The other Washington important for federal relations office

Federal relations office serves UW’s national interests

By Nancy Wick
University Week

Barbara Perry spends her time in the “other Washington” while working for this one. As the UW’s assistant vice president for academic affairs and director of federal relations, her job is to make sure information flows freely in both directions so that the University can maintain its excellent record in federal funding and move forward to be more influential in policy matters.

Barbara Perry

She’s assisted in her work by Elaine McCusker, who recently joined the staff as a federal relations representative, having previously worked for the University of Chicago. McCusker has experience with the Departments of Energy and Defense and will be assisting the director in those and other areas. Sarah Sprietzer came from the University of California D.C. office to join the UW D.C. staff as an administrative specialist.

“I want people to know that the UW has a full-service government relations office in Washington, not just an advocacy or lobbying office,” Perry says.

What does she mean by full service? Perry explains that her office is the primary messenger from the campus to both the legislative and executive branches of government. They’re also the key portal to the University for both branches. “Through us, they have a kind of one-stop shopping experience when they’re trying to access the expertise of the University, which is a difficult and inscrutable place,” she says.

Perry says her office also tries to raise the profile of the UW in national policy making forums in science and higher education. And they keep the campus informed about what’s happening in the Capitol - trend lines, policy directions and opportunities.

Of course, the federal relations office does get involved in lobbying too. In fact, Perry says the UW is one of only a handful of universities that have advocates in Washington, and those few do important work for higher education as a whole.

“The way the higher education agenda is advanced is through the advocacy of universities, particularly research universities,” she says. “There aren’t a lot of people espousing the cause of basic research. “The American Association of Universities has 60 members, and fewer than half of those have offices in Washington, D.C. So it’s really a small number that works on increasing the funding for agencies like the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health.”

The advantage of having your own representative in Washington is the chance to promote your individual institutional agenda, Perry says. That can’t happen when you are represented by an association that also represents a diverse number of other institutions. Moreover, employees of such associations are not constituents and therefore don’t have easy access to home state delegations.

Of course, having access to the home state delegation isn’t everything. “Even if every member of our delegation always voted the way we want them to it wouldn’t be enough,” Perry says. She says her office works with congressional staff and with other members of congress who sit on key committees. And because things often get done in broad coalitions, she also works with her counterparts from other universities and advocacy groups.

“What I’d really like people to know is the ways the UW DC office can help individual members of the faculty or administration,” Perry says. “We can help with the process of testifying, for example - briefing them, helping them prepare, giving them an office to use beforehand. They should consider our office their office away from home.”

She says her office also has conference facilities to hold meetings, and they can help individuals schedule meetings with members of Congress or their staff. “I’d very much appreciate knowing what messages UW people are carrying when they meet with members of Congress. It enhances their message when we can fit it into the overall UW priorities.”

Perry makes a concerted effort to keep the campus informed about what is going on in the “other Washington.” She does an e-mail news bulletin regularly and she participates in a lot of meetings on campus when she’s here - which is about 10 days a month. She says she’d be happy to speak about the federal relations program to any interested UW group.

Although the UW has historically done very well with federal funding, Perry says there is still room for improvement in its federal relations program. “I’d like to see more of our people coming to Washington to serve on a committee or a commission or to give a briefing on their research,” she says. “We have fantastic faculty here and we aren’t as well known as we should be.”

She gives the example of the President’s Council on Science and Technology, on which there are six academic positions. Four of those positions are held by faculty from one East Coast institution. “I have to believe the agenda of that council is shaped by that institution. So what I’d like to see is more faces from the UW here, helping to shape agendas.”

The problem, of course, is distance. East Coast professors can get on a plane and be in D.C. in an hour, then fly back the same day. For UW professors, it’s a three-day investment. But Perry believes it’s an investment well worth making.

The Washington, D.C. phone number for the UW’s office is (202)624-1420. Perry can be reached on e-mail at bperry@u.washington.edu.