Fourth Annual Virginia Higher Education Advocacy Day on January 12, 2006

Thirty faculty members from eleven campuses, representing every corner of the Commonwealth, met on January 12, 2006, for the fourth annual Virginia Higher Education Advocacy Day at the General Assembly. Mark Smith, Director of Government Relations at AAUP national headquarters once again did an outstanding job of preparing faculty lobbyists for the day’s event.  We were also assisted by thirteen Randolph-Macon College students engaged in active learning about politics.  The event was coordinated by the Virginia Conference of AAUP, the Faculty Senate of Virginia, and the Virginia Commonwealth University Faculty Senate.  The leadership of all organizations was well represented, including the President and President-Elect of the Virginia Conference of AAUP, the President and immediate past-President of the Faculty Senate of Virginia, and the President and immediate past-President of the VCU Faculty Senate.  We were also joined by at least ten first-time lobbyists.

A highlight of the day was when the Virginia Conference of the AAUP presented its inaugural Colonel Michael S. Harris Award to Governor Mark S. Warner.  The Harris Award will be given annually to a Virginia public official who has shown exemplary support for higher education in the Commonwealth.  The award honors the memory of Professor Harris, our friend, colleague, and former president of the Virginia Conference.  Secretary of Education Peter Blake accepted the award on behalf of Governor Warner.

Promotional materials were distributed by faculty lobbyists to legislators and their aids.  We gave out an attractive blue canvas bag reading HIGHER EDUCATION written above a red map of the State of Virginia and INVEST AND GROW written below the state outline – letters were also in red so that we had incorporated both Democratic blue against Republican red.  Other promotional items included a ballpoint pen with the words HIGHER EDUCATION INVEST AND GROW and an outline of the State of Virginia.  There was also a red delicious apple, delivered by the teacher, not to the teacher this time.  This invariably gets a laugh and a smile from the members of the General Assembly.

Red folders inside the bags included three position papers, available on our website (www.aaup-va.org).  Tracking of legislation will continue throughout the 2006 session, which reports posted on our website.

Our faculty teams visited the offices of at least nineteen of the forty senators and forty-eight of the one-hundred delegates on Advocacy Day itself.  In many cases we were able to meet with the legislator personally.  It is gratifying that legislators are no longer surprised to receive a visit from faculty members.  After four years, they know who we are and about our commitment to excellence in higher education.

Respectfully submitted,

Brian Turner