Opportunities and Announcements for the Week of December 11, 2017

Free Student Memberships.  The British Politics Group is an association of political scientists interested in and doing research on the politics of the United Kingdom.  The BPG is an affiliated group of the American Political Science Association and holds its annual meeting and sponsors conference panels at APSA meetings (in the US) and at the Political Studies Association meetings (in Britain).  I have frequently served as a member of the BPG Executive Council, most recently in 2013-2015.  Both Professor Lavelle and I are BPG members.  This year the British Politics Group is offering free memberships for students.  As Professor Janet Laible, BPG Executive Director writes, “If you are a student and would like to join/renew your membership for free, … please contact me [at jml6@lehigh.edu]. Student members have the same opportunities and privileges as all other members, e.g. the right to present on BPG panels at APSA, invitations to our receptions and special events, etc. The BPG offers great opportunities for students to network with scholars in the field at our conferences and events.”  You can see the new BPG website here.  I encourage interested students to join the BPG.
 
Nominate the Best Faculty Members.  If you are interested in nominating one of our faculty for the J. Bruce Jackson, MD, Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Mentoring and/or the Carl F. Wittke Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching, please see the call for nomination here.
 
An Alumna Returns.  Our alumna Cheyenne Chambers (BA POSC, MA HSTY 2011) will give a public lecture titled “A Story of Perseverance,” today, Friday, December 8, at 2:00pm in Mather House 100. Ms. Chambers earned her law degree from The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law and currently practices at the law firm of Tin Fulton Walker & Owen; she most recently argued a case before the North Carolina Supreme Court.  See the flyeradvertising Ms. Chambers’ lecture and the various events associated with her visit.
 
Tax Reform that Kills Higher Education.  As I wrote in last week’s Newsletter, the US Congress is considering legislation that would seriously damage higher education.  Different versions of tax reform bills have passed the House and the Senate, and both are damaging.  A conference committee of House membersand Senators will be formed to reconcile the differences between the House and Senate bills, but the resolved bill will thereafter be returned to each chamber for an up or down vote, without amendments.  I include the text of last week’s Newsletter in regard to this issue, below.  Please see a lengthier but similar argument by political science professor Wendy Brown (Class of 1936 First Professor, University of California at Berkeley).  The distribution of the vote on tax reform is here.  This is what I wrote last week, below.
 
With all best wishes,
Karen
 
An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.

The US Congress is considering a major revision of the tax code.  Proposed changes in the code are likely to have serious and negative consequences for higher education – not just in terms of the impact of the legislation on universities such as ours, but also in terms of the impact on the US population, including high school students applying for college admissions, college and university students planning on attending graduate school, and faculty and staff of universities who hope to extend their own education or to send their children on to higher education.
 
As the American Council on Education explains,

“The tax code contains a number of provisions, enacted independently over time, that together create a framework that functions as a kind of “three-legged stool” intended to advance three important goals: 1) encourage saving for higher education; 2) help students and families pay for college; and 3) assist with the repayment of student loans. This framework serves the needs of low- and middle-income students and families as they invest in themselves and in higher education.

“In addition, students and families benefit from the non-profit tax-exempt status of public and private colleges and universities through charitable giving, endowments, and tax-exempt bond financing benefits, all of which help institutions to provide financial aid and advance their teaching, research and public service missions.”

Three provisions, among several, could have negative consequences.  First, former students who are paying off their student loans would no longer be able to deduct the interest payments on these loans.  The House version of the tax reform bill would end the Student Loan Interest Deduction (SLID) available in current tax law.
 
Second, “the House bill would repeal Sec. 117(d)(5), which provides for the tax exemption of tuition waivers for graduate students serving as teaching and research assistants.”  Graduate students earn very little in actual stipends.  In addition to providing tuition waivers, Ohio State University provides some of its political science graduate students with a University Fellowship that pays $25,296 per year; the University of Chicago funds its political science University graduate Fellows at approximately the same level.  It would be a challenge for graduate students to pay tax on tuition from their graduate stipend alone.  OSU graduate tuition, in-state, is more than $12,000; for out-of-state students, tuition tops $33,000.  The University of Chicago tuition is $18,612 a quarter, or more than $55,000 year.
 
Third, “the House bill would repeal Sec. 117(d), Sec. 117(d)(5), and Sec. 127, which would make tuition waivers and exemptions included under estimated gross income (EGI) taxable and would increase the taxable income for many campus employees, as well as graduate students.”  Universities and colleges offer (under current law) tax-free tuition benefits to their employees and dependents, helping institutions of higher education attract motivated employees, helping those employed to further their education, and giving the dependents of those employees access to higher education.  An employee at CWRU (in, e.g., Grade 02) making the maximum annual income of $30,191 would be hard-pressed to pay the tax on the tuition for a child enrolled at CWRU ($23,537/semester); under the current tax code, the tuition benefit is not taxed as income.  Although the Senate version of the bill does not include this change, differences between the House and Senate versions of the legislation will be reconciled in conference, where some of the protections in the Senate bill could disappear.
 
Why is support for higher education important in the tax code?  The tax code underscores the values of the country and provides incentives for behavior that the US, as a nation, hopes to encourage.  Graduate school is, of course, not for everyone, but graduate school is not for nobody.  Graduate school is the source of the future professoriate; it is the source of the highest level of research and scholarship; it undergirds the development of new bodies of knowledge.  Similarly, college is not for everyone, but college is not for no one.  Encouraging those with the preparation and the necessary talents, interests, and experience to attend university, and to do so without permanently damaging themselves financially, is the right thing to do.
 
You can read more at http://www.acenet.edu/Pages/Higher-Education-and-Tax-Reform.aspx.  Senators Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) and Rob Portman (R-Ohio) are both members of the Senate Finance Committee.  Senator Brown can be reached through his website at https://www.brown.senate.gov/contact; Senator Portman can be contacted through his website at https://www.portman.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/contact-form.

General Announcements

• • Congratulations to Marin Exler and Ann Marie Smetona, who were offered internships with the Latin American News Digest. According to LAND:
    “Winners (student writers and researchers) contribute to LAND’s weekly issues by writing condensed versions of news articles found in Latin American sources. (…) The result is an enriching experience for students who discover a variety of perspectives within the Latin American media. 
    “Students will also have the opportunity to research and write their own aggregations, with their own bylines.”