[FUN_Mail] Addendum: FUN Advocacy Effort in Washington, DC

Tue Oct 14 13:27:06 EDT 2014

Dear FUN Colleagues,

If you intend to participate in the FUN Advocacy Effort while you're at the 2014 SfN meeting, the FUN Governmental Affairs and Public Policy Committee is encouraging you to contact your Congressional Representatives as soon as you have the opportunity since their schedules fill very quickly.  The request is very easy to submit (see message below) and takes just a few minutes.

Best always,

Julio Ramirez, Ph.D. (Chair)
Amanda Clinton, Ph.D.
Kimberley Phillips, Ph.D.
FUN Governmental Affairs and Public Policy Committee

From: <Ramirez>, "Julio J. Ramirez" <juramirez at davidson.edu<mailto:juramirez at davidson.edu>>
Date: Monday, October 13, 2014 at 10:26 AM
To: FUN <FUN_Mail at lists.funfaculty.org<mailto:FUN_Mail at lists.funfaculty.org>>
Cc: "Julio J. Ramirez" <juramirez at davidson.edu<mailto:juramirez at davidson.edu>>, Kimberley Phillips <Kimberley.Phillips at trinity.edu<mailto:Kimberley.Phillips at trinity.edu>>, 'Amanda Clinton' <Amanda.clinton at gmail.com<mailto:Amanda.clinton at gmail.com>>, Bob Calin-Jageman <rcalinjageman at gmail.com<mailto:rcalinjageman at gmail.com>>, Beth Ambos <EAmbos at cur.org<mailto:EAmbos at cur.org>>
Subject: FUN Advocacy Effort in Washington, DC

Dear FUN Colleagues,

As you know, the upcoming Society for Neuroscience (SfN) Meeting is being held in Washington, DC.  The FUN Governmental Affairs and Public Policy Committee would like to encourage our membership who will be attending the DC meeting to take advantage of the proximity to Capitol Hill to advocate on behalf of undergraduate science education and research by visiting your Congressional Representatives while you're in DC.  The Council on Undergraduate Research can share their advocacy tips with those of who are currently members of CUR (www.cur.org<http://www.cur.org>).  We've attached information to this email that will be of use to you to determine whether your institution has an "enhanced institutional membership" that provides your faculty with membership privileges at CUR.  If your institution does not have an enhanced membership, but you would like to consider joining CUR to access the CUR advocacy materials, you may visit them at their website.  If you are a member of the SfN, you may also visit the SfN website on advocacy at www.sfn.org/advocacy/advocacy-tools<http://www.sfn.org/advocacy/advocacy-tools>.  Our colleagues at CUR have also indicated that they would be willing to host a teleconference or webinar on the advocacy initiative for FUN members who are also members of CUR and who are interested in doing advocacy work during the SfN meeting.  We will provide more details on that teleconference when they become available.

The Committee recognizes that FUN members who attend the SfN conference are very busy during the meeting and that carving out time for visits to our Congressional Representatives may not be easy.  Your investment in time and energy, by advocating on behalf of the science and science education community, can have significant impact on the direction the Nation takes in supporting the next generation of scientists and educators.  Improvement in funding levels for the National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation, and other federal agencies supporting STEM will happen only if you voice your opinion in support of efforts on Capitol Hill to strengthen science and science education.  As a first step, we encourage you to review your schedule and to make an appointment with your representative while you're in DC.  You may find the contact information at https://www.congress.gov/members.  The process for making an appointment is simple and takes very little time.  If you decide to do advocacy work during the SfN meeting, would you kindly contact Kimberley.Phillips at Trinity.edu<mailto:Kimberley.Phillips at Trinity.edu>  so we may create an invitation list to participate in the CUR-FUN teleconference or webinar?

Many thanks for considering in engaging in this important advocacy effort,

Julio Ramirez, Ph.D. (Chair)
Amanda Clinton, Ph.D.
Kimberley Phillips, Ph.D.
FUN Governmental Affairs and Public Policy Committee

Attachment

CURenhancedmembers92014.xls<http://www.funfaculty.org/drupal/sites/funfaculty.org/files/CURenhancedmembers92014.xls>

enhanced enrollment letter.docx<http://www.funfaculty.org/drupal/sites/funfaculty.org/files/enhanced%20enrollment%20letter.docx>

Instructions for new members.pdf<http://www.funfaculty.org/drupal/sites/funfaculty.org/files/Instructions%20for%20new%20members%20(2).pdf>