Princeton Weekly Bulletin October 5, 1998
Government affairs
DC office keeps legislators informed about Princeton, Princeton about legislation
By Caroline Moseley
The
office decor is haute Princeton: posters proclaiming the
University's 250th Anniversary, decorative maps of the campus,
photographs of Nobel-winning faculty members Toni Morrison and
Joseph Taylor and the Plasma Physics Lab's Nobel laureate, Russell
Hulse.
But, sharing the table with copies of the Daily Princetonian, Princeton Alumni Weekly and Princeton Weekly Bulletin are the Congressional Daily; Roll Call (the newspaper of Capitol Hill) and the National Journal, a weekly update on politics and government.
It's Princeton's Office of Government Affairs (OGA), conveniently located five minutes from both the U.S. Capitol and Union Station.
"The Office of Government Affairs exists to keep the campus informed about legislative issues that may affect Princeton," says director Nan Wells, "and to let legislators in Washington know what's happening at Princeton."
Policy areas
There are three or four policy areas with which the office particularly concerns itself, according to Wells. First, there is "federal student aid, both undergraduate and graduate -- the Javits graduate fellowship program, for instance, or funding for work study students."
Second, there is research funding. Many faculty members have research grants from federal agencies such as the National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation, Department of Defense and National Endowment for the Humanities. Princeton spent about $92.9 million for federally funded research and training projects on the main campus in fiscal year 1997-98, and $58.8 million for the operations of the Plasma Physics Lab.
Tax policy is also of special interest, says Wells. "A current example is proposed legislation that would allow people to donate their IRAs to charities without incurring significant tax penalties," she notes. "This legislation could encourage additional gifts to educational institutions."
And periodically there are issues related to immigration policy that affect Princeton, such as pending legislation that would permit the payment of honoraria to visitors on certain kinds of visas who come to lecture or participate in symposia.
Three team members
Wells, who came to Princeton in 1976 as an associate director of the Office of Research and Project Administration, has directed OGA since its establishment in 1979, moving it to Washington in 1981.
Another transplanted Princetonian, Kim Nerres, who was previously assistant to Chih-p'ing Chou, professor of East Asian Studies, is assistant to the director. "Kim knows Princeton," says Wells. "She handles arrangements for faculty and staff who come to testify before Congress, and she follows legislative issues, including funding for the National Endowment for the Humanities and the National Endowment for the Arts." In addition, "she coordinates our budget, represents us at meetings of the Princeton Club of Washington and supervises the summer interns."
The third member of the team is associate director Rick Kessler, who has worked for several New Jersey legislators: Senator Frank Lautenberg, Representative William Hughes and, most recently, as legislative director for Representative Frank Pallone. Kessler joined the office in November 1997, primarily to work with the Plasma Physics Lab and its director Robert Goldston on research funding and fusion policy. Kessler works closely with other universities, such as MIT, which also has a major fusion installation, and with various industrial representatives and national laboratory scientists. And he will be representing OGA on a variety of legislative matters involving immigration law, the Department of Defense and environmental issues, Wells says.
Also on staff this summer was legislative intern Kwaku Akowuah '99, "who worked on legislative issues and helped to create the soon-to-debut OGA web page." As in previous summers, the office was administrative home to the Princeton-in-Washington program, which offered seminars and social activities for the 382 Princeton undergraduates working in Washington this summer. The program is sponsored by the Princeton Club of Washington, Office of Career Services, Woodrow Wilson School and OGA; it was coordinated this summer by Amy Anderson '01.
Little glamor, much work
There is very little glamor and a lot of hard work for Wells and her colleagues. A typical day might start with an 8:00 a.m. meeting of the New Jersey Group -- the D.C. representatives of N.J. colleges and universities, which hosts one member of the N.J. delegation a month. The most recent guest was Representative Robert Andrews, congressman from New Jersey's first district, and a recent candidate for N.J. governor, who serves on the committee responsible for most student aid programs.
After the meeting, Wells returns to her office to check e-mail. "Most of our information is exchanged now by e-mail or fax," she says. She might take a previously arranged conference call, which she finds "more convenient and less expensive than meetings." A recent call involved almost 30 government affairs personnel discussing immigration legislation -- of interest to any institution that has foreign students or faculty.
"Our activities are part of a larger University effort," Wells says. "Princeton is very well represented in Washington by President Shapiro, by some of our trustees and faculty members, and by a number of my colleagues in the administration." She talks often with Vice President for Public Affairs Robert Durkee, under whose aegis the OGA operates, about the status of proposed legislation, its likely impact, and strategies the University might adopt.
She may attend a hearing or stop by a member's office to deliver materials, though she also does much of her work "by phone calls to staff members." Or she might work on a letter to the N.J. delegation, "encouraging them to support funding for research" or "bringing them up to date on recent changes in Princeton's student aid policies."
Higher Education Act
Wells is concerned with congressional approval of several proposed provisions in pending legislation that would reauthorize the Higher Education Act. In addition to issues like guaranteed loans and Pell grants for students, the education community "supports inclusion of legislative language supporting voluntary early retirement incentive programs for tenured faculty," she says.
For two years she has led a small working group of university representatives seeking to sustain funding for graduate education at the Department of Education. The group plans to continue seeking expanded graduate support after the Higher Education Act is approved "in the next week or two."
Among the people Wells works with on Capitol Hill are the two senators and 13 representatives from New Jersey, eight Princeton alumni and parents in the Senate and the House of Representatives, and numerous alumni on congressional staffs.
She may chat with Princeton trustee and Tennessee Senator Bill Frist '74 about his new science policy legislation or Maryland's Senator Paul Sarbanes '54 about the budget process. Mike McCurry '76, White House communications director, might address the New Jersey Group or the Princeton-in-Washington students.
When not on Capitol Hill, Wells may be found visiting the Princeton campus, her "favorite place." She comes once a month to meet with the Committee on Government Affairs (a group composed of senior administrators and deans that is chaired by Durkee). She also works closely with Professor of Physics William Happer, chair of the University Research Board, and Allen Sinisgalli, associate provost for research and project administration.
She meets with the trustee Committee on Public Affairs twice a year and attends campus celebrations such as the dedication of the new stadium and Alumni Day. Wells may be seen hosting "our local member of Congress, Representative Mike Pappas, in a visit to the School of Engineering and Applied Science, or Maryland Representative Bob Ehrlich '79 at a breakfast with students."
Alphabet soup of groups
Wells emphasizes that "Princeton does very little by itself. We tend to work through groups of institutions or associations. There are the Association of American Universities (AAU), "the group of premier research institu-tions"; the American Council on Education (ACE), which represents all institutions of higher learning; the Coalition for Plasma Science (CPS); and the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities (NAICU), as well as its New Jersey branch, the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities of New Jersey (AICUNJ)"a veritable alphabet soup of groups."
The Princeton OGA works particularly closely with Rutgers University, with whose government affairs office it shares space. On a recent visit to N.J. representatives to discuss funding for the National Endowment for the Humanities, "We split our delegation in half," Wells notes. "In discussions, I represented Rutgers as well as Princeton, and they represented us." Other shared issues include the Higher Education Act and immigration legislation. The N.J. congressional delegation, Wells says, is "pleased with the Princeton-Rutgers alliance on issues."
This collective approach to lobbying is congenial to Wells. "My grandfather was a farmer in Cave City, Ky.," she says, "and the first president of the Rural Electric Cooperative. I learned from him that you shouldn't think only of your own or your family's needs, but should be responsive to the needs and concerns of the whole community." And she is particularly proud to represent Princeton, "which has traditionally had a respected and effective voice in public policy in areas of higher education and research."
You can reach the Office of Government Affairs at 444 North Capitol St., NW, Washington, DC 20001; call (202) 639-8420; or e-mail nswells@princeton.edu.