DARCY FAUCI

Community Schools related-- On April 30--We communicated via email with all three elected officials Congressman Riley's office, Senator Schumer's Office and Senator Gillibrand's office to let them know about the fact that the Department of Ed had cut our Community Schools Grant. We didn't really ask them for anything. We simply wanted them to be aware of the cut and what it meant to the program. TRIO and SSS related-- May 09 - We met with Evan Maslin, Congressman Riley's office regarding concerns around the delay of the Upward Bound Grant Award Notifications to the University. May 14 - Met with Senator Schumer and Senator Gillibrand's staff in DC to provide information about same concerns around the delay of the Upward Bound Grant Award Notifications. June 26 - We emailed Evan Maslin from Congressman Riley's office to express continued concerns about the delay in Grant Award Notification for Upward Bound, timeliness of the SSS grant competition results being announced, and funding for TRIO in FY 26. We also asked if someone from the Congressman's office would contact us if they learned of the results of the competition. Battery coalition related-- On June 30 we communicated via email with Senator Schumer's office, only, regarding our involvement in the NESS consortium asking them to weigh in in a supportive manner with the Senate Appropriations Committee about potential funding for the consortium.We did not hear back if any activitiy was undertaken as a result of our request.

-On January 30, 2025, one of our education faculty members visited DC to lobby for Dept of Ed Funding --specifically;full funding of special education, increased research dollars in education, and the need to preserve the US Dept of Education. They visited with staffers from our federal delegation including Schumer and Gillibrand'soffices as well as Congressman Riley's office. -Feb 14, 2025, I shared a one-page explainer document on the impacts of the proposed F&A cuts proposed by President Trump with Senator Schumer, Senator Gillibrand and Congressman Riley's office. -March 24-2025--Met with Senator Schumer's staffers via zoom to discuss an NDAA language request--asking for $475M over 3 years within the DefenseDepartment for a program focusing on securing American made batteries for national security purposes. The program would expand upon already established programs within the Defense Department focusing on secure energy storage systems. This National Energy Storage Systems Program (NESS) would build upon already established programs by creating and funding networked centers of excellence authorized to beappropriated for each battery lifecycle stage, as well as their supportingconsiderations for DoD purposes. -On April 4, 2025, we submitted Congressionally Directed Funding and Community Project Funding applications to Senators Gillibrand and Schumer as well as Congressman Riley for a $3.5M capital funds request for a project that will expand our incubator. We also submitted appropriations language application forms to Schumer, Gillibrand and Riley's offices as well on the NDAA language outlining the NESS initiative described above.

-On January 30, 2025, one of our education faculty members visited DC to lobby for Dept of Ed Funding --specifically;full funding of special education, increased research dollars in education, and the need to preserve the US Dept of Education. They visited with staffers from our federal delegation including Schumer and Gillibrand'soffices as well as Congressman Riley's office. -Feb 14, 2025, I shared a one-page explainer document on the impacts of the proposed F&A cuts proposed by President Trump with Senator Schumer, Senator Gillibrand and Congressman Riley's office. -March 24-2025--Met with Senator Schumer's staffers via zoom to discuss an NDAA language request--asking for $475M over 3 years within the DefenseDepartment for a program focusing on securing American made batteries for national security purposes. The program would expand upon already established programs within the Defense Department focusing on secure energy storage systems. This National Energy Storage Systems Program (NESS) would build upon already established programs by creating and funding networked centers of excellence authorized to beappropriated for each battery lifecycle stage, as well as their supportingconsiderations for DoD purposes. -On April 4, 2025, we submitted Congressionally Directed Funding and Community Project Funding applications to Senators Gillibrand and Schumer as well as Congressman Riley for a $3.5M capital funds request for a project that will expand our incubator. We also submitted appropriations language application forms to Schumer, Gillibrand and Riley's offices as well on the NDAA language outlining the NESS initiative described above.

On November 25, 2024 our office reached out to Congressman Molinaro's office to express our concerns that the College Cost Reduction Act if passed in its current form is going to cost public institutions in New York millions of dollars and specifically Binghamton University nearly 900k. We never did received a response to our outreach from the Congressman's office. The bill is still pending.

On September 5, 2024, we did reach out to Senator Gillibrand's office to ask if the Senator would sign onto a bipartisan letter being circulated in the Senate, authored by Tim Kain and Roger Marshall, that requests the Department of Education to delay the Financial Value Transparency/Gainful Employment regulations until next year. She did end up signing on but I'm sure we weren't the only institution asking her to sign.

On April 5, Binghamton University via its Binghamton Research Foundation applied for a Community Funding grant from Senator Schumer's Office and Senator Gillibrand's Office. The request is for $3.5m for an expansion project for our Koffman Southern Tier Incubator. This is a request for FY 25. We do not know the outcome at this time. On June 11, I did reach out to Senator Schumer's regional representative to see if she/her office could find out a status report on our Battery-NY project approval that was currently under review by the EDA. The project had previously been approved at a different location but we had to move it to a new location but needed another review by EDA to finalize that move. The second review process seemed lengthy and we wanted to announce the new location at an NSF Launch event on June 27 so asked the Senator's office if they could get a status report for us. On April 12 my office sent an email to Congressman Molinaro's office asking if he would consider being a co-lead on a "Dear Colleague" letter seeking support for additional Aid for students. It specifically asked for additional funds for Pell Grants, Work Study and Educational Opportunity Grants.

One of our Faculty Members, participated in a lobby day for her association focused on Special Education. I coordinated meetings for them with Representative Molinaro's office, Senator Gillibrand (both took place on January 26) and Senator Schumer's Office (This meeting took place on January 31) On March 26 we also arranged a meeting between one of our staff members and Representative Molinaro to discuss TRIO funding and policy issues.

On November 8, Binghamton University signed onto sign-on letter directed at the House Committee on Rules. The Coalition for Community Schools letter to the House Committee on Rules requests that they do not permit the revised version of the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and other Related Agencies FY24 appropriations bill to proceed to floor action without going to full committee for markup. Beyond cutting funding to Full-Service Community Schools, the bill proposes tremendous cuts or the elimination of many of the programs we care deeply about, such as Statewide Family Engagement Centers and Title II-A, and turns back the clock on many equity advancements made over the past decade. Also in the fourth quarter, there were no "asks" but we did have ongoing converesations with Senator Schumer's regional staff person regarding our status with the NSF Engines program.

I arranged meetings for one of our professors--a Binghamton University Professor of Education who was participating with her association (Council for Exceptional Children) in meetings in DC. I arranged for her to meet with Senator Schumer Staff member and Senator Gillibrand staff member to discuss each Senators' support for special education funding. The meetings occurred on July 11. Same professor also met with a staffer in Congressman Molinaro's Office to discuss the same issue. Also in July I sought letters of support from Senators Schumer and Gillibrand for our University's Community Schools program which was applying for a Department of Education's Full Service Community Schools Grant Program.

President Stenger and I were in DC participating in events related to SUNY Day DC. While in DC I arranged a meeting with House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries (who is also our alum) and Majority Leader Schumer. Those meetings occurred in the afternoon on Tuesday, October 19. The point of the meetings was to bring both leaders up to speed on our NSF Engines application. Congressman Jeffries staff did express interested in potentially writing a support letter for our project. Senator Schumer had already submitted a letter of support for our New Energy New York - SE proposal. Congressman Jeffries meeting involved more of a conversation about what our "Engines" program aimed to accomplish for Upstate New York. Senator Schumer's visit was more of a quick greeting and a photo opportunity.

Thursday, April 20th--we requested a meeting with our Regional rep Amanda Spellicy and members of Senator Schumer's Staff to discuss the recently published Tech Hubs guidance.We simply had a few questions seeking clarity on the guidance. Not much was clarified--they suggested waiting until the final call for proposals was published. Thursday, June 15-another meeting with Senator Schumer regional representative Amanda Spellicy to discuss our advancing in the NSF Engines program and review our strategiesfor this program, as well as inform the Senator's office we still plan to pursue a Tech Hub designation as well. On May May 8, 2023--Congressman Molinaro visited campus for the first time since he became our Congressional representative in January. This was not a lobbying visit but we providedhim with an overview of some of our federal researchpriorities which currently include our NSF Engines pending application as well as an update on our NENY federally funded Build Back Better program and its progress to date.

-On Thursday, January 5, we held a zoom call with staff members from Senator Schumer's office to explain to them what our NSF Engines application was all about. -On March 28 we hosted Amanda Spellicy, Senator Schumer's regional representative for an update meeting to provide her a situation report on most of our major federal research activities. No asks were made. It was strictly an informational meeting on what activities we are involved in and what partnerships we are part of with other academic institutions and industries.

-On Friday, March 31, we asked Senator Schumer's office to check on a VISA issue one of our professors was experiencing. The Professor's name is Congyu Wu. The Senator's Office simply did a status check for us.

Binghamton University is partnering with Griffis Institute, RIT, Clarkson and many other entities on an NSF Engines application focusing on "uncrewed aerial systems" (aka drones). On October 28, 2022 reps from Binghamton and Griffis held a Zoom session where those responsible for putting the application together explained the project to a handful of local, state and federal elected officials and or their staff members that I invited to participate. There was no "ask" per se. There was simply a request that they become aware of the project and potentially support it in any way that may materialize in the future. Again, it was just an information session about what the project aims to accomplish. Senator Schumer's regional representative Amanda Spellicy was on the Zoom call, again along with a handful of other local and state elected officials or their representatives. Senator Gillibrand's regional rep was also invited to the event but was not able to attend.

On July 13, I also coordinated a meeting with our regional rep from Senator Schumer's Office and two of our faculty members Anne Bailey and Sharon Bryant who wanted to explain in more detail their community funding application to the Senator's Office for their Harriet Tubman project.

Same topic as last quarter's report--we are involved in continued discussions with Senator Schumer's Office regarding our Build Back Better Regional Challenge, New Energy New York, application that at the time of this filing was still being reviewed by the EDA. It focuses on creating a battery research and development technology hub in our Southern Tier region of New York as well as targets mulitple workforce efforts to get workers ready for this new manufacturing opportunity if we are successful and it also focused on supply chain issues, Energy Storage Innovation as well as addresses the issues of Equity and Justice--meaning if successful the project aims to be inclusive of underserved populations targeting them for opportunities and access to workforce development programs and ultimately jobs. And it aims to make sure that any manufacturing processes take into account the protection of neighborhoods and communities so that they are not negatively impacted in any way. Our NENY project leads Per Stromhaug and Stan Whittingham had multiple conversations through the summer (July and August) regarding the details in our application (EDA seeking clarifications/changes, etc.) I myself have had numerous conversations with our regional rep from the Senator's office keeping them in the loop on our conversations with the EDA.

We have been working closely with and communicating frequently with Senator Schumer's office. We talk frequently and share progress reports on our Build Back Better Regional Challenge, New Energy New York application, currently being reviewed by the EDA.

Same topic--we are involved in continued discussions with Senator Schumer's Office regarding our Build Back Better Regional Challenge, New Energy New York, application currently being reviewed by the EDA. It focuses on creating a battery research and development technology hub in our Southern Tier region of New York as well as targets mulitple workforce efforts to get workers ready for this new manufacturing opportunity if we are successful and it also focused on supply chain issues, Energy Storage Innovation as well as addresses the issues of Equity and Justice--meaning if successful the project aims to be inclusive of underserved populations targeting them for opportunities and access to workforce development programs and ultimately jobs. And it aims to make sure that any manufacturing processes take into account the protection of neighborhoods and communities so that they are not negatively impacted in any way.

In October (13th, 14th) I reached out via email and phone calls to Congressman Tonko's Office (Albany area), Congressman Higgins' office (Buffalo area) and Congressman Morelle's office (Rochester area), to discuss the national NextFlex initiative. Bingamton University is the leader of the NY node of NextFlex and we simply reached out to discuss with these members of Congress some advocacy for additional funding that was being undertaken by Senator Schumer. We just asked them to be aware that this program is important to companies in their district and if it even came up in appropriations conversations we asked them to to be supportive or at a minimum just understand why this program it important to New York State in general and specifically companies in their districts. There was a meeting on October 7 between representatives from Senator Schumer's office Amanda Spellicy and Reza Zomorrodian that I arranged that included representatives from the NextFlex national headquarters once again the meeting was focused on updating the Senator's office on the important work that NextFlex was doing in the area of flexible hybrid electronics research and development and seeking additional funding for the program. Binghamton University was not seeking additional funding--we were just trying to assist the national entity with making a connection with Senator Schumer staff members. With all of the delays in DC, at this time there has been no movement on this request. On Decmeber 6, 2021 we had another meeting with Amanda Spellicy and Jon Cardinal from Senator Schumer's office just to get a debriefing on the progress of USICA and the likliness of it being passed and funded. Also in the fourth quarter, I had several email and phone conversations with Amanda Spellicy about our EDA BBB RC application. The conversations were mostly about providing additional information/background on our application.

In July (July 21 to be exact) we did send letters from our President, Harvey Stenger, to Senator Schumer, Senator Gillibrand and Congresswoman Tenney--(our three federal represtentatives). The letters simply educated the representatives and their staff members about the need for additional federal funds for capital projects on SUNY campuses. We did not ask for a specific amount. We simply asked that they and their staff members keep in mind the continuing need for capital improvements on SUNY campuses--specifically Binghamton-- as the President's Infrastructure plan was being discussed and debated in Congress. Beyond informing them of the condition of buildings on our and other SUNY campuses we included the following message: "Again, in unity with my university colleagues across the country, we believe that with equity-focused facilities investments at public four-year colleges and universities, we can expand institutional capacity, modernize existing facilities, create cost savings in the form of energy efficiency, and upgrade technology to ensure that all students attending public colleges and universities have access to 21st century technology and learning experiences."

On April 16 we submitted a Communinty Project funding request with Congresswoman Tenney's Office seeking $1.5M for a piece of research equipment, an Xradia machine. The machine is used in one of our research labs in collaboration with many industry partners. The request was not forwarded on for consideration. On May 26, we made the same Community funding request (for $1.5M for an Xradia machine) to Senator Schumer's office. To date we have not heard the outcome of that request.

Congressman Brindisi(office) contacts: On July 8, I had a brief conversation with Congressman Brindisi's legislative director Jonathan Lipe regarding the Congressman's support of the RISE Act (HR 7308). We thanked him for his support. On Monday, Aug. 3rd our President and I held a conference call with the Congressman simply to discuss the status of a possible relief bill and find out whether it included direct relief for Higher Ed. and specifically Binghamton. We also updated the Congressman, just for information purposes, on our plans for Restarting Binghamton which included welcoming students back and resuming in person and online classes for the fall semester. On August 27, I just contacted Jonathan Lipe again just to see what he was hearing about the possibility of a stimulus bill. There was no definitive information available. Senator Schumer: On Tuesday, July 14, We (Binghamton) organized a conference call for all of the SUNY Center GR reps to discuss the recent DHS(ICE) rule that international students who did not have an in-person class in the coming semester could NOT stay in the country. During the call, all explained to the Senator's staff how this new rule would negatively impact our students and our individual campuses. Later that day, that rule was revised again and this issue was no longer an issue for our respective universities or students. On Wednesday August 5th, I communicated with Senator Schumer's regional representative to inform her that IF there was a new round of stimulus money and it included direct relief for higher education, we wanted her to relay to the Senator and other staff that using a funding model based on FTE's and not headcount was preferable. Not just because it benefits four year institutions more than 2 year but explained that in our opinion it was more equitable. --

The issue we discussed with our federal representatives involved the COVID-19 pandemic and its multiple impacts on our institution which included significant, negative fiscal impacts. We relayed to them our expenses incurred as a result of shutting down in-person courses and going online and we simply lobbied them to support direct fiscal aid for higher education. We also signed on to an APLU "sign-on" letter encouraging federal agencies for flexibility on research administrative requirements as well as requests for increases in research funding during this pandemic. We had a phone conversation with Congressman Brindisi on these topics on May 11 and we had a conversation on these same topics with members of Senator Schumer's staff on May 7.

On Monday, March 23, I sent Senator Schumer's Regional Representative Amanda Spellicy some preliminary information about how SUNY was being impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. I included both information on how we were being tapped to assist during this pandemic as well as how we were going to be significantly financially impacted by all that was happening e.g.students leaving campus, finishing the semester on-line, having to provide refunds to those who had lived in residence halls and refunds on certain academic and athletic fees as well as funds expended to retrieve our study abroad students. We just wanted them kept in the loop as Congress debated the level of funds to be provided to higher education institutions. Similar conversations were had with Congressman Brindisi's Office representatives as well.

(conversation with both Senator Scumer's office and Congressman Brindisi's office included impacts on higher education in general as well as its fiscal impacts) On Monday, March 23, I sent Senator Schumer's Regional Representative Amanda Spellicy some preliminary information about how SUNY was being impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. I included both information on how we were being tapped to assist during this pandemic as well as how we were going to be significantly financially impacted by all that was happening e.g.students leaving campus, finishing the semester on-line, having to provide refunds to those who had lived in residence halls and refunds on certain academic and athletic fees as well as funds expended to retrieve our study abroad students. We just wanted them kept in the loop as Congress debated the level of funds to be provided to higher education institutions. Similar conversations were had with Congressman Brindisi's Office representatives as well.

On April 9, 2019, I met with Senator Schumer's regional representative Amanda Spellicy along with DC based staff in the Senator's DC office to simply provide them updates on a handful of University initiatives; including updated information on the status of our Health Sciences Campus, Opioid Research Center progress, our NextFlex involvement and successes to date, and our classification as a Carnegie Research University. There was a discussion and we left behind a folder with some information and marketing materials about the topics discussed above. Later that same afternoon, I had a meeting with a staff member in Congressman Brindisi's office and shared the exact same information and folder of information.

On Monday, March 4, we sent a letter of request to Congressman Brindisi's office seeking to have him nominate one of our faculty members to his Veterans Council. The request was approved and in that same week we were told that Christina M Balderrama-Durbin from our faculty had been approved to sit on the Congressman's Veterans Advisory group.

On Thursday, March 28, I contacted by phone and email, Congressman Brindisi's office seeking to ask him to support an appropriations request of $20m for our NextFlex initiative. NextFlex is the NNMI (nationwide manufacturing institute) of which we are an important partner. Binghamton University is an officially designated node for the NextFlex project. The funding cycle for the NNMI is winding down in the next year or two. We were looking for some gap funding to keep the initiative going for at least a few more rounds of awards which would probably translate into a couple of years extended funding until a more definitive plan for how NNMI's will be funded in the future is determined. The Congressman's office agreed to submit the appropriations request and we now wait to see if that request is fulfilled or not.

This "discussion" was just an email to Senator Schumer's office providing information on the economic impacts of international students studying at higher education institutions like Binghamton University. We are hearing concerns from the international community about the uncertainty surrounding their young people traveling to the United States to study. We just want to make sure the Senator and others understand the importance of these students not just to the higher education community but we also wanted our elected officials to understand their positive impact on the US economy.And as future changes are made to these programs to weaken or strengthen federal policies related to this population, again, we want them to have some underlying facts.

Same conversation that was discussed in the Health Issues section----I forgot and I did not include a visit to Senator Schumer's office in DC at the end of June 2018 (Wed. June 27 at 11:30 a.m.) where we discussed with Senator Schumer's staff information about our new organized research center focusing on opioid addiction and treatment. We wanted to make them aware of our new center and we asked them for guidance on the direction we are taking as well as assistance on future funding opportunities. We were simply looking for some advice on what we should be doing and where we should be looking. We did not receive much information at the time but we said we would stay in touch and they said they would keep us in mind when anything relevant surfaced. It was more just a discussion letting them know about the latest news from Binghamton University.

I forgot and I did not include a visit to Senator Schumer's office in DC at the end of June 2018 (Wed. June 27 at 11:30 a.m.) where we discussed with Senator Schumer's staff information about our new organized research center focusing on opioid addiction and treatment. We wanted to make them aware of our new center and we asked them for guidance on the direction we are taking as well as assistance on future funding opportunities. We were simply looking for some advice on what we should be doing and where we should be looking. We did not receive much information at the time but we said we would stay in touch and they said they would keep us in mind when anything relevant surfaced. It was more just a discussion letting them know about the latest news from Binghamton University.

February 22, 2018 we were asked by the Council for Opportunity in Education to sign onto a letter supporting continued as well as increased funding for the TRIO program. The letter also advocated for NOT changing the program as some members of Congress were proposing to do. Binghamton University did sign onto that letter. And then again on March 8, 2018, the Council for Opportunity in Education once again asked us to reach out to Congresswoman Tenney and ask her if she would sign onto a letter being circulated by some members of Congress encouraging the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education to include a significant increase in funding for Federal TRIO Programs. We did contact the Congresswoman on the same day that we received the request and her office responded the very same day that she had indeed signed-on to the bipartisan letter. On March 14, I arranged a meeting between the coordinator of our TRIO programs and Congresswoman Tenney's staff to discuss TRIO funding and financial support for other student support services. The Congresswoman is on the TRIO caucus and we just wanted her to be made aware of the importance of this program in general as well as its specific importance for Binghamton University students.

Binghamton University on two occasions in the 4th quarter sent letters to all three of our federal representatives; Senators Schumer and Gillibrand and Representative Tenney, seeking to share our positions on two separate issues; the tax reform proposal and its impact on higher education and on the Perkins Loan Program and this University's desire to see the program extended--again. The letter on the issue of tax reform focused on the parts of the proposed bill that would have negatively impacted universities like Binghamton. And the Perkins Loan program letter simply asked our legislators to please try to have this program re-implemented rather than allow it to be shut down completely.

Binghamton University on two occasions in the 4th quarter sent letters to all three of our federal representatives; Senators Schumer and Gillibrand and Representative Tenney, seeking to share our positions on two separate issues; the tax reform proposal and its impact on higher education and on the Perkins Loan Program and this University's desire to see the program extended--again. The letter on the issue of tax reform focused on the parts of the proposed bill that would have negatively impacted universities like Binghamton. And the Perkins Loan program letter simply asked our legislators to please try to have this program re-implemented rather than allow it to be shut down completely.

Representatives from our campus met with Congresswoman Tenney on September 14, 2017, to discuss the importance of the federal TRIO programs and the need to fund the programs appropriately today and in the future. Binghamton University also a letter dated September 12, 2017 to Congresswoman Tenney on the DACA issue. In the letter, our President asked the Congresswoman to "support legislation that would restore protections for individuals covered by DACA."

The Executive Director of Binghamton University's Student Support Services programs, Martha Wygmans, visited Washington DC on March 22. We arranged appointments for her to visit with the staff of Representative Tenney's office and Representative Katko's office to discuss the need to maintain and possibly event increase federal funding for all of the TRIO programs. She was joined by Alex Krigstein, SUNY Federal Relations on these visits.

W911NF-16-R-0021 Advanced Tissue Biofabrication Manufacturing Innovation Institute (ATB-MII) Department of Defense Dept of the Army -- Materiel Command Binghamton University was part of a coalition of academic and industry partners, under the umbrella of the non profit entity--Geneva Foundation, who applied for this ATB-MII sponsored by the Department of Defense. As part of our advocacy for our application, Binghamton University, on behalf of all of our "partners" on this proposal, sought support letters from Senators Gillibrand and Schumer from New York. The two Senators ended up writing a joint letter of support for our application. As it turns out, the Geneva Foundation proposal was not successful. The winner was announced in December and was the nonprofit Advanced Regenerative Manufacturing Institute, headquartered in Manchester, New Hampshire.

Along with members of the New York State Council for Exceptional Children, one of our faculty members, Loretta Mason Williams met with four members of Congress to advocate for the education of students with disabilities. Congress members included Senator Schumer, Senator Gillibrand, Representative Hanna, and Representative Jeffries. I, as Federal Relations Director at Binghamton University, helped to schedule the appointments and provided materials to share Ms. Williams' visit. The day on the hill was a culmination of a 3-day summit on special education legislation.

We sent letters to Senator Schumer's Office, Senator Gillibrand's Office and Congressman Hanna's office seeking clarification on why a federal Behavioral Health Workforce Education and Training grant that previously allowed social workers to be included, no longer allowed social workers to be included. Congressman Hanna's office provided this response: "According to the Department of Health and Human Services, the reason for this is that several grants were made under this program to schools and programs of social work in past grant cycles and they now want to ensure the equitable distribution of grants moving forward among all of the eligible disciplines."

We were providing updates on our Pharmacy School as well as seeking support for potential pharmacy related partnerships.

We visited Washington DC on March 15 and 16 and visited Congressman Hanna's office, Senator Gillibrand's office and Senator Schumer's office. Discussion focused on our new School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences. We were simply updating on congressional representatives about our progress on developing our new school and our hopes for our Health Sciences and Technology Innovation Park which the Pharmacy School and our re-located nursing school will anchor. It was mainly an informational session but we did also ask each office if they had any ideas on potential pharmacy partnerships that the University might pursue.

On April 15, myself and our Vice President for Research Bahgat Sammakia visited with Jon Cardinal who works for Senator Gillibrand AT Senator Gillibrand's office in DC. While we were mostly there to simply "touch base and say hello" we also did discuss with Jon the Senator's co-sponsorship of the Manufacturing Universities Act. We asked a few questions about how it would work and also offered our support and guidance if needed. In May, the Senator ended up holding a news conference on Binghamton's campus to announce her support of the Manufacturing Universities Act and explain why she is supporting this legislation.

Binghamton University is part of the FlexTech Alliance which was submitting an application to the Defense Department under its Funding Opportunity Announcement FOA-RQKM-2015-0014. As a result, I did solicit support letters from our Congressional delegation which did include Congressman Hanna, Senator Gillibrand and Senator Schumer. All three offices provided support letters and sent them directly to the Department of Defense for this initiative.

On April 15, myself and our Vice President for Research Bahgat Sammakia visited with Jon Cardinal who works for Senator Gillibrand AT Senator Gillibrand's office in DC. While we were mostly there to simply "touch base and say hello" we also did discuss with Jon the Senator's co-sponsorship of the Manufacturing Universities Act. We asked a few questions about how it would work and also offered our support and guidance if needed. In May, the Senator ended up holding a news conference on Binghamton's campus to announce her support of the Manufacturing Universities Act and explain why she is supporting this legislation.

Binghamton University is part of the FlexTech Alliance which was submitting an application to the Defense Department under its Funding Opportunity Announcement FOA-RQKM-2015-0014. As a result, I did solicit support letters from our Congressional delegation which did include Congressman Hanna, Senator Gillibrand and Senator Schumer. All three offices provided support letters and sent them directly to the Department of Defense for this initiative.

Binghamton University runs the Trade Adjustment Assistance Center for New York State. The Commerce Department has asked each "region" to submit a new proposed plan of operations(possible realignment) and Binghamton University sought a support letter from Senator Schumer on our proposal. The Senator was asked and he provided his support for the New York State Trade Adjustment Assistance Centers (NYS TAAC) bid to expand its service area to include New Jersey and Puerto Rico. New Yorks economy is intertwined with both of these areas.

There were two specific issues in this period that required me to reach out to our federal officials(Senator Schumer's regional representative and Congressman Hanna's regional representative) to gauge their support/non-support for a particular issue that was impacting our University. The first had to do with the new FLSA regulations on exempt versus non exempt employees. We just wanted to see where they stood on the issue and I also provided them a little background on how these new changes would impact our University operations, specifically in the areas of research.

The second issue involved our desire to see if we could get Senator Schumer's Office interested in the 21st Century Cures ACT as a co-sponsor. As a research University we are supportive of seeing additional funding for basic research and we wanted to see where the Senator stood on the 21st Century Cures Act and whether he would consider co-sponsoring the bill in the Senate. We are waiting to hear back from his office about his official stance on this issue.

On April 15, myself and our Vice President for Research Bahgat Sammakia visited with Jon Cardinal who works for Senator Gillibrand AT Senator Gillibrand's office in DC. While we were mostly there to simply "touch base and say hello" we also did discuss with Jon the Senator's co-sponsorship of the Manufacturing Universities Act. We asked a few questions about how it would work and also offered our support and guidance if needed. In May, the Senator ended up holding a news conference on Binghamton's campus to announce her support of the Manufacturing Universities Act and explain why she is supporting this legislation.

Binghamton University is part of the FlexTech Alliance which was submitting an application to the Defense Department under its Funding Opportunity Announcement FOA-RQKM-2015-0014. As a result, I did solicit support letters from our Congressional delegation which did include Congressman Hanna, Senator Gillibrand and Senator Schumer. All three offices provided support letters and sent them directly to the Department of Defense for this initiative.

During the week of February 16, our faculty member/researcher Bruce White visited Washington DC to attend his organization's convocation event. While they were there, Associate Professor White on behalf of the American Physical Society visited the following offices: 1. Chuck Schumer 2. Kirsten Gillibrand 3. Richard Hannah 4. Louise Slaughter 5. Tom Reed 6. Nita Lowey And their two specific asks were: 1. To support basic research in addition to the applied research that is associated with activities closer to commercialization. 2. For representatives: To make a floor speech in support of the National Science Foundation and proposal review processes. Later in the month on February 24th and 25th, I personally visited Washington DC to introduce myself(in my new capacity as Federal Relations Director for Binghamton University.There were no specific issues addressed. I simply visited with Senator Gillibrand's office(staff only), Congressman Hanna's office(staff only) and Senator Schumer's office(staff only) to introduce myself and to talk generally about the University and its current priorities and initiatives. There were no specific "asks" discussed. Then on March 17, 2015, our Executive Director of Student Services had a meeting with Congressman Hanna(himself) to advocate for additional TRIO funding for disadvantaged students.