Capitol Hill Day 2011
During Capitol Hill Day faculty members, academic professionals, and graduate students from across the country visit Washington, DC to meet with their representatives and senators to discuss pressing topics that affect higher education. Click on the link to download the AAUP's position paper.
The 2011 Capitol Hill Day topics are:
1) Research and Public Policy: Recently, there have been a number of surprising and disturbing efforts to investigate academic researchers, in both the sciences and the humanities, not on the grounds of the accuracy of their findings and interpretations, but for an unsubstantiated presumption of bias and fraud in the underlying research. These politically-motivated efforts do nothing to advance the public good, but rather hinder it by creating a "chilling" effect on researchers' academic freedom to pursue knowledge and they should be stopped.
2) Higher Education Regulation: Last year, the Department of Education released new regulations designed to assure that federal financial aid to students is spent wisely and in the public interest, and not wasted on degree programs that are of little value either to the student or to taxpayers. We urge Congress to resist efforts during the FY 2012 budget process to weaken the regulatory framework, either through "defunding" amendments or repeal, of rules that will help assure that federal funds are being spent on students in quality educational programs.
3) Invest in Higher Education: It is precisely during economic times like this that we must invest in higher education. We cannot afford to compound our losses by continuing to disinvest from the building of America's intellectual capital. We will restate our long held position that class status, or one’s ability to pay, should not be a barrier to quality higher education. We will ask Congress not to defund the "Health Care and Education Affordability Reconciliation Act of 2010," which includes an increase for Pell Grants and other financial aid. We are asking that funding be restored for the Fulbright Hayes grant and we ask that they pass the DREAM Act.