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News and updates

News and updates

House Ed Committee will markup a new bill Tuesday to expand the use of short-term Pell Grants

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A new bipartisan bill was introduced in the House Education Committee on Tuesday that would allow Pell Grants to be used for short-term programs programs lasting eight weeks (currently, they can only be used for academic programs lasting at least 15 weeks). This would go into effect for the 2025-2026 school year. The bipartisan bill is co-sponsored by Rep. Virginia Foxx — a North Carolina Republican who chairs the House Committee on Education and the Workforce — and Rep. Bobby Scott — a Virginia Democrat and ranking member of the committee.

In order for a program to qualify, the Education Department would have to verify that programs maintain both completion rates and job placement rates of at least 70% and that there is a positive ROI, among other qualifications.

Chair Foxx has scheduled a committee markup on the bill for next Tuesday, Dec 12.

Read more about this here and here.

Congress Averts Another Government Shutdown

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Last week, President Biden signed the Further Continuing Appropriations and Other Extensions Act (H.R. 6363) thus preventing a government shutdown. The bill sets two different deadlines for different bills: there is a January 19 deadline for Congress to pass the FY24 Agriculture-FDA, Energy and Water, Military Construction-VA, and Transportation-HUD bills and a February 2 deadline for the remaining eight appropriations bills. The bill does not include any supplemental funding or cuts to existing levels of funding.

So far, the House has passed seven of the 12 annual government-funding bills, while the Senate has passed only three. Congress is on Thanksgiving recess and when they return will have to do significant work into 2024 to meet these two deadlines. Read more about this here.

Congressional Staff Visit the UW’s Seattle Campus

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Six congressional staff from a range of Washington members’ offices visited the UW Seattle campus today to tour some of UW’s impressive research facilities. We are always happy to share the exciting things happening on campus as we continue to work together to advance research that has a direct impact on our community, state, country, and world.

Monica Bertagnolli, M.D. Confirmed as New NIH Director

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Monica Bertagnolli, M.D. was confirmed as the new NIH Director last week. Now that she is confirmed, she has taken the helm immediately as the 17th director. She is the first surgeon and the second woman to hold the position and joins the NIH after being the director at the National Cancer Institute.

In his nomination announcement earlier this year, President Biden stated: “Dr. Bertagnolli has spent her career pioneering scientific discovery and pushing the boundaries of what is possible to improve cancer prevention and treatment for patients and ensuring that patients in every community have access to quality care. Dr. Bertagnolli is a world-class physician-scientist whose vision and leadership will ensure NIH continues to be an engine of innovation to improve the health of the American people.”

Read more about about Dr. Bertagnolli and her confirmation here.

President Cauce Visits DC!

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A few weeks ago, President Cauce visited Washington D.C. to meet with members of the Washington congressional delegation. During these meetings, President Cauce discussed the overall state of the institution as we close down FY24 and previewed the university’s priorities for the following year. She also had the opportunity to thank our delegation for being champions of higher education, science, and research. We look forward to working together alongside our delegation to continue to lead Washington state to the forefront of cutting edge research and quality education.

President Cauce also had the wonderful opportunity of attending the EDGE Consortium Fall Summit where members spoke on the importance of investing in the next generation of scientists and engineers, focusing on women and underrepresented groups in the engineering and STEM workforce. Senator Cantwell spoke and met with President Cauce as they work together towards creating a more inclusive STEM workforce.