National Policy Advocacy
One critical role Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU) plays on behalf of its member universities is that of national policy advocate. In fulfilling that role, ORAU has recently taken important steps to both further the dialog on national issues that impact its members and to increasingly interact with organizations that have influence on policy that affects research universities.
Facilitating Dialog
To help promote dialog on issues of national significance, ORAU has used the occasion of its annual meeting of sponsoring institutions to conduct workshops on themes of critical interest to research universities.
In 2007, a two-day “Innovation and Academia” workshop was conducted at the Oak Ridge Center for Advanced Studies (ORCAS). America’s research university laboratories have no shortage of great technological ideas. Finding both an application and a market for those ideas, however, poses some serious challenges. Those issues took center stage during the March event.
In 2006 the meeting was co-sponsored by ORCAS and focused on the Globalization of the University and Deemed Export Policy. Held at the ORCAS offices at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the event featured presentations by representatives from member universities with a large overseas presence. The workshop also focused heavily on the so-called "deemed export" policy which indicates that any transfer of technology to a foreign national either in a domestic laboratory or in an American-owned overseas facility constitutes an export that falls under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC).
In 2005, ORAU partnered with the Council of Graduate Schools (CGS) to sponsor a Conference on Graduate Education and American Competitiveness. Held in Washington, D.C., this conference brought together members of Congress, graduate deans from the ORAU institutions, CGS board members and staff, experts in workforce development, and leaders from business and industry to discuss the vital importance of graduate education to American competitiveness.
In 2004, a workshop focused on "High-Performance Computing: A Science-Driven Economy," gave congressional and scientific leaders the opportunity to learn why high-performance computing needs to be a national priority. It was organized in partnership with Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and with participation from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the National Science Foundation.
National Organization Involvement
ORAU's Partnership Development Office has also become increasingly involved with a number of national organizations that share ORAU’s vision of improving science and engineering education in the United States, especially among Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) and Minority Educational Institutions (MEI).
Those national groups include the:
- Congressional HBCU Steering Committee
- American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
- National Association For Equal Opportunity in Higher Education (NAFEO)
- United Negro College Fund (UNCF)
- Thurgood Marshall Scholarship Fund.
ORAU has also begun a new partnership with the Ewing Marion Kaufman Foundation, a Kansas City-based philanthropy that seeks to fund projects promoting the integration of education and entrepreneurship.
