D.C. back in session: Advancing global health and job opportunities


back in session

September means back to school and back in session season. The U.S. Congress came back to session this Monday after August recess and FIU hit the ground running to advocate for financial aid, job opportunities for students and an FIU-led global medical collaboration.

Avoiding government shutdown

A Continuing Resolution (H. J. Res. 124) for the start of fiscal year 2015 on Oct. 1 has been introduced in the House. The bill carries all federal agencies through December 11, 2014, at the current rate of spending. However, to cover the cost of the few increases in the bill – such as the money to fight Ebola – all agency appropriations will be reduced by a slight 0.0554 percent across-the-board cut. This defers long-term decision on research funding and financial aid priorities for FIU.

Back in session

Congress has only a few days to legislate this fall because it’s election year. Education is under the spotlight. The education debate continued Wednesday through a House joint committee hearing titled, “Improving Department of Education Policies and Programs Thought Independent Oversight,” where disability, LGBT and overall government oversight of the Department of Education, among other topics, were heard. Witnesses included the Education Department Inspector General and GAO experts.

In the Senate, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass) expressed what seems to be another setback for students. During a heated exchange on Wednesday, the Education Department essentially admitted it will pay private student loan firms more money. In general, after renegotiation, the companies will receive more money if their borrowers are current on payments and less if they’re late or not paying. The Education Department, on the other hand, praised the new contracts as being more responsive to the needs of borrowers, as they would strengthen incentives for improved customer service in keeping borrowers up to date with payments.

Advancing global health collaboration

FIU Professors Andres Gil, vice president for research, and Kalai Mathee of the College of Medicine met with the Pan American Health Organization and Sanofi Pasteur, the largest company in the world devoted entirely to vaccines, in order to deepen their partnerships. FIU is working to develop global health research collaboration with a focus on diseases found in Latin America.

Diversifying federal government workforce

FIU Career Services Director Fernando Figueredo spent some time in the nation’s capital this week emphasizing FIU’s tremendous potential for diversification of the workforce in both private and public organizations. He visited key employment partners – Department of State, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), Facchina, and LIBRE. His visit to OPM follows previous conversations with newly-appointed Director Katherine Archuleta in August, when she delivered a commencement speech for FIU graduates.

Figueredo-Loo-StateDepartment-2014

Fernando Figueredo, Director of Career Services and Edward Loo, Diplomat in Residence.

“FIU is now the fourth largest university in the U.S. in student enrollment with 54,800 students,” explained Figueredo. “We have to show private companies and federal agencies FIU should be a go-to institution if they are looking to diversify their workforce.”

Panthers spotted

Also in D.C. this week:

–       Carlos Duart, CDR Maguire president, was a panelist for Water-Based Hazards: Risk Mitigation, an American Chemical Society event.

–       Edilberto Roman, College of Law professor; Richard Montes de Oca and Ana Paola Capaldo, MDO partners; and Alex Acosta, College of Law dean, attended the Hispanic National Bar Association events.

–       Edward Loo, FIU Diplomat-in-Residence, attended a meeting with Fernando Figueredo at the Department of State.

–       Herlys Gianelli, manager of Global Public Policy Latin America, attended Sinofi Pasteur meeting.

–       Kristy Wright of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee; Ashley Abed with Linda Roth Associates; and Pamela Pamelá, FIU Federal Relations intern, started new jobs in the district.

 

For more insight on FIU’s role in D.C. or too see what the office is involved with this fall, stay connected with FIU in D.C. on Facebook and Twitter.

Twitter: @FIUdc

Facebook: FIU Federal Relations, FIU In DC

Email: Federal@fiu.edu

Telephone: 202.624.1404

Comments are closed.