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.

March for Science

The National Communication Association (NCA) partnered with the March for Science, an international, nonpartisan movement organized to promote and support scientific research and its applications to society. A national March for Science was held on April 22, Earth Day, in Washington, DC, and included a teach-in on the National Mall. Hundreds of smaller marches are being planned across the country and around the world.

As part of its commitment to continued support of Communication and other social, behavioral, and applied sciences, NCA proudly joined the March for Science to showcase the contributions that science makes and to urge policy makers to maintain federal funding for scientific research and development.

To view a full list of March for Science partner organizations and learn more about the March, visit MarchforScience.com.

Read "Defending Science: How the Art of Rhetoric Can Help" by Professor Leah Ceccarelli.

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.

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

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.
April 2014	Action Alert asking NCA members to write to Members of Congress, in partnership with the National Humanities Alliance The alert encouraged Congress to oppose a House Budget Committee resolution that called for the elimination of the National Endowment for the Humanities.
April 2014	Letter to Senators Barbara Mikulski and Richard Shelby with over 30 additional organizational signer, coordinated by The Census Project The letter urged Senate support for President Obama's budget request of $1.211 billion to support the Census Bureau's work, including the 2020 decennial census and the American Community Survey.
March 2014	Letter to Representatives Larry Bucshon and Lamar Smith, with over 50 organizational sponsors, coordinated by the Coalition for National Science Funding The letter expressed serious concerns about the Frontiers in Research, Science, Technology (FIRST) Act of 2014, and highlighted specifically the decimating cuts proposed in the Act to the authorization levels for the National Science Foundation's Social, Behavioral, and Economic Directorate.
March 2014	Action Alert asking NCA members to write to Members of Congress, in partnership with the Consortium of Social Science Associations The alert encouraged Congress to oppose the Frontiers in Innovation, Research, Science, & Technology (FIRST) Act of 2014 (H.R. 4186), introduced by Indiana Representative Larry Bucshon.
October 2013	Letter to Chairman John D. Rockefeller IV and Ranking Member John Thune (Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation) with 320 signatures, organized by the Association of American Universities and the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities The letter addressed the critical importance of passing an America COMPETES Act reauthorization that called for real and sustained growth in funding for key U.S. science agencies including the National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Standards and Technology, Department of Energy Office of Science, and the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy
August 2013	Action Alert asking NCA members to write to Members of Congress, in partnership with the National Humanities Alliance The alert encouraged Congress to oppose devastating cuts to the National Endowment for the Humanities proposed by members of the House of Representatives.
July 2013	Letter to Senate Appropriations Chair Barbara Mikulski and Ranking Member Richard Shelby, with 40 signatories, organized by The Census Project The letter urged Senator Mikulski and Senator Shelby to consider the critical need for adequate Census Bureau funding, especially for 2020 Census planning and the American Community Survey in the mark up of the Fiscal Year 2014 Commerce, Justice, and Science Appropriations bill.
April 2013	Congressional Briefing participation, organized by the Coalition for National Science Funding with the House Research and Development Caucus This briefing, “Social Science Research and Disasters,” focused on communication, resilience, and consequences of disaster preparedness; one of three featured speakers was NCA member and Past President H. Dan O’Hair.
April 2013	Action Alert asking NCA members to write to Members of Congress, in partnership with the National Humanities Alliance The alert encouraged Congress to replace the sequester with a balanced approach to deficit reduction that would preserve crucial investments in humanities programs.
March 2013	Letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, with 56 organizational signatures, organized by the Census Project The letter asked Senate leaders to resist spending cuts for Census Bureau funding in the long-term FY2013 CR and to preserve the integrity of statistical programs vital to prudent decision-making and the nation’s economic recovery.
June 2012	Letter to the Senate, with 121 organizational signatures, organized by the Coalition for National Science Funding The letter encouraged support for the federal research and development budget of the National Science Foundation.

Research & Education Policy

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.
December 2014	Letter to Members of Congress & the U.S. Senate with hundreds of signatories, organized by the Coalition to Promote Research The letter supported the National Institutes of Health (NIH), its mission, and particularly its peer review process. CPR also authored a commentary piece on the subject of protecting scientific research and peer review in Roll Call.
January 2014	Letter to Texas State Board of Education, from NCA The letter urged that the Texas Board of Education maintain the statewide half-credit requirement in Speech/Communication for graduation from Texas high schools.
October 2013	Letter to Senior Vice President and Chief Academic Officer of the North Carolina Community College System (NCCCS), from NCA The letter supported the Carolina Communication Association in urging inclusion of Communication courses in the revised NCCCS Curriculum Articulation Agreement on General Education courses.
October 2013	Letter to Chairman Lamar Smith (House Science, Space, and Technology Committee) with 69 signatories, organized by the American Association for the Advancement of Science The letter urged protection of the integrity of the scientific enterprise by ensuring that the National Science Foundation and its independent scientific panels determine where the best scientific opportunities are and how to balance limited resources
May 2013	Letter to Congressman Lamar Smith, with 110 signatories, organized by the Coalition for National Science Funding The letter encouraged support for existing peer review procedures at the National Science Foundation.
April 2013	Letter to Senate and House Leadership; Senate and House Appropriations Committees; Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee; House Education and the Workforce Committee, from NCA The letter called for the rejection of future legislatively mandated restrictions on the national science agenda.
May 2012	Letter to Leaders of Congress, organized by the Consortium of Social Science Associations, with member organization signatures The letter objected to amendments regarding restrictions on government employees’ participation in meetings and conferences. The restrictions threaten essential links between the research community and the government.
February 2012	Letter to Attorney General of Texas from the Consortium of Social Science Associations governing members The letter supported the appeal by University of Texas at Dallas on decision that names and addresses of subjects who participated in federally funded research studies are not protected from disclosure under the Texas Public Information Act.
October 2011	Social and Behavior Science White Paper on Advanced Notice for Proposed Rule-making for the Department of Health and Human Services, endorsed by 18 organizations that participated in a series of meetings, written by three external colleagues The White Paper addressed current regulations for protecting human subjects in research focused on consideration of appropriate provisions for social and behavioral science research.
October 2010	White Paper in response to Dear Colleague Letter for SBE2020: Future Research in the Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences issued by the National Science Foundation, from NCA The White Paper articulated communicating science as a suggested future strategic funding direction for the National Science Foundation that is both foundational and transformative. It informed the NSF “Rebuilding the Mosaic” report.