
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 37 Issue 8
Featured News Psychologist Kristina R. Olson Receives Alan T. Waterman Award COSSA in Action Less Than Two Weeks Until COSSAâs Science Policy Conference and Advocacy Day Letters & Statements Congressional News Jerry Moran Tapped to Lead Senate CJS Subcommittee House Subcommittee Discusses 2019 NIH Budget Federal Agency & Administration News NIH Launches HEAL Initiative to Address the Opioid Epidemic NIH Takes Next Steps in Agency Reorganization Plans Nomination Opportunities Funding Opportunities Notices & Requests for Comment Community News & Reports Funding Opportunities Recent Reports COSSA Member Spotlight PAA Congressional Briefing Explores Factors Affecting Life Expectancy Nomination Opportunities Events Calendar
Psychologist Kristina R. Olson Receives Alan T. Waterman Award
On April 12, the National Science Foundation (NSF) announced that the 2018 Alan T. Waterman Award, the nationâs highest honor for early career scientists and engineers, would go to social and developmental psychologist Kristina R. Olson of the University of Washington. Olson is the first social scientist to receive the award since 2005 and is recognized for her âinnovative contributions to understanding children’s attitudes toward and identification with social groups, early prosocial behavior, the development of notions of fairness, morality, inequality and the emergence of social biases.â More information can be found here. Olson and other awardees will be recognized…
Less Than Two Weeks Until COSSAâs Science Policy Conference and Advocacy Day
There are less than two weeks left until the COSSA 2018 Science Policy Conference and Social Science Advocacy Day on April 30 and May 1. Register today to ensure you don’t miss the keynote address delivered by Barnard College President Sian Beilock, plenary panels on communicating and reestablishing trust in social science, and breakout sessions on using social and behavioral science research to address timely policy issues. Click here to see the full lineup of sessions and speakers and check the COSSA website for the most up-to-date information on the conference. Remember: COSSA members and students are eligible for discounts…
Jerry Moran Tapped to Lead Senate CJS Subcommittee
This week, following the retirement of Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Thad Cochran (R-MS), long-time appropriator Richard Shelby (R-AL) was approved by the Senate Republican Caucus to take the helm of the powerful committee. Shelbyâs promotion left a vacancy in the chairmanship of the Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies (CJS), the subcommittee responsible for allocating money to the Department of Commerce, including the U.S. Census Bureau, the Department of Justice, and federal science agencies, including the National Science Foundation. Shelby selected Jerry Moran (R-KS) to lead the subcommittee. Moran, a lawyer and longtime state politician before his election…
House Subcommittee Discusses 2019 NIH Budget
On April 11, the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies (LHHS) heard testimony from leadership of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) on the fiscal year (FY) 2019 NIH budget request. NIH Director Francis Collins, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Director Diana Bianchi, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Anthony Fauci, National Cancer Institute Director Norman Sharpless, and National Institute on Drug Abuse Director Nora Volkow all testified at the hearing. NIH was lauded for its accomplishments by members of both parties, further solidifying its position as a…
NIH Launches HEAL Initiative to Address the Opioid Epidemic
On April 4, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced a new effort to accelerate progress toward addressing the opioid addiction crisis. The Helping to End Addiction Long-term (HEAL) Initiative will use the increase in NIH funding provided by the FY 2018 omnibus bill to nearly double funding for research on opioid misuse/addiction and pain compared to FY 2016 ($1.1 billion compared to $600 million). The initiative will fund research in two broad areas: (1) Prevent addiction through enhanced pain management, and (2) Improve treatments for opioid misuse disorder and addiction. Within the preventing addiction portfolio, NIH proposes to launch…
NIH Takes Next Steps in Agency Reorganization Plans
As part of the Trump Administrationâs government reform agenda, including its comprehensive plan for reorganizing the executive branch and reducing the federal civilian workforce, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has created an initiative called ReImagine HHS. As part of this initiative, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) launched Optimize NIH in December 2017 to improve organizational effectiveness and performance. NIH is working to equilibrate workload distribution across scientific review and grants and program management functions and anticipates that the Optimize NIH effort will be fully implemented over the next two to three years. Research functions are not…
PAA Congressional Briefing Explores Factors Affecting Life Expectancy
On April 9, the Population Association of America (PAA), a COSSA governing member, hosted a Congressional briefing entitled Grave Consequences: Why Some Americans Are No Longer Living Longer on the decline of average life expectancy among some groups in the United States. COSSA was a co-sponsor of the event. Andrew Fenelon, researcher at the University of Maryland, spoke about the regional divergence in adult mortality. The Central South has a higher mortality rate than the rest of the country and has gotten worse over time, while the East Coast has shown significant improvements. Shannon Mannat, researcher at Syracuse University, presented…
COSSA Seeking Undergraduate Summer Interns
COSSA is accepting applications for its 2018 summer internship. The opportunity is open to undergraduate students who wish to learn about advocacy/lobbying, policy impacting social science, and/or non-profit organizations. Responsibilities include conducting research to assist COSSA staff with their lobbying activities and coverage of events, such as Congressional hearings, federal agency advisory committee meetings, community and coalition events, which may result in a written product, such as a newsletter article. More information is available in the internship description. Applications will be evaluated as they are received, so apply now! Back to this issueâs table of contents.
COSSA Washington Update, Volume 37 Issue 7
 Featured News 2020 Census to Ask About Citizenship; COSSA Releases Statement and Action Alert COSSA in Action Science Policy Conference Program Taking Shape; Hotel Block Extended to April 6 COSSA to Present 2018 Distinguished Service Award to Rep. Dan Lipinski, NIHâs Bill Riley COSSA Seeking Undergraduate Summer Interns The American Statistical Association Answers âWhy Social Science?â Letters & Statements Congressional News Congress Approves Fiscal Year 2018 Funding; Cochran Retires House Members Join Together to Support NIH, Title VI International Education in Dear Colleague Letters Federal Agency & Administration News Office of Management and Budget Releases Presidentâs Management Agenda Nomination Opportunities…
2020 Census to Ask About Citizenship; COSSA Releases Statement and Action Alert
On March 26, Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross directed the Census Bureau to include a question about respondentsâ citizenship in the 2020 Decennial Census. The decision was made in response to a request by the Department of Justice to add the question in order to support its enforcement of the Voting Rights Act, although it is unclear why current data is inadequate. Citizenship was last asked as part of the decennial census in 1950; since then it has been included on the census âlong form,â which later became the American Community Survey (these differ from the decennial census in that…
Science Policy Conference Program Taking Shape; Hotel Block Extended to April 6
More sessions and speakers have been announced for the COSSA 2018 Science Policy Conference and Social Science Advocacy Day. The conference will feature a keynote address delivered by Sian Beilock, President of Barnard College, plenary panels on âReestablishing Trust in Social Science & Dataâ and âPost Truth: Communicating Facts, Not Fictionâ and topical breakout sessions on the theme âWhy Social Science?â covering National Security, the Opioid Epidemic, Natural Disasters, and Criminal Justice. Check the preliminary agenda for the full lineup of presenters announced so far. Registration for the Conference is still open. Members and students are entitled to discounted registrationâemail…
COSSA to Present 2018 Distinguished Service Award to Rep. Dan Lipinski, NIHâs Bill Riley
COSSA has named U.S. Representative Daniel Lipinski (D-IL) and Dr. William (Bill) Riley, Director of the Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research (OBSSR) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), as the recipients of its 2018 Distinguished Service Award. The COSSA Distinguished Service Award recognizes leaders who have gone above and beyond to promote, protect, and advance the social and behavioral science research enterprise. Awardees are chosen by the COSSA Board of Directors, which represents COSSAâs governing member associations. The 2018 Distinguished Service Award will be officially presented at a reception on April 30, 2018 as part of COSSAâs…
Congress Approves Fiscal Year 2018 Funding; Cochran Retires
On March 23, President Trump signed the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2018 into law, finalizing appropriations for fiscal year (FY) 2018 nearly six months after the fiscal year began. The omnibus bill includes all 12 individual appropriations bills and will fund the federal government through September 30, 2018. This bill came after a bipartisan deal was reached to raise spending caps, which resulted in increases for many programs across the government â including those important to the social and behavioral sciences. The omnibus also served as a last hurrah for Sen. Thad Cochran (R-MS), chair of the powerful Senate Appropriations…
House Members Join Together to Support NIH, Title VI International Education in Dear Colleague Letters
As Congress begins deliberations on fiscal year (FY) 2019 spending, groups of Representatives have joined together to express their support for federal programs, including those important to the social and behavioral sciences. A bipartisan group of 82 representatives signed on to a âDear Colleague letterâ in support of the Department of Educationâs Fulbright-Hays and Title VI international education programs. The letter calls for at least $72.16 million for the two programs. Separately, a bipartisan group of 209 Representatives also joined together to express support, and request $38.4 billion, for the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Back to this issueâs table…
Office of Management and Budget Releases Presidentâs Management Agenda
On March 20, the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) released the Presidentâs Management Agenda, which is a broad framework for bring additional efficiency to the federal government. Goals include accomplishing agency missions more effectively, better serving those receiving services from the federal government, and being better stewards of taxpayer dollars. To accomplish these goals, the Administration will first focus in information technology modernization across the government, data accountability and transparency, and modernizing the federal workforce. Progress on the Presidentâs Management Agenda goals can be tracked online at performance.gov/PMA. The Presidentâs Management Agenda is expected to inform agency…
AERA & AAPSS Briefing Focuses on Inequality and Public Education
The American Academy of Political and Social Science (AAPSS) and the American Educational Research Association (AERA), both COSSA members organizations, hosted a Congressional briefing on March 22 entitled, In the Age of Inequality, Does Public Schooling Make a Difference? The event discussed the effects of public schooling since the âColeman Reportâ of 1966, a groundbreaking and controversial study that found schools have little influence on inequality in America, and instead studentsâ growth is determined by their socioeconomic status and race. AAPSS and AERA welcomed four panelists who discussed their research on public schoolingâs influence on the opportunities of underserved youth….
COSSA Washington Update, Volume 37 Issue 6
Featured News COSSA Releases 2018 Edition of State Fact Sheets, New Federal Funding Dashboard COSSA in Action Read COSSAâs 2017 Annual Report Webinar Highlights Graduate Training in the Social and Behavioral Sciences Letters & Statements Congressional News FY 2018 Nearing Completion; House Members Join Together to Support NSF in FY 2019 House Science Committee Holds Hearing on NSF Fiscal Year 2019 Budget Request Federal Agency & Administration News OSTP Publishes Report on âScience & Technology Highlightsâ in the Trump Administration Nomination Opportunities Funding Opportunities Notices & Requests for Comment Recent Reports Community News & Reports Recent Reports COSSA Member Spotlight…
COSSA Releases 2018 Edition of State Fact Sheets, New Federal Funding Dashboard
COSSA has released the 2018 edition of its state funding fact sheets, a set of one-pagers that highlight the amount of federal social science research funding that goes to each state, as well as the top recipient institutions and sources of federal funding. Accompanying this yearâs fact sheets is a brand-new federal funding dashboard with an interactive map so you can easily compare states and see how funding is distributed across all the universities within a state. These resources are produced using the most recent available data (fiscal year 2016) from the National Center for Science and Engineering Statisticsâ Higher…