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Wednesday, November 27, 20 ; The Statement 5B
A CAPITOL VIEW:
The D.C. fight to maintain federal
research funding / By Sam Gringlas
Through the windows, the dome
of the U.S. Capitol commands the
skyline, perched just a few blocks
up Capitol Street Southwest.
At the University of Michi-
gan Washington, D.C. office, the
focus on location is apparent. For the staff,
working from Washington isn't just conve-
nient; it's essential.
It's in the District of Columbia - not Ann
Arbor - where the University has constant
access to legislators and policymakers, the
White House and congressional staff. The
University's Washington staff members are
well positioned to advocate on the Univer-
sity's behalf. In Washington, friends of the
University have the clout to attach a cru-
cial amendment or adjust a vital regulation.
Though they might not know it, University
faculty, students and administrators are
depending on a staff over 500 miles away
- for research dollars, flexible student loan
policy and lenient immigration laws.
In Michigan, Capitol Hill may seem dis-
tant, but at the University's D.C. office, it's
just down the street.
to attend the University and then stay in the
United States.
But perhaps most importantly, federal
research funding is a high-stakes priority
for the University, the nation's second larg-
est research institution in terms of research
dollars. As effects of the federal sequestra-
tion loom, the University must constantly
remind its congressional delegation the
importance of federal research funds.
In fiscal year 2013, the University logged
record-breaking research expenditures,
totaling $1.33 billion. However, federal
funding accounts for 62 percent of Univer-
sity research dollars. Though the University
reported increases in certain areas of fed-
Kristina Ko, the University's director
of federal relations for research, serves as
the liaison between the University's Office
of the Vice President for Research and the
federal government. From Washington, Ko
advocates on behalf of the University's vast
research interests and relays updates on
federal funding and regulations related to
research.
It is difficult to isolate the sequestration's
impact on specific grants. When a research-
er receives word funding has been cut, Ko
said, the notice does not state "due to the
sequestration."
"But we can make certain assumptions,"
she said.
"The funding is going to continue
to be the biggest fight we're
going to have here. And it's tied
Inside the Beltwav
W hen to this macro debate about how
When the University first opened a Wash-
ington, D.C. office in 1990, it was one of just
a handful of similar university outposts. big governsent should be. So
Today, more than 30 institutions of higher
education maintain offices in the District.
Michigan State University and Wayne State we're folnglto have to out
University, along with Harvard University, e re1 gofgurt
have their offices in the same building as
Michigan's delegation, just a ten-minute N W W a e ~ rt r ~ h t O e
walk from Capitol Hill. t h
Michael Waring, University executive
director of federal relations, and Cindy ~freaWv'niS "
Bank, the office's assistant director, have st r y wa e s
run the University's D.C. operation for more
than a decade. - Michael Waring, University executive
"The University is almost like a big corpo- Wringdexecutive
ration in a sense," Waring said. "It has lots ec o edera e o s
of pieces, and the federal government inter -;_____________________________________
sects with those in alot of ways."
Like many companies, nonprofit orga-
nizations and trade groups, a university eral funding last year, researchers received To ensure University researchers find a
often tasks a staff to manage their institu- $9.6 million less last year from the National positive outlook come Dec. 14, Ko said the
tion's relationships and interests in Wash- Institutes of Health, which provides 38 per- University's Washington staff is trying to
ington, D.C. cent of the University's federal funding. get creative in communicating the impor-
As an employer, fundraiser, hospital What's more alarming is the true effects tance of research to key players in Congress.
and research institution, federal policy of the sequestration - which took affect on She said storytelling is important, meticu-
runs through many veins of the University. March 1 and inflicted across-the-board cuts lously highlighting University research
Though higher education policy frequent- adding up to 5.1 percent of the nation's total efforts and their outcomes for policymakers.
ly tops the staff's agenda, the University's discretionary spending as part of the Budget "We've absolutely ramped up," Ko said.
interests reach across a wide array of the Control Act of 2011 - are still uncertain. "Obviously, in light of the budget issues,
federal government's jurisdiction, includ- Cynthia Wilbanks, University vice presi- we've definitely increased our advocacy
ing taxation, immigration, cyber security dent for government relations, said the Uni- efforts in educating the delegation about the
and health care. versity and federal government's fiscal years research we do and how necessary federal
Tax policy, specifically deductions for do not align, meaning it is still unclear how funding is."
charitable donations, frequently affects much of an effect the cuts will have. Addi- Prof. Brian Athey, Department of Compu-
University fundraising efforts, including tionally, a second round of cuts is set to take tational Medicine and Bioinformatics-chair
the recently launched Victors for Michigan place if Congress doesn't act by Dec. 14. and a professor in internal medicine and
campaign. The University also keeps tabs In October, University President Mary psychiatry, said a second round of cuts could
on immigration reform efforts, advocating Sue Coleman said the sequestration's second be particularly devastating.
for policies to allow international students round of cuts present "a real danger." Without a resolution by Dec.14, research-
ers could enter 2014 facing a 7.5-percent
decrease in NIH funding. This could trans-"-
late into a $25 million loss at the Medical
School and $37.5 million at the campus level.
"It will add continued pressure to down-
size the number of laboratories, faculty
hires and graduate and post-doctoral train-
ing slots," Athey said. "This is just coming at,
a time when the potential future discover-
ies in biomedical research are more exciting
than ever."
Athey said he approves of the University's
efforts to fight the sequestration, but noted it
is important to lobby congressional Repub-
licans. Ann Arbor's representative, John
Dingell (D-Ann Arbor) has already voiced
discontent with the sequestration, arguing
the University must target those standing in
the way of safeguarding funding.
Ko said University researchers often call
the Washington office to offer assistance in
advocating on behalf of University research'
and they understand the University is work-
ing to fight sequestration's tide.
"They understand we're not putting these
cuts in and, frankly, we're not the ones who
are going to reverse them," Ro said.
Sarah Walter, Michigan State University's
associate vice president for governmental
affairs based in Washington, said MSU lob-
bies the Michigan congressional delegation
in similar ways and frequently collaborates
with the University's office, located down
the hall in 499 S. Capitol St. SW.
Before heading MSU's D.C. office, Wal
ter served in the same position as Ko at
the University.
At MSU, federal research funding
accounts for 49 percent of research
expenditures.
Last year, Washington officials from
Wayne State, MSU and the University
brought the congressional delegation to
Michigan to tour the three-university
research triangle. Staff and University offi-
cials sought to highlightthe state's many
research achievements, as well as discuss
the sequestration and impact of federal
funding.
As much as universities work together
to emphasize the importance of federal
research funding to Congress, the seques-
tration is a wide-reaching issue pulled by a
multitude of forces.
"The funding is going to continue to be
the biggest fight we're going to have here,"
Waring said. "And it's tied to this macro
debate about how big government should be.
So we're going to have to figure out how we
maneuver through those stormy waters."
In the lobby ~
To accomplish these goals, the Wash-
ington team works diligently to keep the
University's priorities on the minds of law-
makers and their staffs, especially members
of Michigan's delegation.
CONTINUED ON PAGE 6B
As research spending has increased at the Uni- University will become increasingly reliant on Portion of funding from federal sponsors
versity, funding from federal sponsors has fluc- donor support and University funding to maintain University's total annual research spending
tuated. From 2011-2012, funding from federal its research portfolio.
sponsors experienced a 3.6-percent decrease.
But last year, federal sponsorship grew by 2.8 Information provided by the University's Office
percent. As the sequester's effects intensify, the of the Vice President for Research.