Make your voice heard, if you care about undergraduate research

Dear James:

Last Thursday, the House Commerce, Justice and Science Appropriations Subcommittee passed a FY 2012 Commerce, Justice and Science Appropriations bill that proposes a modest increase in funding for the National Science Foundation in the coming fiscal year. While this is welcomed news, as you know, the NSF and its programs have recently been criticized in Congressional reports and by Members of Congress in discussions around the size of the federal budget. Because of this intensified level of scrutiny, and the ongoing discussions around federal spending in Washington, DC, this proposed increase would very well come under fire from Members of Congress who think these additional funds will be better spent on other endeavors.

Congress needs to hear from the undergraduate research community on these issues. CUR and its advocacy team need your help to inform Congress of the important research NSF supports and the undergraduate research opportunities it provides.

Please lend your voice to this important debate and follow these steps.

1) Click here: http://www.cur.org/members/wpllc/112congress.xls to find a spreadsheet of CUR members, their Representatives and their staff. Here you will find your school, the Member who represents it and the email address for the staff person who handles NSF issues for the Member. (The recent activity on federal spending has been taking place in the House, and advocacy efforts should focus on these Members. The Senate will act later this year.) You will be emailing your Representative’s staff person who handles NSF funding issues on Capitol Hill, but the letter should be addressed to the Member of Congress.

2) Copy the attached letter into the body of the email

3) Edit the letter to include your Representative’s name and the name of your institution in the highlighted areas, add any additional detail you’d like, and then SEND!

Thank you for taking the time to speak on behalf of your institution and in support for federally-sponsored undergraduate research opportunities. CUR leadership and Washington Partners, LLC would love to hear of any responses to your emails or help you answer any questions that staff might raise in response to your email.

Thank you,
Nancy

Nancy Hensel
Executive Officer
Council on Undergraduate Research
734 15th Street NW, Suite 550
Washington, DC 20005
p: 202.783.4810 x 201
f: 202.783.4811
www.cur.org
nancy@cur.org