AAU WEEKLY WRAP-UP ASSOCIATION OF AMERICAN UNIVERSITIES 1200 NEW YORK AVENUE NW, SUITE 550, WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005 Phone: 202-408-7500 Fax: 202-408-8184 www.aau.edu January 16, 2015 CONTENTS: CONGRESSIONAL ISSUES Senators Introduce Legislation to Expand H-1B Visas for High-skilled Immigrants OTHER National Academies Release Guide to Evidence-Based Undergraduate STEM Teaching CONGRESSIONAL ISSUES SENATORS INTRODUCE LEGISLATION TO EXPAND H-1B VISAS FOR HIGH-SKILLED IMMIGRANTS A bipartisan group of Senators on January 13 introduced legislation aimed at expanding the ability of high-skilled workers to live and work in the United States. It contains a number of provisions AAU has advocated. The Immigration Innovation (“I-Squared”) Act of 2015 would increase the number of employment-based nonimmigrant (H-1B) visas and broaden access to green cards for high-skilled workers by expanding exemptions and eliminating the annual per-country limits. The measure was introduced by Senators Orrin Hatch (R-UT), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Marco Rubio (R-FL), Chris Coons (D-DE), Jeff Flake (R-AZ), and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT). The I-Squared Act includes the following provisions of specific interest to universities:     Uncapping the existing U.S. advanced degree exemption for H-1B visas (currently limited to 20,000 per year); Allowing dual intent for foreign students at U.S. colleges and universities; Exempting U.S. STEM advanced degree holders and outstanding professors and researchers from the employment-based green card cap (note: I-Squared uses the Department of Homeland Security definition of qualified STEM fields); and Reforming fees on H-1B visas and employment-based green cards and directing the revenue to fund a grant program to promote STEM education and worker retraining to be administered by the states. OTHER NATIONAL ACADEMIES PUBLISH GUIDE TO EVIDENCE-BASED UNDERGRADUATE STEM TEACHING The National Academies on January 15 published a guide for college-level faculty on how to implement teaching strategies in undergraduate STEM education that research has shown to be most effective in promoting student learning. The report, Reaching Students: What Research Says About Effective Instruction in Undergraduate Science and Engineering, follows up on a 2012 report that synthesized literature from several research fields on how students learn, particularly in scientific disciplines, and ways to improve instruction. AAU’s Undergraduate STEM Education Initiative is featured on pages 220-221 of the new report; it is based in part on this and other research. Please follow AAU on Twitter at @AAUniversities.