A staple since COSSAâs earliest days, the biweekly COSSA Washington Update newsletter provides members and the public with comprehensive coverage of policy developments impacting social and behavioral science research.Â
COSSA Washington Update, Volume 33 Issue 21
Featured News More Questions than Answers Following Midterm Elections COSSA in Action COSSA & Partners Urge Congress to Complete FY 2015 Omnibus Spending Bill Scientific Community to Congress: Close the Innovation Deficit Congressional News Congress Returns for Lame Duck Session Federal Agency & Administration News Aging and Mental Health Institutes Seek Comments on Draft Strategic Plans NSF Releases Report on Women, Minorities, and Persons with Disabilities in Science White House Releases Issues Report on Expanding Opportunity and Addressing Unique Challenges Facing Women and Girls of Color Publications & Community Events Policy Roundtable Seminar Focuses on Stimulating Innovation in Government IOM…
More Questions than Answers Following Midterm Elections
Following last weekâs midterm Congressional elections, Republicans have gained control of both chambers of Congress when the 114th Congress is seated in January. Congress returned last week for the start of a month and a half-long lame duck session. On their plate includes must-pass legislation such as the fiscal year (FY) 2015 appropriations bills and defense authorization bill. However, with the party calculus significantly changed starting next year, action on spending bills and other legislative issues in the lame duck will be all but easy. See the articles that follow for more information.
COSSA & Partners Urge Congress to Complete FY 2015 Omnibus Spending Bill
On November 12, COSSA joined the biomedical and behavioral science community in signing the Ad Hoc Group for Medical Research letter to Congress. The letter, which was signed by 303 organizations, urges Congress to âcomplete an omnibus spending package [that] includes a Labor-HHS-Education bill that restores funding for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to at least pre-sequestration levels.â The letter also notes, âAn omnibus spending bill with a Labor-HHS appropriation restoring NIH to at least pre-sequester funding levels would mark an important step toward a more sustainable, predictable research environment for patients and their families, as well as for…
Scientific Community to Congress: Close the Innovation Deficit
On November 12, COSSA joined 133 partners throughout the scientific, higher education, business and patient communities on a letter to Congress urging passage of an omnibus fiscal year (FY) 2015 appropriations bills addresses the âinnovation deficitâ by including increased investments for scientific research and higher education. As the letter states, âthe innovation deficit is the widening gap between the actual level of federal government funding for research and higher education and what the investment needs to be if the United States is to remain the worldâs innovation leader⊠[T]oday, our leadership faces a serious challenge from other nations that are…
Congress Returns for Lame Duck Session
Congress returned to Washington on November 12 for the start of the post-election lame duck session. Among the must-pass actions in this lame duck session are the fiscal year (FY) 2015 appropriations bills. The current continuing resolution (CR) that has kept the federal government in operation since the start of the fiscal year on October 1 expires on December 11. Leadership and staff of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees have been working behind the scenes on an omnibus bill that would package all twelve of the unpassed appropriations measures into a single package. The goal is to bring the…
NSF Releases Report on Women, Minorities, and Persons with Disabilities in Science
The National Science Foundationâs National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics (NCSES) has released its biennial report, Women, Minorities, and Persons with Disabilities in Science and Engineering, which provides statistical details on women, minorities, and persons with disabilities in science and engineering education and employment. The data in the 2013 Digest, which is released every two years as mandated by the Science and Engineering Equal Opportunities Act (Public Law 96-516), are publicly accessible online and organized by the following themes: enrollment, field of degree, employment status, occupation, academic employment, and persons with disabilities. Back to this issueâs table of contents.
White House Issues Report on Expanding Opportunity and Addressing Challenges Facing Women and Girls of Color
On November 13, the White House Council on Women and Girls (CWG) released a report, Women and Girls of Color: Addressing Challenges and Expanding Opportunity. The Council is chaired by Valerie Jarrett. The report highlights the tremendous achievements women of color have made; it also examines the inequities and âdistinctâ challenges facing women of color and looks at efforts underway to close the gaps in educational outcomes, pay, career opportunity, and health disparities, among other areas.
Academies Board Seeks Nominations for âHow People Learn IIâ Study Committee
The National Academiesâ Board on Behavioral, Cognitive, and Sensory Sciences (BBCSS) is seeking nominations for individuals to serve on the study committee for a new project, âHow People Learn II: The Science and Practice of Learning.â The study, funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, will build on the 2000 National Research Council report How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience, and School âby reviewing and synthesizing research that has emerged across the various disciplines that focus on the study of learning from birth through adulthood in both…
NIH: Cancer Prevention, Control, Behavioral Sciences, and Population Sciences Career Development Award
The National Cancer Institute (NCI) recently issued a funding opportunity announcement, Cancer Prevention, Control, Behavioral Sciences, and Population Sciences Career Development Award (PAR-15-033). The award supports the career development of junior investigators with research or health professional doctoral degrees who want to become cancer-focused academic researchers in cancer prevention, cancer control, or the behavioral or population sciences. The award provides salary and mentored research support for a sustained period of “protected time” to junior investigators who are interested in developing academic and research expertise in these health-related fields. NCI will contribute up to $100,000 per year toward the salary of…
Pedro Noguera Receives SAGE-CASBS Award
The Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University (CASBS), a COSSA member, and SAGE Publications have named Pedro Noguera, New York University, as the 2014 recipient of the SAGE-CASBS award. Now in its second year, the SAGE-CASBS award recognizes âoutstanding achievement in advancing the understanding of the behavioral and social sciences as they are applied to pressing social issues.â Noguera, a sociologist, is being recognized for his work on âhow schools are influenced by social and economic conditions as well as by demographic trends in local, regional and global contexts.â More here. Back to this issueâs…
Events Calendar
Aging with HIV/AIDS: Challenges and Successes of a Lifetime Defined by the Epidemic, American Psychological Association, December 3, 2014 Webinar: Producing Government Data with Statistical Confidentiality Controls, American Statistical Association Privacy and Confidentiality Committee, December 17, 2014 A list of COSSA membersâ annual meetings can be found on the COSSA web page.
Aging and Mental Health Institutes Seek Comments on Draft Strategic Plans
The National Institute on Aging (NIA) and the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) within the National Institutes of Health (NIH) are seeking public comment on the development of the Institutesâ strategic plans. The plans will guide the Institutesâ research priorities. National Institute on Aging The NIA recently released a request for information (RFI) seeking guidance on its strategic plan, Aging Well in the 21st Century: Strategic Directions for Research on Aging. The draft plan outlines NIAâs broad strategic directions for the Institute and âprovides a point of reference for setting priorities and a framework for systematically analyzing the Instituteâs…
Policy Roundtable Seminar Focuses on Stimulating Innovation in Government
The National Academiesâ Policy Roundtable of the Behavioral and Social Sciences held a seminar on October 30 focused on âStimulating Effective Innovation in Government.â The Roundtable is chaired by David T. Ellwood of the Harvard Kennedy School and, beginning in 2015, will be directed by Arlene Lee, Director of the Committee on Law and Justice. For more on the Roundtable, see COSSAâs coverage of its last meeting. Roundtable members are government users and producers of social and behavioral science research and behavioral social and scientists who have spent time in the government (the list of members is available on the…
IOM Recommends Including Social/Behavioral Determinants in Electronic Health Records
On November 13, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) released Capturing Social and Behavioral Domains and Measures in Electronic Health Records: Phase 2, which recommends a âconcrete approach to including social and behavioral determinants in the clinical context to increase clinical awareness of the patientâs state, broadly considered, and to connect clinical, public health, and community resources for work in concert.” The reportâs recommendations takes into consideration the âsubstantial empirical evidence of the contribution of social and behavioral factors to functional status and the onset, progression, and effective treatment of disease [that] has accumulated over the past four decades.â
APSA Releases Report on Improving Perception of Political Science
The American Political Science Association (APSA), a COSSA governing member, has published a report entitled Improving Public Perceptions of Political Scienceâs Value. The report was written by a task force chaired by Arthur Lupia, University of Michigan (a member of COSSAâs Board of Directors), charged with identifying ways APSA and its members can better explain to the public, policymakers, and the media the contributions political science makes to society. This project comes in the wake of several high-profile attacks by policymakers on the discipline, notably Sen. Tom Coburnâs successful attempt to restrict funding of political science projects at the National…
COSSA Washington Update, Volume 33 Issue 20
In this issue… Featured News Outcome of Midterm Elections May Not Offer Clarity over FY 2015 Endgame COSSA in Action COSSA Weighs in on National Childrenâs Study Framework Keep up on COSSA in the news here. Federal Agency & Administration News NSFâs SBE Directorate Seeks to Fill Numerous Leadership Posts Census Bureau Seeks Comment on Proposed Elimination of ACS Questions NIH Makes Awards to Enhance Diversity of the Scientific Workforce OHRP Solicits Comments on Draft Guidance on Risk Disclosure in Research Evaluating Standards of Care CDC Requests Nominations for Board of Scientific Counselors, Office of Public Health Preparedness and Response…
COSSA Weighs in on National Childrenâs Study Framework
On October 26, COSSA sent a letter to the National Childrenâs Study (NCS) Working Group, a subgroup of the National Institutes of Health Advisory Council to the Director, outlining concerns with the NCS framework and raising other issues for consideration as the working group progresses with its review the program. As the letter states, âthe NCS has the potential to become an invaluable resource, yielding new insights into the complex linkages between social, genetic, and environmental factors and how these factors interact to influence health, growth and development across the life course. To ensure the study produces meaningful data, the…
NSFâs SBE Directorate Seeks to Fill Numerous Leadership Posts
The Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences (SBE) Directorate of the National Science Foundation (NSF) is seeking interested applicants for several leadership posts, including directors for two SBE divisions. The open positions include: Division Director, Behavioral and Cognitive Sciences (BCS), closes December 12 Division Director, Social and Economic Sciences (SES), closes December 12 Program Director in the Economics Program (SES), closes December 29 In addition, NSF recently announced that Joanne Tornow, SBE Deputy Assistant Director, will leave SBE in December to lead the NSF Office of Information and Resource Management (OIRM). A search will commence for a new SBE Deputy Assistant…
Census Bureau Seeks Comment on Proposed Elimination of ACS Questions
On October 31, the U.S. Census Bureau within the Department of Commerce issued a request for public comment related to the 2014 Content Review of the American Community Survey (ACS). According to the Federal Register Notice, the 2014 review âis the most comprehensive effort ever undertaken by the Census Bureau to review content on the survey, seeking to understand which federal programs use the information collected by each question, the justification for each question, and assess how the Census Bureau might reduce respondent burden.â The review looked at the ACSâs 72 questions and proposed removal of seven from the annual…
Outcome of Midterm Elections May Not Offer Clarity over FY 2015 Endgame
The remaining weeks of 2014 could see an effort to pass a sweeping omnibus appropriations bill for fiscal year (FY) 2015, should the Republicans gain control of the Senate after the midterm Congressional elections tomorrow. Even though the Democrats would still control the Senate until January, Republican leaders have stated that under such a scenario they would work during the lame duck session to pass an omnibus, allowing the 114th Congress to start in January with a clean slate. However, such a feat has proven impossible in recent history. For example, the FY 2014 appropriations process was not completed until…