Federal Research Environment for Social Sciences, Arts, and Humanities
A Presentation to UC Riverside
Kaitlin Chell and Karen MowrerLewis-Burke Associates, LLC
January 2014
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 researchand 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
Lewis-Burke Associates, LLC
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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
• 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
National Endowment for the Arts (NEA)
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• 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
IMLS & Smithsonian
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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
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
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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
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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 legacy9
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 Science10
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
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Contact
Kaitlin ChellLewis-Burke Associates LLC
1341 G Street, NWEighth Floor
Washington, D.C. 20005e: [email protected]
p: 202.289.7475f: 202.289.7454
www.lewis-burke.com
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