As the flagship institution for Kansas and the only Association of American Universities school in Kansas, KU is engaged on crucial higher education and research issues and legislation on a daily basis. While short term issues or bills arise and fade out of the congressional agenda, below are the issues which KU consistently advocates with our Kansas congressional delegation and Congress.
Federal Student Aid – The congressional higher education agenda includes the priority item of renewing the Higher Education Act. This federal law provides the authority for the Department of Education to provide key federal aid programs such as the Pell Grant. KU supports increases to the Pell Grant and federal direct lending programs.
In September 2007, Congress passed the College Cost Reduction Act which provides more Pell Grant funds. Chancellor Hemenway issued a statement thanking Congress for passing the bill.
Kansas Congressional Delegation support for federal student aid:
House Members Urge Support for Perkins Loan Program - March 14, 2007 (69 signers)
Federal Research Programs – As the flagship research institution, KU is highly competitive for federal research funds from many federal agencies such as the National Institutes of Health and the Department of Education. While the federal discretionary budget remains tight, KU annually advocates to our congressional delegation to support increases in all federal research agencies. Members of our congressional delegation favorably respond to KU requests to support increases to NIH, the National Science Foundation, Department of Energy and Department of Defense research budgets.
See PDFs of letters Kansas congressional delegation has lent their support to key research agencies:
House Members Urge $4.5 B. for DOE Office of Science - December 10, 2007
Senators Urge Increase in DOE Office of Science Funding - March 29, 2007 - 64 Signers
118 Members Urge Major Funding Increase for NEH - April 27, 2007
Senators Urge 6.7 Percent Increase for NIH - April 26, 2007 (48 Signers)
House Members Endorse NIH Budget Increase - April 27, 2007 (186 Signers)
House Members Support NSF Funding - (86 signers)
AAU President Testifies on NEH Budget - April 19, 2007 – Mentions KU Hall Center for the Humanities.
Study Abroad – Chancellor Hemenway and Provost Lariviere are national higher education leaders in advocating for increased federal support for study abroad.
Making Kansas and the U.S. More Competitive – A rare legislative hat trick occurred in July 2007 when President Bush signed the America COMPETES bill into law. A federal study on the waning support for science and math was not shelved, but ignited legislation which passed Congress in July. Higher education often misses the chance to say thank you to Congress for passing bills such as this bill. Provost Lariviere sent a letter to Kansas newspapers commending the Kansas delegation for supporting this bill which will provide more research and education opportunities for Kansas.
As the flagship institution for Kansas, we have national and international programs that should be highlighted, not only on Capitol Hill, but with federal agencies. KU Federal Relations' goal is to increase KU’s presence beyond Capitol Hill to federal agencies and national programs.
KU has a great network of alumni who work or lead federal agencies. In 2006, Chancellor Hemenway’s courtesy call on Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) Chairwoman Shelia Bair started the dialogue which resulted in her making a visit to KU to deliver the School of Business’ fall 2007 Anderson Chandler Lecture.
KU Federal Relations seeks opportunities to pair KU faculty and students with courtesy calls in Washington, D.C. as they will help build vital contacts, not only to bring KU alums back to campus for speeches but to open up other doors for KU programs.
Some of the KU initiatives promoted to our federal partners include:
KU and Ft. Leavenworth - In the fall 2007, a KU delegation lead by Chancellor Hemenway briefed the Secretary of Defense and Secretary of Army on the upgraded KU and Fort Leavenworth academic and leadership partnership. This meeting created impetus for exploring other academic programs for wounded soldiers.
R. Steve Dick/University Relations
Lt. Gen. William B. Caldwell IV, commanding general of the U.S. Army Combined Arms Center and Fort Leavenworth, speaks to students at the Dole Institute.
KU Transportation Research Institute - The University of Kansas Transportation Research Institute (KUTRI) fosters cross-disciplinary research into emerging transportation issues that have broad societal significance. KUTRI provides an organizational framework that focuses on current and future research opportunities aimed at transportation design, evaluation and application as an integrated, functional process.
Jill Hummels/School of Engineering
Rep. Jerry Moran tours the Transportation Research Institute.
Center for Remote Sensing of Ice Sheets – KU leads this NSF Science and Technology Center which puts KU at the forefront of collecting valuable data related to climate change and shrinking ice sheets. In May 2007, Drs. Prasad Gogieni and David Braaten partnered with NSF to provide a background briefing to Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s environment staff prior to her trip to Greenland where KU conducts ice sheet research. KU Federal Relations is assisting CReSIS in getting its scientific research before climate change policymakers.
R. Steve Dick/University Relations
Rep. Dennis Moore visits the Center for Remote Sensing of Ice Sheets.
Leveraging and Creating Partnerships – KU Federal Relations seeks to identify how to partner our academic, research and service mission with interested parties for the benefit of all parties. This outreach may include Hill visits and federal agency visits.
R. Steve Dick/University Relations
Rep. Nancy Boyda views the progress of construction at the Structural Biology Center phase III.
Keith Yehle, KU’s registered federal lobbyist, attends monthly meetings in Washington, D.C. as a member of the AAU’s Council of Federal Relations. All 62 universities send their federal affairs officers to Washington to review and plan legislative strategies on higher education issues such as student aid and research funding. These meetings also provide opportunities to gather information on emerging issues such as new DHS chemical regulations and patent reform legislation.
Keith also is a member of National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges’ (NASULGC) Council of Government Affairs. This group meets four times a year. While AAU and NASULGC share many common issues, there are unique initiative emanating from NASULGC that Keith advocates in concurrence with KU leadership, such voluntary accountability standards and study abroad.
KU is also a member of the Ad Hoc Tax Coalition, a group of public and private universities that monitor federal tax issues. Keith participates in this organization as well.
President Bush signed into law the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act in September 2007. All KU faculty and staff are impacted by this legislation. Violations of the act are substantial with federal prison sentences and large fines.
Before contacting federal officials, KU representatives must be aware of this law and consequences of violations. If you are going to contact anyone in the federal government on behalf of KU beyond program managers, you must contact Keith Yehle to ensure you are in compliance with the law.
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