Return to Table of Contents
In an arena of pervasive federal funding cuts, a new congressional majority and public skepticism regarding government spending, Indiana University's federal relations team managed some significant victories in 1995-1996, but admits that maintaining federal funding of higher education will only become more difficult in coming years.
IU receives approximately $200 million a year for research through federal grants and contracts. Some of the biggest funding agencies are the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, the Department of Education and the Department of Energy. Cutbacks at these agencies, while significant, were not as bad as expected during the last Congress.
"We just finished a Congress that was much more generous to higher education than any of us would have predicted," said Christopher Simpson, vice president for public affairs and government relations. "President Clinton has higher education very high on his list of priorities. He won virtually every battle with Congress in terms of programs he wanted funded and the level of funding he sought.
"My concern is that people will look at the recent successes and forget that the current path to a balanced budget requires precipitous drops in funding for higher education across the board in coming years. So we can't let our guard down just because we've just had a great year."
Two years ago, in anticipation of looming cuts in higher education funding, IU reevaluated its strategy and allocation of resources directed at federal relations. For years, IU had only one person assigned to Washington, D.C. That person's job was to lobby on Capitol Hill and keep tabs on developments in various funding agencies‹a daunting task given the size and complexity of the federal government.
"We made a dramatic change two years ago when we deployed a team concept for federal relations whereby I took the Hill and George Walker and his staff took the agencies," Simpson said. "Then in March of this year, JT. Forbes assumed primary responsibility for the Hill. What we've done is reallocate time and money internally to increase the number of man-hours we spend in Washington, probably between eight and tenfold. There is too much happening for one person to handle it effectively."
Taking advantage of the latest communications tools, IU now disseminates information to federal government officials and other IU stakeholders through a World Wide Web page, E-mail list serves and a printed newsletter. The university has also established two committees to enhance coordination and improve communications.
"Restructuring has allowed us to make better use of our resources by drawing on the talents of more people," said JT. Forbes, coordinator of federal and community relations.
"We are also strengthening relations with the Indiana congressional delegation and key agency leaders, encouraging leadership on issues affecting higher education. In the past, we have been successful in appropriations matters that directly affect IU. Now, we are stepping up to be more visible on a broader range of higher education funding and policy issues. In the process, we hope to position ourselves as an even greater resource to both IU, the Congress and federal agencies."
While IU continues to identify and achieve specific funding goals, it is also vital that the university further its leadership role in higher education. In an era of cooperation brought about by the need to preserve funding, universities that would have never cooperated in years past are joining together to address Congress in a strong, unified voice.
"When legislation affects all 50 states, we can have a say in it, but we're not going to drive the process," Simpson said.
"It's absurd to invest all of our efforts in trying to single-handedly influence national legislation that affects higher education. A smarter approach is to take a leadership role in working with other institutions and higher education associations."
In addition to working with numerous funding agencies, such as the NSF and NIH, George Walker, vice president for research and dean of the Graduate School, also works with organizations such as the American Association of Universities to plan legislative strategy, and to make sure that Congress is aware of the university's interests.
"We have a threefold strategy," Walker said. "We want to make sure that Congress funds the agencies at an adequate level, we want to make sure that the agencies fund programs we're interested in and we want to make sure our researchers do as well as possible when their grant proposals come up for review by the agencies."
"During the coming year, the university will continue to pursue three key goals in federal relations," Simpson said. "The first will be to ensure adequate federal funding for research. The second will be to sustain the federal commitment to student financial aid programs like the direct lending program that has been so successful on the Blooomington and South Bend campuses. And the third will be to escalate our efforts as a leader in cooperative efforts to keep higher education issues at the forefront of the national agenda."