Advocating for Our Mission in Washington

Dear members of the Columbia community,

Many of you have expressed interest, in recent months, in our ongoing advocacy with lawmakers, and in our joint efforts with other institutions. Both are critically important right now, and I write to offer a few updates and insights after time in Washington earlier this week. At the fall presidents’ meeting of the Association of American Universities, the sessions were enormously constructive; we focused on the political landscape, deep efforts underway to support scientific funding, and collective work we can undertake to increase trust in higher education.

I also met with members of Congress, including with Senate and House leadership and key congressional committee chairs. The meetings are part of regular trips we’ve been making with faculty, students, and University leaders to advocate for Columbia in Washington. Several of the senators told me that our faculty member engagement with lawmakers and their congressional teams is the gold standard in terms of increasing support for our mission and our research.

My focus was the critically important work our researchers do at Columbia, as well as our substantial economic contribution to New York and the nation—a single dollar invested in research generates more than double that in economic gains. More specifically, I focused on maintaining at least current levels of National Institutes of Health and National Science Foundation funding, and advocated for the Financial Accountability in Research (FAIR) model of indirect cost funding (for costs such as building and equipment maintenance and compliance) as part of final appropriations bills that emerge. Deep cuts in the reimbursement model would be devastating for the nation’s research enterprise.

FAIR, as many know, is a new, streamlined, and more transparent approach to funding these costs, and it’s been developed in partnership with research institutions and government leaders. It’s an approach that is supported by hundreds of colleges and universities. We have signed onto a community letter of support, led by the Association of American Medical Colleges, and I have written directly to New York’s senators and representatives urging Congress to swiftly adopt the FAIR model. You can read our letter here.

We’re highly focused on this work and on telling the story of Columbia as we see it—as a driver of incredible innovation across all of our disciplines and as a community whose members are advancing knowledge and educating future generations of leaders. I’ve mentioned to many of you lately that we plan to continue our regular faculty trips to Washington, which our head of government relations, Loftin Flowers, continues to spearhead. To learn more about these trips and how to participate, please reach out to his office. Thank you again to everyone who has been making those trips; we are eager to welcome more of you.

Sincerely,

Claire Shipman
Acting President, Columbia University in the City of New York