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June 17, 2025
UAF faculty and staff,
In my message last Tuesday, June 10, I shared that the UA system federal relations team has been
closely monitoring activity at the federal level and recently hosted a NSF-focused
federal updates listening session. They have also opened a to gather information and effects from the proposed cuts in the federal budget bill.
This mechanism provides information for Executive Director John Latini and Associate
Director Denae Benson to work with the ÐÓ°Épro Congressional Delegation to support
UA priorities.
Discussions regarding the federally negotiated facilities and administration rates
(F&A) and indirect cost recovery (ICR) continue to evolve. As many of you are aware,
DOE and NIH proposed 15% rate caps on F&A in recent months. Following the DOE and
NIH actions, NSF introduced a 15% cap to F&A. These actions have been either stayed
or subject to a temporary restraining order by the courts. The government has voluntarily
agreed to extend a stay on the implementation of the NSF 15% ICR cap until Friday,
June 20, and we expect to hear more then. Additionally, DoD issued a memo implementing
a 15% cap on June 13, and litigation challenging this cap was filed Monday, June 16.
Given this landscape, several national associations, including APLU, came together
to form the Joint Associations Group (JAG). The JAG’s first task was to proactively
propose F&A models that can serve as alternatives to a 15% rate that are equitable,
transparent, and that help cover the true institutional costs associated with doing
research. The JAG convened a subject matter expert team with broad representation
from institutions across the nation to envision new models. Thus far, the JAG has
presented two models and is taking comments from universities.
Fundamentally, the models propose a mix of standardized F&A rates (i.e., above 15%)
with the goal of improving fiscal accountability for research. Recognizing that the
current F&A system has been in place for over thirty years, the JAG is working with
the federal administration in an attempt to develop the best long-term solution. UA
is coordinating testing of these proposed models and will formulate a single response
through Executive Director Latini and the UA ICR Working Group. The UA ICR Working
Group has multi-university and System Office representation. UAF members are VCR Laura
Conner, VCAS Julie Queen, GI Director Bob McCoy, OFA Director Jason Theis, and ACEP
Executive Officer Jennifer Harris.
Executive Director Latini continues to keep an eye on direct impacts to NOAA grants,
which have been increasingly paused or frozen. There is concern that NASA may also
be subject to grant restrictions in the future. Importantly, current freezes are being
applied to grants and not contracts. Many of our relationships with NASA are through
contracts.
With respect to the Senate budget reconciliation proposals, there appear to be no
expected cuts to Pell, subsidized loans, or imposition of risk-sharing payments related
to student loan defaults. This is a tremendously positive outcome compared to the
House reconciliation proposal. Senator Murkowski has been a key advocate for us. The
reconciliation bills are still working their way through the legislative process,
so more updates to come. Research funding is generally not part of reconciliation
legislation, so the UA federal relations team is laser-focused on advocating for federal
student financial aid.
Executive Director Latini announced earlier today that two more listening sessions
will be held next week. On a listening session will be held on the FY26 budget request for NASA. Additionally,
on a listening session will be held on the U.S. Department of Education’s FY26 budget
request.
Finally, I will be holding another virtual forum on the federal landscape, where we
will provide updates on federal action and answer questions, on Tuesday, July 15,
from 8:30-9:30 a.m. In the meantime, if you have any questions, please reach out to
your dean, director, vice chancellor, or the UA federal relations team. Moving forward,
I will be sending a message every other Tuesday, with updates available on the federal
relations .
Thank you for your continued engagement, and thanks for choosing UAF.
Dan White, chancellor
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