Dear colleagues:
We are sharing with you an updated version of the University of Illinois System’s Guidelines for Faculty and Staff on University Advocacy and Interactions with Government Officials. State, federal and local support are essential to our efforts to provide a high-quality education, promote economic growth and opportunity, and produce cutting-edge research and scholarship. These guidelines are in place to preserve and bolster that support by ensuring engagements with government officials are effective, coordinated and consistent with legal and ethical requirements.
There are many ways in which university employees engage with government officials and staff in the course of their work, such as inviting officials to campus, testifying at legislative hearings or visiting legislators in their offices. The guidelines do not attempt to restrict those beneficial interactions or to limit the ability of faculty and staff to engage in constitutionally protected activities. Rather, they encourage collaboration with the System Office of Governmental Relations (OGR) and the Council on Governmental and External Relations (COGER). COGER consists of members from across the system whose portfolios include government relations and advocacy, and it works to enhance coordination of such activities across the system.
The revised guidelines also make clear that faculty/staff must seek OGR/COGER approval if they wish to lobby government officials (i) on behalf of the System or its universities, (ii) on behalf of funding requests for System or university programs or buildings or (iii) on behalf of congressional appropriations earmarks.
We encourage you to read the guidelines and to share them with your faculty/staff. We also hope you will consider inviting OGR or COGER members to speak with faculty/staff in the coming weeks to explain the importance of the guidelines and how these offices can help them as they engage with government officials.
Sincerely,
Tim Killeen
President, University of Illinois System
Robert Jones
Chancellor, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Michael Amiridis
Chancellor, University of Illinois Chicago
Karen Whitney
Interim Chancellor, University of Illinois Springfield
