Universities Seek More Clout, Funding in Washington Gwinnett Election Guide

WASHINGTON — For a growing number of colleges and universities, excelling in academics and athletics is no longer enough.

Schools across the country and in Georgia have concluded that staying in the game also means maximizing their presence and contacts in the nation's capital.

Just this past week, Georgia Institute of Technology professor Aris Georgakakos, a water expert who has advised policymakers in Africa and China, testified to Congress on ways to combat drought and water shortages threatening Georgia and other regions of the United States.

A few days earlier, Emory University president James W. Wagner was in Washington to touch base with Georgia lawmakers.

And earlier this fall, a University of Georgia magazine boasted, "You can hardly cross Capitol Hill without tripping over a Bulldog." The school toted up 40 UGA alums working in Congress, including Georgia's two Republican senators, Saxby Chambliss and Johnny Isakson, as well as Republican Rep. Jack Kingston and Democrat Rep. John Barrow, both of Savannah.

The sharp focus on Washington started more than a decade ago, as colleges set up offices in the city and hired outside lobbyists to promote their schools and, in many cases, help introduce their academic experts into the decision-making world of the federal government.

To be sure, universities have also been drawn by the soaring "earmarks" — as much as $2 billion a year for higher education — which lawmakers divide up for research, facilities and programs in their states.

The federal government is "obviously" a major source for research funding, said Steve Wrigley, UGA vice president for government relations. "We want to be aware of where the opportunities are."

As Georgia's flagship university, UGA pays $245,000 a year for the lobbying services of McKenna Long & Aldridge, plus $40,000 to Robert L. Redding, who specializes in programs for the school of agriculture.

Nationally, a few institutions have received legendary amounts — hundreds of millions of dollars — thanks to being in the districts of powerful chairmen of House and Senate appropriations committees.

Georgia's universities have more modest expectations of Congress.

As one of only two Georgia lawmakers on a congressional appropriations committee, Rep. Kingston has fielded his share of their funding requests.

"One thing universities are masters at is asking (Rep.) John Lewis (an Atlanta Democrat) for something, me for something, John Barrow for something," Kingston said. "They try to spread it out."

With Congress far behind on annual spending bills, the schools are still awaiting final action on their projects for 2008.

UGA officials, hoping for as much as $4.6 million in earmarks, learned last week that the school's program to develop cells that can detect chemical threats was allotted $1.2 million in the final version of the defense spending bill, just completed by a joint House-Senate conference.

Also in the defense bill are two big Georgia Tech projects: $4 million to counter the threat of shoulder-fired missiles to aircraft and $1 million for research on bone and tissue regeneration.

Even so, Georgia Tech officials say their major mission in Washington is to carve out a more prominent role for an engineering and research school that ranks near the top in the nation.

"There's a short list" of schools that are consulted by Congress and think tanks, said university spokesman James L. Fetig. "Georgia Tech should be on that short list."

Georgia Tech set up a Washington office for its governmental relations team 14 years ago and has more recently enlisted April Burke, a Washington lobbyist who specializes in universities, to provide strategic advice under a $150,000-a-year contract.

At Atlanta's Georgia State University, the approach to Washington is more direct.

"Is there federal money up there? If there is, I'm going to go after it," said GSU's vice president for external affairs Tom Lewis.

Georgia State hired the lobbying firm Van Scoyoc Associates five years ago and pays them about $120,000 a year.

"That gives me legs in Washington and daily feedback," said Lewis, who said finding out what topic is hot in the federal agencies is a key to success in finding funds for research.

"The buzzword today is homeland security," said Lewis, who said that if a professor has a promising proposal for research in that area, he will accompany the faculty member in making the rounds of the delegation and agencies in Washington.

"It helps the country and the university," he said. "It's just part of the process."

Although a private school, Emory University also keeps close ties with Washington.

"The interaction with the federal government is bigger than people realize," said John Engelen, vice president for governmental affairs at Emory.

The school is now urging Congress to prod Defense Department officials to try new techniques developed by Emory Medical School doctors for treating traumatic brain injuries.

Choosing academic winners in the back rooms of Congress has spurred debate for years.

Critics say earmarked projects are picked on the basis of political pull, not merit.

Others counter that the traditional way of awarding research money — through competitive proposals submitted to federal agencies — tends to reward projects that are safe and to limit projects to a few elite institutions.

So far, Congress shows no signs of eliminating earmarks for universities in lawmakers' home districts. And even after recent lobbying and bribery scandals led to tough new ethics standards, public institutions are largely exempted.

Lobbyists for other interests and companies can no longer treat members of Congress to seats in sky boxes at sports games. But when the Bulldogs play, both of Georgia's UGA alum senators and members of the Georgia delegation are more than welcome to watch from the skybox suite of UGA president Michael F. Adams.

Said UGA vice president Wrigley, "Hopefully we can get a few wins when they visit."