Despite a surging lobbying effort, federal funding for research at Ohio University fell by $3.2 million last year ' the first decline in federal dollars since 2005.
Overall, external funding for research, including state, local and business funding, decreased by $3.8 million to $25.7 million, according to research data figures released Friday. The loss is a setback for the university, which is striving to reach OU President Roderick McDavis' goal of $100 million in external funding for research by 2010.
Jim Rankin, interim vice president for research, said the loss was not concerning because overall there has been growth in external funding in past years. We haven't seen the dollars yet
but I think they're coming. Total external funding grew by $165,000 to $57.2 million ' a university record high. That figure, however, includes non-research programs such as Kids on Campus.
In his inaugural address, McDavis vowed to continue to increase our external support for research to $100 million over the next five years.
University officials have previously said that McDavis' goal included funding for sponsored programs and not just research.
Rankin said that the goal is reachable and pointed to an increase in the number of faculty requests for outside funding ' 930 up from 926 in 2005 ' as a positive sign.
Despite losing nearly $1 million in funding, the Russ College of Engineering and Technology set the record for colleges with more than $14 million in external funding. Funding for the department of mechanical engineering, which gained national and international press notoriety last year for instances of plagiarism in graduate student theses, increased by $2.5 million.
The natural assumption is if there's dishonesty in one particular place there must be dishonesty everywhere
however, the agencies funding the research have had long established relationships with faculty and graduate students, said Dennis Irwin, dean of the engineering college.
Last year, the university pushed its federal lobbying effort by retaining the Washington D.C.-based lobbying firm Patton Boggs at $156,000. Patton Boggs' other clients include Pfizer and Time Warner.
The easiest thing to do is look at the dollars as the bottom line
but they've been very successful at opening up doors and making contacts with us on the hill
said Teri Geiger, director of Government Relations.
The firm's contract with the university set a goal that federal funding was supposed to increase by $5 million last year and another $10 million this year.
The university's lobbying strategy last year was primarily focused on going after earmarks or appropriations for projects that members of Congress tack onto spending bills, Geiger said. Earmarks bypass the usual review of spending requests.
That tactic, however did not work out because only two of those fiscal year 2007 spending bills have been passed ' appropriations for the departments of Defense and Homeland Security. Other departments are operating on a continuance that expires at the end of the month.
I think we've done a tremendous job of raising our profile on Capitol Hill
Geiger said. Hopefully some point soon we'll see the payoff.
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Sean Gaffney
