32.1 PURPOSE.
The Office of Governmental Relations, under the general supervision of the President, oversees and coordinates University relationships with national and state elected officials, their staffs, and with governmental agencies. The Director of Governmental Relations has a significant role in facilitating The University of Iowa's strategic plan to build strong ties with external constituencies. Activities include performing the functions of lobbyist and legislative liaison for the Board of Regents; advising the President and other University officials regarding state and federal legislative strategies and providing assessments of proposed legislation; participating in University outreach efforts; working with the Executive Vice President and Provost, vice presidents, and directors of major administrative units in development of budget requests and legislative initiatives; managing responses to legislative inquiries and requests for information; and coordinating contacts with state and federal officials, other state institutions of higher education, and various other entities having relationships with The University of Iowa in the area of governmental relations.
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32.2 ORGANIZATION.
The Director of Governmental Relations is assisted by federal and state relations specialists and support staff. Under direct supervision from the President, and with direction and support from the Vice President for Research and Senior Vice President for Finance and Operations, the Governmental Relations Office serves as the channel for the University's legislative communications.
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32.3 LEGISLATIVE POLICY MAKING.
The Board of Regents is solely responsible for legislative policy making for the Regent universities. Under its overall governance authority, it organizes the legislative liaison activities of the universities. These activities are vital to the continued academic and fiscal well-being of the institutions and public higher education in Iowa. Such activities involve complex questions of public policy, regental responsibility, institutional objectives, and budgetary considerations. At The University of Iowa, the legislative liaison representatives are based in The University of Iowa Office of Governmental Relations.
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32.4 FUNCTION OF LEGISLATIVE LIAISONS.
Legislative liaison representatives are employees of the individual Regent universities. They are responsible for transmitting and explaining policies of the Board of Regents and the universities to the General Assembly and other state officials. The legislative liaison representatives conduct their duties under the direction of the Board of Regents. In addition, each representative has special responsibilities to the university which employs the representative. These include explanation and communication of Board policies which relate specifically to that university; communication of information concerning the particular mission, program, strengths, needs, and goals of the institution; and advocacy consistent with the accomplishment of the institutional objectives approved by the Board. The development of legislative strategy is the responsibility of the Board and the Board President in conjunction and consultation with the Regents' legislative liaison representatives and the executive director, and the university presidents.
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32.5 ROLE OF FACULTY, STAFF, AND STUDENTS.
The expertise or viewpoints of individual faculty, staff, and students are frequently essential in developing assessments of the potential impact on the University of proposed legislation. In this context, when consistent with institutional objectives, the staff of the Office of Governmental Relations may facilitate direct communication to elected officials by University faculty, staff, and students. While faculty, staff, and students are also free to communicate individually with elected representatives about their personal views, it is important that any communication which is not coordinated through the Office of Governmental Relations be carefully framed so as not to imply that the individual is communicating an institutional position or viewpoint on behalf of the University (see II-33 Use of University Name).
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32.6 OFFICE RESOURCES.
Files of legislation and related materials for the current legislative biennium are maintained in the Office of Governmental Relations. Questions about the application of policy and The University of Iowa legislative program may be directed to the Office of Governmental Relations.
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(RPG 1.04)