All University Government Relations initiatives are established annually by the University President after consultation with the Provost, deans, and senior staff.
STUDENT FINANCIAL AID
- Because the federal authorization for programs under the Higher
Education Act (HEA) will expire in 2003, Congressional efforts
have now begun in drafting new legislation to improve and refine
the federal student financial-aid programs and other higher education programs
of importance to Northwestern University, including Pell and Javits
grants, Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants (SEOG), Graduate
Assistance in Areas of National Need (GAANN), Work-Study, and
guaranteed loans. The Office of Government Relations will collaborate
with the National Association of
Independent Colleges and Universities (NAICU), the Consortium
on Financing Higher Education (COFHE), and Association
of American Universities (AAU), urging that Congress protect
student financial aid. We anticipate that Congress will focus
on the issue of college affordability.
For more information on eligibility for student financial aid, contact Northwestern University's Office of Financial Aid.
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REGISTER TO VOTE
- The 1998 reauthorization of the Higher Education Act requires universities participating in federal student-aid programs to make good faith efforts to distribute voter registration forms to students prior to the registration deadline. Northwestern University works with various student organizations to encourage students to vote and to provide them with registration information throughout the year. Further information is included in Register to Vote.
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REGULATORY ISSUES
- Medicare/Graduate Medical Education
(GME). Academic health centers across the country have
been negatively affected by cuts in the Medicare reimbursement
rates for GME, as mandated by the budget agreement of 1997. Northwestern
will continue to work with the Association
of American Universities, the Association
of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), Northwestern Memorial
Hospital (NMH), and others, to prevent further erosion in the
system by which GME is funded, to provide relief from mandated
cuts, and to find longer-term solutions (e.g., GME trust fund).
- Tax Issues. Northwestern University will continue to follow a number of important federal tax issues affecting tax-exempt organizations, particularly private institutions of higher education and their ability to attract charitable giving. In recent years, Northwestern's Government Relations office has taken a leadership position in promoting the "IRA Charitable Rollover" legislation, and has followed other important tax legislation, including elimination of the federal estate tax, deductibility of charitable gifts, etc.
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RESEARCH
- Science Agencies. This office will continue its work, often in collaboration with such organizations as the Association of American Universities, the Science Coalition (TSC), the Big Ten Federal Relations Council (Big Ten), and others, to increase funding for the federal agencies most important to Northwestern's research programs. These agencies include the National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Science Foundation (NSF), Department of Defense (DOD), Department of Energy (DOE), and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Special efforts are underway to increase dramatically the research funding at DOE and NSF in FY 2004 and beyond. These agencies, therefore, will be a special focus of our activities in the year ahead.
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SPECIAL PROJECTS
- Pancoe-Evanston Northwestern Healthcare Life Sciences Pavilion. Under construction on Northwestern's Evanston campus is the new Arthur and Gladys Pancoe-Evanston Northwestern Healthcare Life Sciences Pavilion. This facility will house the Center for Genomics and Molecular Medicine, which will foster the integration of basic health research and clinical investigation. For more information, contact Bruce Layton.
- Robert H. Lurie Medical Research Center. Also under construction is the new Robert H. Lurie Medical Research Center facility on the Chicago campus. This facility will house the Institute for Bioengineering and Nanoscience in Advanced Medicine (IBNAM). For more information, contact Bruce Layton.
- Chemistry of Life Processes.
A new project for Northwestern University is the Institute for
Proteomics and Nanobiotechnology. Scientists from diverse disciplines
will be brought together in the Institute to focus on two emerging
areas of science and technology for a single purpose. The first
area will build upon the recent decoding of the human genome to
drive advances in proteomics, a new initiative to characterize
the tens-of-millions of protein molecules that constitute a single
cell. The second cross-disciplinary effort is to advance recent
developments in biotechnology by utilizing discoveries in the
new field of nano-scale science and engineering, i.e., manipulation
and molecular design at the level of a billionth of a meter. Coordinating
discoveries in these two areas, the mission of the Institute will
be to develop the molecular health science required to understand
and control life processes at the single molecule level, for the
purpose of improving medical treatment and human health. For more
information, contact Bruce
Layton.
- Juvenile Study. The Northwestern Juvenile Project is a unique longitudinal study of at-risk youth that has generated its own findings and provides extensive data for a wide range of federally supported research programs and projects. For more information, contact Bruce Layton.
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