November 15, 2001
D.C. office gives University a presence in nation’s capital
When an earthquake struck the Northwest last winter, UW researchers swung into action. Working with the local office of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), they did everything they could to learn from what had happened, all the while keeping the press briefed so that the public would be informed.
Back in Washington, D.C., the UW’s Office of Federal Relations swung into action too. “I sent a notice out to all the UW departments I thought were involved in earthquake research, telling them I thought this was a perfect time to show how research can pay off,” said Barbara Perry, who heads the office.
Her intent was to organize a briefing about earthquake research for members of Congress and their staff. So campus experts consulted with USGS and decided who would come. Perry and Federal Relations Officer Elaine McCusker, meanwhile, decided who would receive invitations, based on their interest in the subject matter. They decided to invite the California delegation and governor’s office so that they could hear about the Northwest’s experience.
The result was a well-attended session in which UW experts got to give a brief presentation about their research and how it had helped them understand and mitigate the effects of earthquakes, followed by a question and answer period during which attendees had an opportunity to find out about subjects of particular interest to them.
It was just one of several briefings the federal relations office, which also includes assistant Sarah Spreitzer, will organize each year, with a payoff that can range from votes on crucial bills to consultation on matters of policy.
“With the earthquake briefing, for example, we hoped to show congressional staffers that Berkeley isn’t the only place to call when earthquakes are the subject,” Perry said. “And we could also show how federal dollars invested in earthquake research have had very practical results.”
It doesn’t take a dramatic event such as an earthquake to precipitate a briefing, however. McCusker and Spreitzer organized a briefing last year in which faculty from the College of Forest Resources talked to the Washington delegation and also the members of the resources committee and other interested staff on the Rural Technology Initiative and the land management system – two major projects in the college that are federally funded. About 100 people attended that briefing.
“When federal dollars are supporting your projects, it just make sense to keep the people who vote for those dollars informed,” McCusker said.
Briefings are typically held in a Capitol Hill conference room and mostly attended by congressional staff, Perry and McCusker say. Presenters are asked to keep their remarks brief and to be prepared to answer tough questions from people who, though often quite young, are very knowledgeable about the subject. Perry and McCusker have also begun to invite the D.C. correspondents of Washington state media to the briefings.
But briefings aren’t the only way that the Office of Federal Relations tries to promote the University’s interests with the federal government. The president and top UW administrators, along with members of the Board of Regents, come to Washington, D.C. at least once a year for a series of meetings planned by Perry and her staff. And individual faculty members can sometimes be called as witnesses in federal hearings.
“If faculty members are planning to come to Washington to promote a cause of interest to the University, we can help them set up meetings with appropriate members of Congress and their staff, as well as brief them on the current status of the issue,” Perry said. “We can help them have the most productive trip possible.”
Perry and McCusker say it’s rare to get more than half an hour with a congressional staffer and the time will probably be much shorter if it’s a member of Congress.
“You have to have your message honed down so you can get to the point quickly,” McCusker said.
Perry and McCusker were in Seattle recently to meet with top administrators and deans to begin the process of deciding priorities for next year’s budget cycle. There are only a few University-based initiatives that will be pushed in any given year, they say. Rather, their plea is for funding of research, focusing on the kind that is done here.
Both women believe it is well worth it for University faculty and administrators to make the trip back East. “It’s an important part of our scientific advocacy on appropriations because we can explain a lot about what the funding goes for and why it’s important, but to get a good researcher out to explain it makes a better case,” McCusker said. “It puts a face on where the money goes and it’s effective when they explain in their own words what the results of their projects are.”
The Office of Federal Relations can be reached at 444 N. Capitol St., Suite 418, Washington, D.C., 20001, or by calling 202-624-1420.
