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Category: Administration

U.S. Department of Education Announces $75 Million First in the World Competition

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To spur innovation in higher education aimed at helping more students access and complete a college degree or credential, the U.S. Department of Education announced late last week the availability of $75 million in the First in the World (FITW) program. The grants will fund the development and testing of innovative approaches and strategies at colleges and universities that improve college attainment and make higher education more affordable for students and families. 

The FITW competition aims to increase postsecondary access, affordability, and completion for underrepresented, underprepared, or low-income students at institutions across the country. Colleges and universities are invited to submit proposals addressing key priorities around boosting enrollment and attainment for those students, or minimizing gaps between these students and their peers; improving transfer rates between community college and four-year institutions; increasing enrollment and completion rates among underrepresented, underprepared, or low-income students in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) programs; reducing time to completion; and/or increasing college affordability.

FITW is designed to spur a diverse array of innovative ideas and approaches in order to dramatically improve student learning and outcomes. Applications are available now and due by June 30th. All grants will be awarded by September 2014. The Department will post further information, including information about webinars and other technical assistance, on the FIPSE Web page.

ED Announces Plan College Ratings Timeframe

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Today, the Department of Education (ED) announced a timeframe for rolling out the Administration’s proposed College Ratings system. In a post by Deputy Under Secretary Jamienne Studley entitled, “Making it Easier to Pick and Pay for College through Ratings“, the Administration announced that the college ratings system will be ready this Fall and a final version will be ready before the 2015-16 school year.

You can read the post here.

Senate Confirms Ted Mitchell

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This afternoon, the Senate confirmed Ted Mitchell as the new Under Secretary of Education.  Mitchell succeeds Martha Kanter, who stepped down in December to take a post at NYU. Mitchell has been President at the New School Venture Fund.

Mitchell was nominated in October of 2013. The nomination was approved unanimously by voice vote.

DHS Announces New Immigration Regs

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The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) today announced the publication of two proposed regulations, including a rule to extend employment authorization to spouses of certain H-1B workers, and a proposal to enhance opportunities for certain groups of highly-skilled workers by removing obstacles to their remaining in the United States.  

Both Notices of Proposed Rulemaking will soon publish in the Federal Register. DHS encourages the public to comment on the proposed rule through www.regulations.gov.  All public comments will be considered before the final rule is published and goes into effect.

White House Issues First Report on Campus Sexual Assault

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This morning, the White House issued its first report to address and work to end sexual assault on campuses. This report — and the release of NotAlone.gov, a clearinghouse for federal information on campus sexual assault — is the first in what will be a series of action steps to address campus sexual assault.

Earlier this year, the President created the Task Force to Protect Students From Sexual Assault, which is co-chaired by Vice President Joe Biden and the White House Council on Women and Girls. Today, the Task Force release a report of planned first action steps and recommendations.  This first report establishes broad initial goals including: identifying the scope of the problem on college campuses; help preventing campus sexual assault; help schools respond effectively when a student is assaulted; and improve, and make more transparent, the federal government’s enforcement efforts.

Over a year ago, the University of Washington recognized campus sexual assault as a significant national issue and formed the UW Task Force on Sexual Assault and Prevention. President Young reconfirmed the university’s commitment to do all the institution can to prevent and properly respond to every individual report of equal assault.

In October 2013, UW issued a final report with 18 recommendations and action items to change campus culture and create a safer and more compassionate and responsive response to UW campus sexual assault, through expanding UW’s SARIS, for example.

UW continues to work toward implementing all of these recommendations and as the discussion moves forward at the federal level, the Office of Federal Relations will continue to monitor and update the community on this issue.