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Author: McKinzie Strait

NCAA Championships Moved Away From North Carolina

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The NCAA has announced it will no longer hold championship tournament games in North Carolina, citing a law passed by the state last year that eliminates discrimination protections for the LGBTQ community. The law, House Bill 2, gained national attention for mandating that individuals use the bathroom associated with the gender listed on their birth certificate.

In a statement from the NCAA Board of Governors, which is largely made up of university presidents and chancellors, the NCAA said, “NCAA championships and events must promote an inclusive atmosphere for all college athletes, coaches, administrators and fans. Current North Carolina state laws make it challenging to guarantee that host communities can help deliver on that commitment.” The NCAA is the latest of many organization, including the NBA, to voice disapproval of the measure.

House Oversight to Hold Hearing on Endowments

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The House Ways & Means Subcommittee on Oversight will hold a hearing on university endowments tomorrow, Tuesday, September 13th at 10 AM/ET. Titled, “Back to School: A Review of Tax-Exempt College and University Endowments,” the hearing is following up on an October 2015 hearing on, “The Rising Costs of Higher Education and Tax Policy.” The committee will hear from representatives from the Cato Institute, Washington College, the Urban Institute, and more.

NSF Accepting Nominations for Alan T. Waterman Award

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Today, the National Science Foundation announced it is accepting nominations for the 2017 Alan T. Waterman Award, which recognizes young researchers for their creativity and influence. The announcement reads:

 

Dear Colleague:

The National Science Foundation (NSF) is pleased to accept nominations for the 2017 Alan T. Waterman Award. Each year, the Foundation bestows the Waterman Award in recognition of the talent, creativity, and influence of a singular young researcher. Established in 1975 to commemorate the Foundation’s first Director, the Waterman Award is NSF’s highest honor for promising, early-career researchers.

Nominees are accepted from all sources, and from any field of science and engineering that NSF supports. The award recipient will receive a medal and an invitation to the formal awards ceremony in Washington, DC. In addition, the recipient will receive a grant of $1,000,000 over a five-year period for scientific research or advanced study in any field of science or engineering supported by the NSF, at any institution of the recipient’s choice. We are especially interested in nominations for women, members of underrepresented groups in science and engineering, and persons with disabilities.

Eligibility and Selection Criteria

  1. A candidate must be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident. He or she must be 35 years of age or younger, or not more than 7 years beyond receipt of the Ph.D. degree, by December 31, 2016.
  2. A candidate should have demonstrated exceptional individual achievement in scientific or engineering research of sufficient quality, originality, innovation, and significant impact on the field so as to situate him or her as a leader among peers.

Complete nomination packages, consisting of nominations and four letters of reference, are due by October 21, 2016. The nominations and letters must be received through the FastLane system. To submit a nomination, please visit https://www.fastlane.nsf.gov/honawards/.

Please contact Dr. Sherrie Green, Program Manager for the Alan T. Waterman Award at waterman@nsf.gov or 703-292-8040 if you have any questions. You may also visit http://www.nsf.gov/od/waterman/waterman.jsp for more information. A PDF version of the call for nominations is available athttp://www.nsf.gov/od/waterman/nsf_watermanaward_2017callfornominations_160708.pdf.

The nomination of deserving colleagues is one of the most important and gratifying aspects of service in the scientific and engineering communities. Please help celebrate the contributions of a promising young researcher by submitting a nomination for the Alan T. Waterman award.

Sincerely,

/// signed /// 

France A. Córdova
Director

National Science Foundation
Office of the Director
4201 Wilson Boulevard, Suite 1205
Arlington, VA 22230

What We’re Reading, July 25-29

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Here’s a selection of articles Federal Relations is enjoying this week.

Clinton’s Free Tuition Promise – It’s directed not at older Americans, like Social Security and Medicare, but for once, at young Americans. Read more on NPR

How Women Are Harassed Out of Science – The discrimination women endure makes America’s need for STEM workers even greater. Read more on The Atlantic

Harvey Milk’s Navy Legacy – The Navy is planning to name one of it’s new oil tankers after the pioneering gay rights activist who served as a diving officer during the Korean War. Read more on The Huffington Post

Higher Ed at the DNC – Speech after speech discusses student debt — and praises the Clinton plan (based in part on Sanders plan) for college affordability. Read more on Inside Higher Ed

Trump to Russia: Send Emails ASAP – Donald Trump pleaded directly with the Russian government to meddle in the U.S. presidential election by finding and releasing Hillary Clinton’s private emails, but don’t worry because he was just kidding! Read more on the Washington Post

Do Governors Make Better VPs? – Governors are rarely VPs, and yet both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump selected one for this increasingly powerful office. Read more on Governing

 

GOP Unveils Higher Ed Party Platform

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Monday kicked off the Republican National Convention. One of the first orders of business approving a 58-page party platform, which takes a stance on an array of issues that are important to higher education, including: campus sexual assault, transgender student issues, student loans, college accreditation, for-profit education, and campus protests and student activism. More information on the particulars can be found here.