WASHINGTON UPDATE: Farm Bill; Dept. of Ed Ratings Symposium Rescheduled & New Report on Innovations from Federal Funding

January 29, 2014—There has been movement this week on the Farm Bill as a conference agreement was announced on Monday and the House passed the legislation this morning. The U.S. Department of Education’s Ratings Technical Symposium, originally scheduled for January 22, will now take place February 6.

A new report from MIT shows examples of major innovations spawned from federal investments. Two Quick Bites this week includes information on FY2015 budget and a commentary on addressing the innovation deficit.

FARM BILL ADVANCES TO THE SENATE

The House and Senate Farm Bill conference committee announced their conference report and statement of managers earlier this week. The House approved the conference agreement by a 251-166 vote this morning. A majority of Republicans backed the bill and a majority of Democrats opposed it. A Senate vote is expected later this week. The bill authorizes programs for five years at a cost of $950 billion.

DEPT. OF ED RATINGS TECHNICAL SYMPOSIUM RESCHEDULED TO FEBRUARY 6

The Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) public symposium on the Administration’s proposed college ratings system, which had been scheduled for on January 22, was rescheduled to February 6 from 8:30 am to 5:00 pm. due to a snowstorm. This is related to President Obama’s Plan to Make College More Affordable: A Better Bargain for the Middle Class and specifically to investigate the technical methodology of developing a postsecondary institution ratings system as highlighted in the December 17 Federal Register notice, Request for Information to Gather Technical Expertise Pertaining to Data Elements, Metrics, Data Collection, Weighting, Scoring, and Presentation of a Postsecondary Institution Ratings System. Christine Keller, APLU’s Associate Vice President of Academic Affairs and Executive Director of the Voluntary System of Accountability and Student Achievement Measure (SAM) will present at the symposium. The symposium is open to the public. Guests and attendees will have an opportunity to raise technical questions that will be shared with presenters during the symposium. Those interested in attending the symposium should use CollegeSymposium@seiservices.com to register. Space is extremely limited so an option to participate via webinar will be available. A webcast will also be available (Password: pirstech1, Event Number: 742 484 116).

NEW MIT REPORT ON INNOVATIONS STEMMING FROM FEDERAL FUNDING

The MIT Washington Office released this month the white paper “Federally Supported Innovations – 22 Examples of Major Technology Advances that Stem from Federal Research Support,” which includes a sampling of significant federally funded technology advances.

QUICK BITES:

• The White House confirmed that the President’s FY2015 Budget would be released on March 4, 2014.
• Cokie and Steve Roberts’ focused on the innovation deficit and biomedical research in their syndicated weekly commentary column that was published in various news outlets across the country earlier this month.