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Government Relations: Questions for Candidates
By Ruth Flower
Elections are not far off, and there are plenty of congressional candidates who want your support. This would be a good time to talk with the candidates about higher education and your work as a faculty member. The senators and representatives we elect this fall will consider the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act in 2003, along with trade issues, funds for research and the arts, and the impact of heightened security measures on our campuses. The attitudes, worries, and information that members of Congress carry into their work next winter and spring will affect the laws and programs that emerge at the end of the session.
Security concerns related to terrorism will be on many congressional minds. These issues may prompt Congress to look more closely at immigration laws affecting foreign students and faculty, possible restrictions on or registration of those authorized to do specific kinds of research, computer and Internet privacy, and students' rights to privacy in their records and academic work. Here are some questions that faculty might explore with congressional candidates.
1. What role do you see for higher education in the United States?
Higher education has always been an important ingredient in the health of our economy, contributing not only research and inventions, but also highly trained individuals to lead private industry in each succeeding generation. But more important is higher education's responsibility to nurture intellectual life in our society. Beyond training students for careers and industry, colleges and universities promote the practice of asking questions. A college degree certifies not only a comprehensive skill level in a discipline, but also a broad experience with ideas and their creation. Will congressional proposals preserve and respect the intellectual purposes of the academic sector?
2. How can we preserve the quality of U.S. higher education, as we live increasingly in a global "marketplace"?
International trade, another "mega-issue," is almost always on the congressional agenda. College courses can now be imported and exported, separate from the people who create and teach them, so trade issues have become higher education issues. Will accreditation standards and other quality measures be considered trade barriers?
Here at home, the structure of higher education continues to change as more adult students return to colleges and universities to learn new skills or to undertake the work necessary for an additional degree. Colleges seek greater flexibility in course and degree requirements in order to meet these growing needs. Will congressional actions in this area respect the role of faculty in curriculum design and the setting of academic standards?
3. How can the federal government open doors to higher education for a diverse body of qualified students and faculty?
Federal programs have made great progress in providing opportunities for minority and low-income students to participate in higher education. On a more limited basis, the government also supports programs for minority graduate students in the sciences and selected disciplines. The AAUP has consistently supported the development and expansion of these programs.
4. How do you propose to support research?
"Partnership" is the byword. Major support for academic research comes from corporate sources. And lately, government funds flow more readily to projects that involve a partnership between a college or university and private industry. But publicly funded research is important in its own right. Its horizons can be much broader and more distant than those of privately sponsored research, and can take up topics that yield no promise of profits. With public support, investigators can examine diseases that affect only impoverished peoples, explore the health impact of certain products and practices, and examine environmental problems that might result in less profit for certain industries. The AAUP has been a solid supporter of increased funds for the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation, two major centers of publicly funded research projects. The National Endowments for the Humanities and for the Arts provide similar paths for public support of researchers and artists.
Get to know the people who may be making decisions on these issues very soon. Help them shape their attitudes toward higher education and broaden their understanding of faculty work. Begin a relationship now that will last through the next campaign.
Ruth Flower is AAUP director of public policy and communications.
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