September 5, 2014

CONGRESS AND THE BUDGET


HOUSE TO VOTE ON PERMANENT R&d TAX CREDIT

The tax credit already passed the House May 9, but is now being packaged together with four other measures by House Republicans. Whether this move helps the R&D cause is unclear, since the White House has threatened to veto such tax breaks because their costs are not offset, according to CQ. A memo obtained by CQ quotes Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) as saying the package is intended "to remind Harry Reid and Senate Democrats" of the House GOP's economic priorities.

IMMIGRATION SHIFT ON hOLD? That's the signal being sent by the White House, press reports indicate. The administration worries that executive action easing the plight of some undocumented immigrants would hurt Senate Democrats campaigning in conservative states and thus further weaken Democrats' chances of keeping control of the upper chamber. Delaying action until after the election also makes a government shutdown less likely after fiscal 2014 ends Sept. 30. Rep. Steve King  had threatened action that could stall a stopgap funding bill if Obama acted on immigration. Now there appears to be no major threat to a "clean CR" -- Hill-speak for a continuing resolution without controversial riders.

LITTLE THREATS: Passing the CR could still get complicated, even in the short period Congress has left in the fiscal year. The bill "is just about the only piece of legislation Congress is likely to advance before the midterm elections," CQ notes, and so it will be "a tempting vehicle for lawmakers looking to aid pet programs and address larger issues at the tail end of a historically unproductive Congress."


 

i

DATA POINTS


FEDERALLY FUNDED R&d

(In millions)

FEDERAL BASIC RESEARCH PERFORMED AT COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES

                                                                                             Total                  Computer
                                                                                                              Science and Math          Engineering     
                                                                                                                                             


Source: National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, NSF 


THE ADMINISTRATION AND RESEARCH AGENCIES

DAVOS FOR EDUCATORS

Present and former administration officials assumed prominent roles at this week's inaugural meeting of the Global Learning Council, a high-wattage virtual organization formed around the idea that "the promise of technology-enhanced learning to improve learning outcomes for people everywhere has the potential to change the face of humanity." The Pittsburgh event was jointly hosted by former National Science Foundation Director Subra Suresh, now president of Carnegie Mellon and chair of the GLC, and Patrick Gallagher, former director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology and now chancellor or the University of Pittsburgh. Tom Kalil, big-ideas honcho at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, gave the keynote. Speakers and panelists included Joan Ferrini-Mundy, who heads the NSF Education and Human Resources directorate, and Carl Wieman, formerly at OSTP and now at Stanford. A playlist of the sessions is on YouTube.

HAIL FELLOWS: The Advanced Research Projects Agency - Energy is offering two-year fellowships. The applied-research agency, part of the Department of Energy "is looking for the next generation of scientific leaders to help solve the most pressing challenges in energy."

WIND INNOVATION: Texas Tech, the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln will share in $4.5 million worth of DOE awards "to help increase deployment of innovative wind power technologies by optimizing the operation, boosting efficiency, and improving the environmental performance of wind energy systems." See the projects.


A FEW GOOD MENTORS: Nominations are due October 3 Texas for the Presidential Awards for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring (PAESMEN). The award "recognizes individuals for their mentoring of persons from underrepresented racial and ethnic groups, women, persons with disabilities, persons from disadvantaged socioeconomic backgrounds, and early career scientists and engineers."

BRIDGEs TO BROADER PARTICIPATION: The enduring Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation "assists universities and colleges in diversifying the STEM workforce" by increasing student success in STEM. Its Bridge to the Doctorate has an October 3 deadline. Other program deadlines are later in October. 

PICK UP THE PACE: The Designing Materials to Revolutionize and Engineer our Future program "integrates materials discovery, development, property optimization, and systems design and optimization, with each employing a toolset to be developed within a materials innovation infrastructure." It's NSF's piece of the Materials Genome Initiative for Global Competitiveness, which aims to "deploy advanced materials at least twice as fast as possible today, at a fraction of the cost." Learn more.

 

NATIONAL ACADEMIES


IT's here, it's there . . . STEM Learning is Everywhere summarizes a convocation that explored "how connections among the formal education system, afterschool programs, and the informal education sector could improve STEM learning." It's a topic "that could have far-reaching implications for how students learn about STEM subjects and how educational activities are organized and interact." 


cyber malevolence: A National Academies report bills itself as "a call for action to make cybersecurity a public safety priority." Until now, "most policy focus has been on the short-term costs of improving systems." It should be "an ongoing process that needs to evolve as new threats are identified."


   PUBLIC POLICY  AND HIGHER ED


WHOSE VOTE COUNTS? Two deans whom University of Miami President Donna Shalala recruited from Duke got a thumbs-down from faculty in a vote that occurred as part of their reappointment review. She  kept them on anyway. A year earlier, the engineering dean was rejected by faculty and subsequently resigned.  Exploring the drama, a Chronicle of Higher Education story reports that Miami's is "an unusual system" but notes that "a strong faculty role is increasingly recognized by colleges and universities nationwide as valuable in reviews of deans and provosts."


COLLATERAL DAMAGE: If you think the more citations a paper gets, the better, think again. If a study is retracted in a high-profile case of misconduct, the reputational loss is felt more widely, researchers at MIT found. A press release from the university reports: "Even valId older research, when cited in a retracted study, loses credibility -- especially if the retracted paper involves malfeasance."


BEHAVING BADLY: Manoj Kumar Jha, a Morgan State University engineering professor and founding director of the school's Center of Advanced Transportation and Infrastructure Engineering Research, has been sentenced to three years in prison for defrauding the National Science Foundation of grant money. A judge also ordered him to pay $105,726 in restitution. According to the U.S. attorney's office, trial testimony showed that Jha "fraudulently obtained $200,000 in grant funds" from NSF's Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) program to fund a highway project" and instead spent the money for mortgage and credit-card payments and a salary for his wife.

'constructive disruption' is the title of an ABET symposium next April 23 and 24. ABET encourages those "influencing the future of technical education" to submit abstracts. Find out more.  



  ASEE & COMMUNITY NEWS


ASEE, DEAN KAMEN'S FIRST FORM PARTNERSHIP: The alliance between ASEE and the nonprofit founded by the inventor "aims to promote engineering careers and education to students across the country, exposing them to all the possibilities a degree in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) can offer," according to a press release. ASEE will promote FIRST programs to K-12 teachers who attend its engineering workshops. It will also promote Army, Navy, Air Force, and NASA scholarship and internship programs managed by ASEE to over 10,000 middle and high school FIRST students. In addition, ASEE will provide its 13,000 members information and the opportunity to support FIRST by serving as mentors, coaches and volunteers. ASEE President Nicholas Altiero is quoted as saying, "ASEE shares in the vision of FIRST to enhance and expand the engineering and STEM workforce of the nation. . . The skills of problem solving, team work, and critical thinking are essential for students’ success in higher education and in their subsequent careers. FIRST activities instill those skills."


REGISTER FOR ETLI: The Engineering Technology Leadership Institute is set for  Oct. 10 in Crystal City, across the Potomac from Washington DC. The session brings engineering technology educators together to discuss topics of importance to the discipline and plan for the future. Find out more.

start preparing abstracts: The abstract submission phase opened Sept. 2, 2014 for the 2015 ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition in Seattle. The Calls for Papers from various divisions can be found here

TAKING THE LEAD: The Society of Women Engineers (SWE) is hosting a workshop entitled Academic Leadership for Women in Engineering at the WE14+ICWES16 Annual Conference in Los Angeles on Oct. 24 and 25. There will be a specific focus on best practices central to leadership in academia. Click here to learn more and apply to attend the workshop. Please complete the participant application by August 25. Funded through support from the Henry Luce Foundation, the workshop is free to all who are accepted. Contact learning@swe.org with any questions.


ON-LINE STEM SUSTAINABILITY LIBRARY: This on-line library of over 1700 juried articles and 300 videos was developed at James Madison University with NSF funding. The site provides resources for those researching or teaching sustainability across contexts.


ANNUAL CONFERENCE - STORIFY VERSION: ASEE's Engineering Libraries Division has put together a lively collection of photos and tweets that captures the collaboration and  camaraderie of the Indy conference. Check it out here.


DEANS' FORUM ON HISPANIC HIGHER EDUCATION

The Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU) invites engineering deans and chairs to the Third Annual Deans’ Forum on Hispanic Higher Education: Advancing Graduate School Opportunities and Success for Hispanic Students, following HACU’s 28th Annual Conference, Tuesday, Oct. 7, 2014, 8:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m. The forum will address issues facing Hispanic students in graduate education and highlight promising practices to enhance access and success. For more information, see http://www.hacu.net/hacu/Deans_Forum.asp.

‘PROFILES’ IS OUT: ASEE's eagerly awaited 540-page Profiles of Engineering and Engineering Technology Colleges has been published. Call ASEE (202-331-3500) to order a copy.

ASEE DIVERSITY COMMITTEE NEWSLETTER: The spring edition of the semi-annual newsletter is now available. ASEE Past President J.P. Mohsen discusses a proposed Year of Dialogue on Diversity and details on safe zone ally training at the annual conference are posted, among other items.

VIDEOS OF THE PPC: View sessions from February's Public Policy Colloquium of the Engineering Deans Council dealing with advanced manufacturing, federal R&D, and K-12 engineering.

STAY UP TO DATE 

on ASEE's Retention Project by clicking here for updates.


 

EDITOR: Mark Matthews; CONTRIBUTOR: William E. Kelly; NEW MASTHEAD DESIGN by Francis Igot, incorporating the new ASEE logo.

 


This email was sent to [email address suppressed]. If you are no longer interested you can unsubscribe instantly.