{"240691":{"#nid":"240691","#data":{"type":"news","title":"How Would a Federal Government Shutdown affect Georgia Tech?","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EA partial government shutdown may seem a distant D.C. problem, where talk of closed national parks or museums would affect many, but perhaps not close to home.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBut on campus, talk of a potential closure is on the minds of some staff, who must consider what preparations need to be made in the event of a federal shutdown.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe are working with the accountants in the Bursar\u2019s Office to make sure we have as much processed as possible by the end of this week,\u201d said Marie Mons, director of the Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid. Students who are still completing financial aid applications for the fall could potentially see a delay in disbursement if processing centers were to shut down. The majority of financial aid funds were delivered at the beginning of the term, however, meaning most students\u2019 aid would not be affected by a short-term shutdown.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn the Office of International Education, a fall shutdown doesn\u2019t pose the threat it would if it took place in the spring or summer, when domestic students are preparing to study abroad and international students are completing final paperwork related to enrollment or graduation.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe have had government shutdowns at other times in my 18 years at Tech, but I can\u2019t say those were very dramatic for us,\u201d said Amy Henry, director of the Office of International Education. \u201cThe impact would be on students and scholars who need services from the federal government.\u201d These needs can include visa processing, review of applications for Optional Practical Training, passport applications, and other requests made of the Department of State and Department of Homeland Security.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFor research, effects would be greater but are still largely unknown. A shutdown would affect each federal agency in a slightly different way. In general, activities related to grants and contracts from the prior year would continue, but additional support and administrative assistance may be limited. New grant applications would be on hold, and no new awards would likely be issued. Accounting would continue to submit invoices and make cash requests as systems allow, but payment may be delayed.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch3\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat is a shutdown?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h3\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOct. 1 marks the first day of the government\u2019s next budget year, but Congress has yet to pass a new budget to fund it. It could still pass a Continuing Resolution to temporarily fund the government at its current rate of operation, however, putting off the approval of a new budget until a later specified date.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch3\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat \u201cshuts down\u201d in a shutdown?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/h3\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn the event of a shutdown, all but essential services would be halted until a budget is passed. Essential services include systems such as Social Security and Medicare payments, active military duty, and the United States Postal Service, which would all continue operation.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch3\u003EWhere do we stand now?\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/h3\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOn Wednesday afternoon, the Senate voted to pass a bill to keep the government running until Nov. 15. Congress is expected to work through the weekend to come to a resolution. The last shutdown happened nearly 20 years ago, lasting a total of 28 days split between Nov. 14\u201319, 1995, and Dec. 16, 1995 \u2013 Jan. 6, 1996.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EMost students would not be impacted greatly, but a few could see issues if the shutdown were prolonged.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Most students would not be impacted greatly, but a few could see issues if the shutdown were prolonged."}],"uid":"27469","created_gmt":"2013-09-26 13:55:49","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:14:56","author":"Kristen Bailey","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2013-09-27T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2013-09-27T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/blogs\/wonkblog\/wp\/2013\/09\/24\/everything-you-need-to-know-about-a-government-shutdown\/","title":"Washington Post: Everything You Need to Know about a Government Shutdown"},{"url":"http:\/\/gov.gatech.edu\/","title":"Office of Government and Community Relations"},{"url":"http:\/\/finaid.gatech.edu\/","title":"Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid"},{"url":"http:\/\/oie.gatech.edu\/","title":"Office of International Education"}],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"}],"keywords":[{"id":"1411","name":"financial aid"},{"id":"75031","name":"government shutdown"},{"id":"9055","name":"office of international education"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71871","name":"Campus and Community"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:kristen.bailey@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EKristen Bailey\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EInstitute Communications\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:knotts@gatech.edu\u0022\u003ERobert Knotts\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EGovernment and Community Relations\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}