Federal Affairs

The UNO Office of External Affairs strives to complement the work of UNO's Office of Research and Sponsored Programs by:

Leveraging support for UNO initiatives through interactions with members of Congress

Members of Congress from Louisiana will often consider supporting a competitive grant proposal if the project's outcome delivers a direct benefit to their constituents. As UNO's point of contact for congressional offices, the Office of External Affairs can make members of Congress aware of UNO's proposals to federal agencies and invite their support. For example, U.S. Senator Mary Landrieu and Rep. Cedric Richmond both responded favorably to a request for letters of support to the U.S. Department of Commerce Acting Assistant Secretary for Economic Development for UNO's Advanced Manufacturing Jobs and Innovation Accelerator Challenge grant proposal.

Additionally, External Affairs monitors federal legislative activity to identify opportunities for UNO faculty to provide unique or pertinent testimony in their areas of expertise to congressional committees.

Facilitating interaction with Cabinet-level and Independent Agencies

The Office of External Affairs will arrange face-to-face meetings with key agency administrators for faculty in pursuit of competitive grants that support the University's federal agenda. Coordination of communications between individual UNO faculty and agency administrators is necessary to maintain the research priorities established by the University's leadership and articulated by the federal agenda.

External Affairs also works to raise the profile of UNO faculty research projects by engaging federal officials. For example, Acting Secretary of Commerce Rebecca Blank visited the UNO Research and Technology Park for a presentation regarding the UNO Center for Hazards Assessment Response and Technology (UNO-CHART) Sci-TEK project.

Leveraging UNO's partnerships in higher education stakeholder relations

UNO is an institutional member of several nationwide higher education stakeholder organizations who engage in advocacy for adequate or increased funding for university research. The Office of External Affairs works to ensure that UNO maximizes the benefits associated with its membership in these organizations. For example, the Director of External Affairs attends competitive funding conferences which provide member institutions with the opportunity to meet with federal agency program managers.

These advocacy organizations include:

• • • American Association of State Colleges and Universities
    • National Science Funding Coalition
    • STEM Education Coalition
    • Energy Sciences Coalition
    • Disaster Resilient University Network