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News and updates

News and updates

Graduate Student & Professional Senate Leaders Take D.C.

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This week, four graduate student leaders from UW’s Graduate Student & Professional Senate (GPSS) visited Washington D.C. to meet with Congressional staff and advocate for their priorities as graduate students across the country and in Washington specifically. The annual trip to D.C. was put on hold the past few years due to the pandemic, making this year’s visit a great opportunity to reconnect with offices in person and update them on graduate student concerns. The group, which included A.J. Balatico (GPSS President), Kaustubh Yadav (GPSS and SAGE Communications Director), Janis Shin (TABS Chair), and Ella Spurlock (GPSS Exec Senator, Science and Policy Chair), met with 11 of the Washington delegation’s offices where they discussed support for higher education, international students, and research opportunities and advocated for efforts to diversify academic pipelines, ease the visa processes for international students, and expand direct financial support to graduate students. 

 

President Cauce Visits with Washington Congressional Delegation

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UW’s President Ana Mari Cauce visited DC last week for an exciting and jam-packed day, meeting with the members of the Washington Congressional delegation in the Senate and House of Representatives. President Cauce discussed a wide range of topics including updates on the exciting research and studies going on at the university as well as UW’s 2024 goals while thanking our WA delegation for their continued representation and support.

UW Hosts NSF Director & Rep. DelBene for “Opportunity Everywhere” Forum

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This week, the UW hosted the National Science Foundation (NSF) Director Panchanathan, Representative DelBene, and higher education leaders from across the state for the CHIPS and Science “Opportunity Everywhere” Forum. The forum brought together researchers, university leaders and students to discuss how Washington will be competing for Chips and Science funds, including plans to bring chip manufacturing to the U.S., train the workforce, and expand Washington’s leadership in AI and quantum.

To kick off the day, Director Panchanathan met with young UW faculty followed by an AI and machine learning roundtable to discuss recent research developments. The group then made their way to tour the Rachel Carson research vessel where they discussed marine science research made possible through NSF and NOAA funding while onboard. Washington Representative DelBene, staff from Senator Cantwell’s office, as well as leaders from Washington State University, Bellevue College, Central Washington University, Western Washington University and several community and technical colleges joined later in the day for important discussions around the future of CHIPS funding followed by a tour of the UW’s quantum facilities. Director Panchanathan concluded the day with a discussion about diversity in STEM, moderated by UW’s Dean of Engineering Nancy Allbritton. The UW looks forward to continuing our partnership with the federal government to accelerate transformative scientific research.

Read more about the forum here and here.

 

UW Partners with White House OSTP to Host Climate Change Solutions Forum

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Representatives from approximately 80 colleges and universities met in Washington D.C. on March 8th and 9th for an exciting two-day forum co-hosted by the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) and the University of Washington to discuss how to leverage the capabilities of colleges and universities to catalyze climate solutions in communities across the country. The attendees represented a cross-section of American higher education from almost all 50 states, including those from Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Hispanic-Serving Institutions, Tribal Colleges and Universities, Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian-Serving Institutions, and Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-Serving Institutions. UW was represented by Maya Tolstoy, Dean of the College of the Environment and Meade Krosby, University of Director of the Northwest Climate Adaptation Science Center (pictured below).  

The first day of the forum was held at the White House campus where higher education professionals were joined by government officials for three panels to discuss the various ways that higher education and the federal government can partner together to showcase how campuses can act as proving grounds for new climate solutions and pathways to net-zero emissions; provide essential climate extension services to states, municipalities, and indigenous communities; and ensure that students have the knowledge and skills to lead in the clean industries of the future.  The meeting also included remarks from prominent speakers including the White House Deputy National Climate Advisor Mary Frances Repko; OSTP Deputy Director for Energy Sally Benson; National Science Foundation Assistant Director for Geosciences Alexandra Isern; OSTP Chief of Staff for Climate and Environment and Assistant Director for Climate Resilience Laura Petes; and UW’s very own Maya Tolstoy, who delivered final remarks for the day.  

The attendees then headed to the University of the District of Columbia for Day 2 which included a full day of panels and breakout sessions where attendees discussed strategies and experiences around four themes: campus sustainability and resilience, providing climate services to communities, living laboratories for climate solutions, and climate action in the classroom. The forum ended with a call for action to continue this momentum and maintain a strong channel of communication between higher education and the federal government to advance climate change solutions.   

To learn more, click here for the White House Read Out of the event and here to watch the full live stream of Day 1. 

FY24 Appropriations Process Is Underway: President’s Budget Request is Released

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Earlier this month, the FY2024 President’s Budget Request (PBR) was released outlining the administration’s priorities for the coming fiscal year. The overall request is self-described as a blueprint to build on the past two years to “grow the economy from the bottom up and middle out by investing in America, lowering costs for families, protecting and strengthening Medicare and Social Security, and reducing the deficit by nearly $3 trillion over the next decade”. 

The FY24 PBR included:   

  • $8,215 per Pell Grant award (an $820 increase over FY23)  
  • $21 billion in discretionary spending for CHIPS & Science-authorized activities including $1.2 billion for the Directorate of Technology Innovation and Partnerships (TIP)  
  • $48.26 billion for NIH (an increase of 1.7% over FY23)  
  • $2.5 billion for ARPA-H (a $1 billion increase over FY23)  
  • $27.2 billion for NASA (a 7.1% increase over FY23), and  
  • $11.3 billion for NSF (an 18.6% increase over FY23 enacted level of $9.5 billion)  

Now the House and Senate will review the request and vote on a Budget Resolution that decides on topline numbers for discretionary funding. Here is where things could get tricky as the new divided Congress will likely have trouble coming to an agreement. 

Check out a more complete list of programs and accounts on our updated appropriations tracker, including the FY24 budget request numbers, here. We will continue to add to this once more budget justifications are released and as the appropriations process continues.