmakers See BU Impact
BU IN DC
College of Arts & Sciences Dean Virginia Sapiro participated in the Brookings Institution’s Forum on the Economy and Higher Education on February 13.
David Jones of the School of Public Health attended the AcademyHealth National Health Policy Conference on February 9 and 10.
Ron Corley and Nahid Bhadelia of the National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratories met with officials at the Food and Drug Administration, the U.S. Agency for International Development, and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on February 19.
LAWMAKERS SEE BU IMPACT
BU Federal Relations met with the Massachusetts Congressional delegation this month to share fact sheets describing how the University utilizes federal research dollars, how our students benefit from federal financial aid, and the University’s economic and community impact in every corner of Massachusetts. Congressional offices will use the data compiled by Institutional Research, Sponsored Programs, and Marketing & Communications to better inform their policymaking decisions on science, higher education, and the humanities.
BU, OTHERS COMMENT ON COLLEGE RATINGS PROPOSAL
Boston University was one of several education stakeholders who responded this week to the U.S. Department of Education’s call for input on its proposal to create a federal ratings system for colleges. The Department released a draft “framework” for college ratings last year, proposing to identify institutions as high-performing, low-performing, or in the middle, with two-year and four-year institutions rated separately. In addition to BU, both the American Council on Education and the Association of American Universities, of which BU is a member, submitted comments on behalf of their membership. The Department plans to launch a federal ratings system in time for the 2015-2016 school year.
NIDRR RELEASES 2014 ANNUAL REPORT
The National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR) released a report last week highlighting its accomplishments from fiscal year 2014. NIDRR had 26 funding priorities that resulted in 53 new grants last year, in addition to 250 grants that were already in progress. Due to a change in law, NIDRR is currently preparing to change its name to the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation and move from its longtime home in the U.S. Department of Education to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.