Public Policy Related to the Profession

Advocating for our members

NCA advocates for public policy that supports the professional efforts of our members in a variety of ways.

Humanities Advocacy Day, organized by the National Humanities Alliance

This annual event includes a day of Capitol Hill advocacy in support of funding for the National Endowment for the Humanities and other humanities programs, and is preceded by a day of advocacy training and issue briefings.

Capitol Hill Reception and Exhibition, organized by the Coalition for National Science Funding

This annual event showcases results of NSF-funded research projects. For several years, NCA members who have received NSF funding have displayed the findings of their research.

2019, Joshua B. Barbour "The Future of Work in Health Analytics and Automation: Investigating the Communication that Builds Human-Technology Partnerships"
2018, Norah Dunbar, “Veritas: A Deception Detection Training Game.”
2017, Danielle Endres, "The Role of Science Communication in the Composition of Energy Policy."
2016, Arun Vishwanath, “Spear Phishing: The Single Biggest Threat to Cybersecurity and How We Can Combat It.”
2014, John Gastil and Katie Knobloch, “The Citizens' Initiative Review (CIR), 2010-2014: Evaluation and Analysis of an Electoral Innovation.”
2013, Brian Spitzberg, “Can Cyberspace Map onto Human Activities Occurring in (Geographic) Real Space?”

Social and Behavioral Science Advocacy Day, organized by the Consortium of Social Science Associations

This annual event includes a day of Capitol Hill advocacy in support of federal funding for social and behavioral science research, via NSF and NIH, and is preceded by a day of advocacy training and issue briefings.

Federal Funding

October 2020	Statement from Maria Lapinski, Director, Health and Risk Communication Center (HRCC), Michigan State University (MSU), and endorsed by NCA and 69 other individual supporters calling for the Trump Administration to immediately reverse the decision to pull the U.S. out of the World Health Organization (WHO), restore and protect funding to WHO and work to ensure global cooperation in the COVID-19 pandemic response.
October 2020	Letter to Russell Vought, Director, Office of Management and Budget, Executive Office of the President cosigned by NCA and more than 50 other scientific societies urging the Administration to rescind its elimination of federal employee training programs related to diversity, equity and inclusion as specified in the Memorandum for the Heads of Executive Departments and Agencies issued September 4th, 2020 and the September 22nd Executive Order on Combating Race and Sex Stereotyping.
June 2020	Letter issued by the American Sociological Association, cosigned by NCA and over 35 organizations Letter encouraging provision of substantial additional funding for higher education in future bills, with focus on those students and institutions hardest hit by the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic.
March 2019	Action Alert asking NCA members to write to Members of Congress, in partnership with the National Humanities Alliance The alert encouraged continued support for the National Endowment for the Humanities and all other federal humanities programs.
January 2019	Letter issued by the Coalition for National Science Funding (CNSF) and endorsed by more than 125 organizations expressing serious concerns about the impact of the government shutdown on America's research enterprise
July 2018	Letter issued by Representatives David Price (D-NC), Chellie Pingree (D-ME), and Leonard Lance’s (R-NJ) Dear Colleague Letter and endorsed by over 30 organizations opposing the Grothman amendment Amendment #39 to H.R. 6147, Interior-Environment Division A Appropriations would have cut funding of the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities by 15 percent.
July 2018	Action Alert asking NCA members to write to Members of Congress The alert encouraged opposition to an appropriations bill that would cut the budget of the National Endowment for the Humanities
February 2018	Letter issued by the Coalition for National Science Funding, cosigned by NCA and over 130 other scholarly and professional associations Letter encouraging funding for the National Science Foundation.
February 2018	Action Alert asking NCA members to write to Members of Congress, in partnership with the National Humanities Alliance The alert encouraged opposition to President Trump's FY2019 budget proposal, which called for the elimination of the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), the Department of Education’s International Education Programs, and other federally funded humanities and education programs.
September 2017	Action Alert asking NCA members to contact Members of Congress The alert encouraged opposition to three amendments posing a threat to the social and behavioral sciences
May 2017	Action Alert asking NCA members to write to Members of Congress, in partnership with the National Humanities Alliance The alert encouraged opposition to President Trump's FY2018 budget which called for elimination of the National Endowment for the Humanities
January 2017	Action Alert asking NCA members to write to Members of Congress, in partnership with the National Humanities Alliance The alert encouraged opposition to the proposed elimination of the National Endowment for the Humanities.
July 2016	Statement and letter issued by the Coalition for National Science Funding, cosigned by NCA and over 130 other scholarly and professional associations The statement and letter, to the U.S. Senate and its Commerce Science, & Transportation Committee respectively, express support for the drafting and introduction of S. 3084, the American Innovation and Competitiveness Act. CNSF and its signatories urge the Senate to amend S. 3084 to support and increase funding levels for the National Science Foundation.
June 2015	Statement issued by the American Historical Association, cosigned by NCA and 21 other scholarly organizations The statement critiqued a proposal pending in the Wisconsin State Legislature which threatened to undermine several longstanding features of the state’s higher education system including shared governance, tenure, and academic freedom.
May 2015	Action Alert asking NCA members to write to Members of Congress, in partnership with the Consortium of Social Science Associations The alert encouraged opposition to the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2015 (H.R. 1806) because it threatened funding levels for social and behavioral science at NSF.
April 2015	Letter to House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology Chairman Lamar Smith and Ranking Member Eddie Bernice Johnson with over 130 additional organizational signers, coordinated by the Coalition for National Science Funding The letter urged the Committee to maintain critical funding for the National Science Foundation’s Geosciences and Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences Directorates during its reauthorization of the America COMPETES Act.

Research & Education Policy

March 2021	A statement by the American Council of Learned Societies cosigned by NCA and other learned societies encouraging educators, lawmakers, and community leaders to listen closely to Asian and Asian-American voices and work with them in stemming this latest scourge of prejudice and violence.
March 2021	A letter from the American Council of Learned Societies cosigned by NCA and 30 other scholarly societies encourages lawmakers to vote against House File 496 and Senate File 41, which would remove the status of tenure for professors and discontinue the practice at Iowa's three public universities.
February 2021	A statement from the American Council of Learned Societies cosigned by NCA and 26 other scholarly societies urging the Kansas Board of Regents to withdraw its endorsement of the proposed policy to ease the path to suspending, dismissing, or terminating employees, including tenured faculty members, without undertaking the processes of formally declaring a financial emergency.
December 2020	A call to higher education administrators by American Sociological Association cosigned by NCA and other scholarly societies to support caregivers during COVID-19.
September 2020	Letter to the National Science Foundation cosigned by NCA and 42 other scientific societies urging continued support for the valuable programming we provide and encouraging the fostering of a culture of innovation in order to meet the short- and long-term needs of the scientific community.
September 2020	Statement from the American Educational Research Association and the National Academy of Education and endorsed by NCA and 15 other scientific societies in support of anti-racist education.
September 2020	Letter directed to the leaders of federal health care agencies by the Alliance for Aging Research, cosigned by NCA and over 75 other national organizations urging them to rise above the political considerations and focus on providing the American public with information about the well-established guidelines in place to ensure safe and effective COVID-19 prevention, detection, and treatment.
September 2020	Letter to Representative Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX) from the American Physiological Society (APS) cosigned by NCA and over 70 organizations and institutions supporting her call for a study to acknowledge and assess systemic racism in academia.
August 2020	Statement from the American Council of Learned Societies endorsed by NCA and more than 40 scholarly societies calling on all leaders of institutions of higher education to uphold the central importance of the humanities and the social sciences during a time in which COVID-19 and its economic consequences are placing immense pressures on college and university budgets across the United States.
July 2020	Statement from the Association for Asian Studies endorsed by NCA and more than 20 scholarly societies expressing deep concern over the PRC government’s imposition of sweeping new security legislation that severely curtails the freedoms guaranteed in Hong Kong’s Basic Law, the Sino-British Joint Declaration, and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
July 2020	NCA joined other scholarly societies in signing on to a letter asking ICE to “reinstate the temporary visa exemptions for international students and faculty members while we are in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, including at least the Fall 2020 and Spring 2021 semesters.”
June 2020	Statement from the National Coalition Against Censorship endorsed by NCA and 49 organizations calling on public officials to support the First Amendment rights of journalists and protesters who have come under attack during the protest over George Floyd's death.
April 2020	Statement from American Sociological Association endorsed by NCA and 23 scholarly societies calling institutions to make temporary accommodations for students whose degree progress has been impacted by the COVID-19 global pandemic.
April 2020	Statement issued by the National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) and over 40 organizations condemning nationwide attempts to block young people from accessing LGBTQ stories in schools and libraries.
April 2020	Letter to the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate from the National Council of Asian Pacific Americans (NCAPA) and the Democracy Initiative, cosigned by NCA and over 450 organizations in response to the Asian American community being targeted with hate speech, violence and vandalism in the wake of the ongoing COVID-19 crisis.
March 2020	Statement from American Sociological Association endorsed by NCA and 34 learned societies commending institutions for quickly taking steps to recognize the parameters during the COVID-19 crisis and encouraging all institutions of higher education to consider appropriate temporary adjustments to their review and reappointment processes for tenure line and contingent faculty.
September 2019	Letter to the Department of Education from the Middle East Studies Association (MESA), cosigned by NCA and 17 other professional societies. The letter emphasizes the importance of academic programs that “enable students to attain the depth and breadth of knowledge they need to become regional experts” and affirms the importance of Title VI centers, which provide regional experts and lead the way in regional studies nationally and globally.
September 2019	Statement from American Sociological Association endorsed by NCA and 15 learned societies encouraging institutions to use evidence-based best practices for collecting student feedback, including using student evaluations as part of a holistic assessment that includes peer observations and other forms of evaluation
July 2019	Letter to Turkish Constitutional Courts cosigned by NCA and 26 other professional societies expressing support for the right of scholars and academics to sign the Academics for Peace Petition
March 2019	Letter to Alaskan officials cosigned by NCA and 31 other professional societies expressing concern about proposed funding cuts for higher education
November 2018	Statement from NCA upholding academic freedom and freedom of expression at Temple University NCA reaffirms its belief that administrators and governing boards ought to “speak out clearly and forcefully to defend academic freedom, to protect freedom of expression, and to condemn targeted harassment and intimidation of faculty members, students, and staff.”
June 2018	Joint statement of NCA and dozens of leaders in American business, government, and education to support “a national effort to strengthen language education."
March 2018	Joint Statement of NCA and other organizations Letter to the University of Wisconsin Stevens Point administration to reconsider elimination of several undergraduate majors.
December 2017	Joint Statement of NCA and other organizations Letter to the Office of Management and Budget regarding terminology used in budget documents
December 2017	Statement from NCA NCA supports free speech globally
December 2017	Joint Statement from NCA and other organizations Letter urging members to contact the FCC to voice opposition to net neutrality changes
November 2017	Joint Statement of NCA and over 20 other organizations Letter urging Congress to oppose the proposal to tax graduate school tuition wavers as income.
November 2017	Action Alert asking NCA members to write to Members of Congress, in partnership with the National Humanities Alliance The alert encouraged NCA members to write their members of Congress to oppose provisions of the tax bill that adversely affect graduate education.
October 2017	Joint statement of NCA and over 70 other organizations Letter to the Trump administration regarding immigration policy
September 2017	Joint statement of NCA and over 20 other organizations Letter urging Congress to enact legislation making the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program permanent.
May 2017	Joint statement of NCA and nearly 50 other organizations Letter urging the President to quickly nominate a Director and other key roles in the Office of Science and Techonology Policy.
July 2016	Joint statement of NCA and several other scholarly societies expressing concern about the apparent moves to dismantle much of the structure of Turkish higher education through purges, restrictions, and assertions of central control and calling for respect for academic freedom and the autonomy of universities in Turkey.
November 2015	Joint statement of NCA and 28 other American scholarly societies expressing concern about "Campus Carry" legislation.