Though its effects might be little felt in Athens now, the federal government shutdown could threaten more than a million dollars in student income and tens of millions in research funding at Ohio University.
Washington, D.C. politicians’ failure to pass a resolution continuing to fund the government before Monday at midnight has halted all grant applications from researchers nationally and might lead to federal work-study students not getting paid.
Employees at the U.S. Department of Education that administer work-study payments will not work in a government shutdown, according to the department’s contingency plan.
“It is not anticipated that federal student aid programs would be immediately impacted, since most federal student aid programs are forward funded,” Katie Quaranta, OU spokeswoman, said in an email. “At this time, all processing centers, websites and call centers remain open for use by students and families.
“It is too soon for us to know when or even if the funding might be affected.”
The administering of Pell Grants and Direct Student Loans, because they “are provided through mandatory and carryover appropriations,” would still be provided with “the minimum number of employees necessary for these programs,” according to the plan.
Work-study dollars, which come to undergraduates based on how many hours worked, do not fall into that category, however.
During the 2012-13 academic year, 810 students received work-study dollars, Quaranta said. She did not provide how much those students earned that year.
During the 2011-12 academic year, 775 students made $1,096,223 in earnings through work-study, according to a previous Post article.
As much as 90 percent of the Department of Education’s workforce is told to stay home during a shutdown, according to the plan.
On the research side, no new grant applications are being processed at the National Science Foundation or at the National Institutes of Health, according to their respective websites.
During the 2011-12 academic year — the most recent data available — 34 faculty members received $7,792,722 from the National Science Foundation, while 14 faculty members received $4,229,691 from National Institutes of Health, said Roxanne Male-Brune, director of grant development at OU, in a previous Post article.
Joe Shields, vice president for research and creative activity and dean of the Graduate College, said it is difficult to gauge how a shutdown will affect OU’s research funding.
“I think that depends on how long a shutdown lasts,” Shields said. “My expectation is it would not last long enough to seriously impact our research activity.”
dd185710@ohiou.edu
@WillDrabold
