News and updates

Graduate Student & Professional Senate Leaders Take D.C.

Posted on April 18, 2023April 18, 2023

This week, four graduate student leaders from 鲍奥鈥檚 (GPSS) visited Washington D.C. to meet with Congressional staff and advocate for their priorities as graduate students across the country and in Washington specifically. The annual trip to D.C. was put on hold the past few years due to听the pandemic, making this year鈥檚 visit a great opportunity to reconnect with offices in person and update them on graduate student concerns. The group, which included A.J. Balatico (GPSS President), Kaustubh Yadav (GPSS and SAGE Communications Director), Janis Shin (TABS Chair), and Ella Spurlock (GPSS Exec Senator, Science and Policy Chair), met with 11 of the Washington delegation鈥檚 offices where they discussed support for higher education, international students, and research opportunities and advocated for efforts to diversify academic pipelines, ease the visa processes for international students, and expand direct financial support to graduate students.听

President Cauce Visits with Washington Congressional Delegation

Posted on April 7, 2023

鲍奥鈥檚 President Ana Mari Cauce visited DC last week for an exciting and jam-packed day, meeting with the members of the Washington Congressional delegation in the Senate and House of Representatives. President Cauce discussed a wide range of topics including updates on the exciting research and studies going on at the university as well as 鲍奥鈥檚 2024 goals while thanking our WA delegation for their continued representation and support.

UW Hosts NSF Director & Rep. DelBene for “Opportunity Everywhere” Forum

Posted on April 7, 2023April 21, 2023

This week, the UW hosted the National Science Foundation (NSF) Director Panchanathan, Representative DelBene, and higher education leaders from across the state for the CHIPS and Science 鈥淥pportunity Everywhere鈥� Forum. The forum brought together researchers, university leaders and students to discuss how Washington will be competing for Chips and Science funds, including plans to bring chip manufacturing to the U.S., train the workforce, and expand Washington鈥檚 leadership in AI and quantum.

To kick off the day, Director Panchanathan met with young UW faculty followed by an AI and machine learning roundtable to discuss recent research developments. The group then made their way to tour the Rachel Carson research vessel where they discussed marine science research made possible through NSF and NOAA funding while onboard. Washington Representative DelBene, staff from Senator Cantwell鈥檚 office, as well as leaders from Washington State University, Bellevue College, Central Washington University, Western Washington University and several community and technical colleges joined later in the day for important discussions around the future of CHIPS funding followed by a tour of the 鲍奥鈥檚 quantum facilities. Director Panchanathan concluded the day with a discussion about diversity in STEM, moderated by 鲍奥鈥檚 Dean of Engineering Nancy Allbritton. The UW looks forward to continuing our partnership with the federal government to accelerate transformative scientific research.

UW Partners with White House OSTP to Host Climate Change Solutions Forum

Posted on March 24, 2023

Representatives from approximately 80听colleges and universities听met in Washington D.C.听on March 8th听and 9th for an exciting two-day forum co-hosted by the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) and the 榴莲视频 to discuss how to leverage the capabilities of colleges and universities to catalyze climate solutions in communities across the country. The attendees represented a cross-section of American higher education from almost all 50 states, including those from Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Hispanic-Serving Institutions, Tribal Colleges and Universities, Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian-Serving Institutions, and Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-Serving Institutions. UW was represented by Maya Tolstoy, Dean of the College of the Environment and Meade Krosby, University of Director of the Northwest Climate Adaptation Science Center (pictured below). 听

The first day of the forum was held at the White House campus where higher education professionals were joined by government officials for three panels to discuss the various ways that higher education and the federal government can partner together to showcase听how campuses can听act as proving grounds for new climate solutions and pathways to net-zero emissions; provide essential climate extension services to states, municipalities, and indigenous communities; and ensure that students have the knowledge and skills to lead in the clean industries of the future.听听The meeting听also听included听remarks from听prominent speakers including the White House Deputy National Climate Advisor Mary Frances Repko;听OSTP Deputy Director for Energy Sally Benson;听National Science Foundation Assistant Director for Geosciences Alexandra Isern; OSTP Chief of Staff for Climate and Environment and Assistant Director for Climate Resilience Laura Petes;听and 鲍奥鈥檚 very own Maya Tolstoy,听who delivered final remarks听for the day.听听

The attendees then headed to the听University of the District of Columbia for Day 2 which included a full day of panels and breakout听sessions where attendees discussed strategies听and experiences around four themes: campus sustainability听and听resilience,听providing听climate services to communities, living laboratories for climate solutions, and climate action in the classroom. The forum听ended听with a call for action to continue this momentum and听maintain听a strong听channel of communication between higher education and the federal government to advance climate change solutions.听听听

To learn more, click听听for the White House Read Out of the event and听听to watch the full live stream of Day 1.听

FY24 Appropriations Process Is Underway: President’s Budget Request is Released

Posted on March 23, 2023April 3, 2023

Earlier this month, the (PBR) was released outlining the administration鈥檚 priorities for the coming fiscal year. The overall request is self-described as a blueprint to build on the past two years to “grow the economy from the bottom up and middle out by investing in America, lowering costs for families, protecting and strengthening Medicare and Social Security, and reducing the deficit by nearly $3 trillion over the next decade”.听

The FY24 PBR included: 听听

$8,215 per Pell Grant award (an $820 increase over FY23)听听
$21 billion in discretionary spending for CHIPS & Science-authorized activities including $1.2 billion for the Directorate of Technology Innovation and Partnerships (TIP) 听
$48.26 billion for NIH (an increase of 1.7% over FY23)听听
$2.5 billion for ARPA-H (a $1 billion increase over FY23) 听
$27.2 billion for NASA (a 7.1% increase over FY23), and 听
$11.3 billion for NSF (an 18.6% increase over FY23 enacted level of $9.5 billion) 听

Now the House and Senate will review the request and vote on a Budget Resolution that decides on topline numbers for discretionary funding. Here is where things could get tricky as the new divided Congress will likely have trouble coming to an agreement.听

Check out a more complete list of programs and accounts on our updated appropriations tracker, including the FY24 budget request numbers, . We will continue to add to this once more budget justifications are released and as the appropriations process continues. 听听