Updates from the Provost – June 4, 2026

A regular digest for UW faculty with updates on federal, national and local issues of relevance to their teaching, research and service; actions the University is taking; and ways for faculty to be involved.

Federal Landscape

UW preparing response to proposed changes to federal grant oversight

The White House Office of Management and Budget published last week a proposal to significantly revise the Guidance for Federal Financial Assistance (also known as the Uniform Guidance) to establish political oversight of federal grants. If enacted, the modifications could heavily influence award conditions, compliance expectations, subrecipient oversight, and authority to terminate grants and awards. 

UW leadership strongly opposes these proposed changes, which are summarized here by the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities, that would upend the peer review process for awarding federal grants. Since the mid-20th century, the peer review system has ensured that research quality drives funding decisions. The changes would also allow for the imposition of new restrictions on scientific activities and for grants to be terminated at any time for any reason. 

UW and UW Medicine leadership are preparing a single institutional response on behalf of the University as a whole. OMB will accept only one response per institution before the comment period ends July 13, 2026. For this reason, we request that you do not submit a response in your official capacity at the University of Washington. We have asked deans and chancellors to provide feedback to inform our single response. The Office of Research also will post a survey next week for individual researchers to provide their input on the response. 

In addition, many national academic associations, such as the Association of American Universities, the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities, and the Association of American Medical Colleges, will submit responses.

The Washington State Office of the Attorney General is evaluating the proposal and potential impacts to the University. The UW’s External Affairs teams are in constant communication with our congressional representatives who are advocating on behalf of federal support for research. We also continue to amplify the positive impact of UW research via the Research Makes America campaign, and related efforts at UW Medicine and individual schools and colleges.