University sends lobbyist to Washington to up research dollars

Oregon State University is putting a lobbyist in Washington, D.C., with hopes of generating more research dollars and other federal funding.

Kate Cusack, OSU’s director of federal relations, is scheduled to operate from an office in the nation’s capital beginning this spring.

“It’s quite common for larger research universities to have a presence” in Washington, D.C., Cusack said. “If we want to be in that top tier of land-grant universities with the biggest research portfolios, it makes sense for me to be back there with my feet on the ground, working those agencies. And, of course, the Hill is very important, too.”

Cusack also deals with federal policies and how those can impact OSU.

Oregon Health & Science University is the only other Oregon higher education institution with an office in the nation’s capitol, Cusack said.

She currently works out of the OSU Foundation office in Portland, though she travels to Washington, D.C., four or five times a year. Office space will likely be a few hundred dollars more expensive on the East Coast.

“I think that increase in cost will generate a good return on investment for the university,” said John Cassady, OSU vice president for research.

Last year, OSU received a record $231 million in research awards, with 60 percent of those coming from competitive sources, Cassady said. Nearly $136 million was from competitive grants from federal agencies.

“It’s really amazing, to me, that our faculty continue to grow the research enterprise at Oregon State at the same time we have fewer faculty,” he said. “And it’s probably as tough as it’s ever been to get federal support, just because of the budget situation that’s developed.”

Competitive federal grants will become even more important for OSU because budget earmarks are getting increased scrutiny and their number will be reduced.

Having Cusack in Washington, D.C., will help faculty connect with federal agencies, Cassady said.

The decision to open an office in the District of Columbia was made, in part, because Cusack is moving to the East Coast. Her husband, David Cusack, was recently named the deputy director of advance for President-elect Barack Obama. He’ll help manage staff members who go to locations ahead of time and make sure everything runs smoothly when the president visits.

The office in D.C. also makes sense to OSU, Cusack said.

“We’re going to see some new priorities coming out of the agencies and new people in the agencies. It seemed like a good time to have somebody in D.C.,” she said.

Kyle Odegard covers Oregon State University. He can be contacted at kyle.odegard@lee.net or 758-9523.