Federal Research Environment for Social Sciences, Arts, and Humanities A Presentation to UC Riverside

1. Federal Research Environment for Social Sciences, Arts, and HumanitiesA Presentation to UC Riverside Kaitlin Chell and Karen Mowrer Lewis-Burke Associates, LLC January 2014

2. Lewis-Burke Associates, LLC Lewis-Burke Associates, LLC is a leading full-service government relations firm specializing in advocating for the public policy interests of institutions of higher education and other research and education organizations • Began working with UC Riverside in November 2012 • 23 professional staff members • 26 clients, all nonprofits involved in research and/or education • 15 universities • 3 contractors running national research facilities • 8 associations 2

3. National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) • Funding for: Fellowships/Seminars, institutional Challenge Grants, Digital Humanities, public programs • Major themes and programs • We the People (focus on U.S. culture and history) and Digital Humanities remain popular with Congress • Bridging Cultures, created by former Chairman Jim Leach, has not been embraced by Congress • NEH has been interested in funding across regions and various institutions- community colleges, HBCUs, and HSIs • Some funding difficulties (humanities is a “nice to have” not a “must have”), but culture wars are largely over. New battle- why should the federal government fund the humanities and not private foundations? • New Chairman? • Programs are organized across Divisions • Education programs • Preservation and Access • Public Programs • Research Programs • Challenge Grants • Digital Humanities • Program officers are open to providing feedback on grant applications 3

4. National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) • Funding for: Art Works, Challenge America, Our Town • New Chairman may have new priorities • Current effort to partner with other agencies (e.g. Arts and Human Development with HHS) and demonstration of the creation of jobs through community arts organizations 4

5. IMLS & Smithsonian • Institute for Museum and Library Studies (IMLS) • Grants for library/museum operations; not research • Funding for: training for librarians; developing programs to serve middle/high school students (e.g., technology access) • Like NEH, support for digital efforts (e.g., Digging into Data Challenge – computationally intensive research in the humanities and social sciences) • Smithsonian Institution • Does not support projects independent of itself—BUT opportunity to collaborate • Community Grants Program; Fellowship Program 5

6. National Science Foundation-SBE • NSF funds basic STEM research • This includes social, behavioral, and economic (SBE) research as well as education research • NSF is one of the largest federal funders of SBE research, with DOE, DOD, and NOAA wanting to partner with NSF • SBE sciences have found their way into several programs across NSF, including large-scale trans-NSF initiatives that involved nearly all parts of the Foundation (INSPIRE, SEES); trend likely to continue  • NSF SBE increased scrutiny from Capitol Hill • NSF 2013 report: Bringing People into Focus: How Social, Behavioral and Economic Research Addresses National Challenges • Senator Coburn (R-OK) amendment de-scoped political science in FY 2013; projects must “promote the national security or economic interests of the United States.” 6

7. National Science Foundation-SBE (cont’d) • In 2011, SBE released a strategic plan, Rebuilding the Mosaic, which represents a vision for SBE sciences at NSF over the next decade—major theme is interdisciplinary research • SBE research programs are organized into two main divisions: Behavioral and Cognitive Sciences (BCS) and Social and Economic Sciences (SES) • BCS: Archaeology and Archaeometry; Biological Anthropology; Cognitive Neuroscience; Cultural Anthropology; Developmental and Learning Sciences; Dynamics of Coupled Natural and Human Systems; Ecology and Evolution of Infectious Diseases; Linguistics; Social Psychology • SES: Decision, Risk and Management Sciences; Economics; Law and Social Sciences; Methodology, Measurement, and Statistics; Political Science; Science of Organizations; Sociology 7

8. Department of Justice • Provides funding for states and communities for research, training, technical assistance, and implementation of programs that improve the criminal justice system • Three DOJ offices provide grants for state law enforcement as well as research: the Office of Justice Programs (OJP), the Office on Violence Against Women (OVW) and the Community Oriented Policing Services Office (COPS) • National Institute of Justice (NIJ): • Strategic Goals: (1) fostering science-based criminal justice practice; (2) translating knowledge to practice; (3) advancing technology; (4) working across disciplines; and (5) adopting a global perspective. • New Sentinel Events Initiative in FY 2014: Review process of criminal justice system errors; the goal is to test the viability of implementing a non-blaming, forward-thinking, all-stakeholders approach to improving the functioning of the justice system  • Each of these three offices typically release new solicitations in the first three months of the calendar year 8

9. Urban Opportunity/HUD • Much hope for Obama to focus on urban policy, but political and budget environment forcing urban issues to take a backseat • Despite this, Obama still seeks funding for comprehensive solutions, with mixed results: • HUD’s Sustainable Communities (rebranded Integrated Planning and Investment Grants for FY 2014, not funded since FY 2011) • HUD’s Choice Neighborhoods (continuum of HOPE VI program, not fully funded) • ED’s Promise Neighborhoods (not fully funded) • CNCS’ Social Innovation Fund (not fully funded) • White House looking to use Executive Orders and other mechanisms to drive policy (HUD SC2) • With announcement of Detroit bankruptcy, renewed focus from urban policy leaders on lack of urban agenda—could inspire a White House to reinvigorate efforts to build legacy 9

10. Department of Defense • Signature social sciences funding opportunities • Cross DOD - Human Social Cultural Behavioral Modeling (~$20 million) • Minerva Program (basic research) • The Minerva Initiative is DOD’s primary social science research initiative • Minerva solicits projects that help DOD better understand the regions, cultures, and geopolitical environments in which it operates U.S. Army Research Institute for the Behavioral and Social Sciences • ARO - Cultural and Behavioral, Institutional and Organizational Science 10

11. Looking Forward • Universities have to adjust to changing science bureaucracy in a flat budget environment • Social science research likely to remain a target in Congress • Increased compliance burden continues • Advisory committees still key to determining and influencing agency policy and research directions; especially NSF SBE 11

12. Contact Kaitlin Chell Lewis-Burke Associates LLC 1341 G Street, NW Eighth Floor Washington, D.C.  20005 e: kaitlin@lewis-burke.com p: 202.289.7475 f: 202.289.7454 www.lewis-burke.com 12