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.
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
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March 2019 |
Action Alert asking NCA members to write to Members of Congress, in partnership with the National Humanities Alliance
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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
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July 2018 |
Action Alert asking NCA members to write to Members of Congress
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February 2018 |
Letter issued by the Coalition for National Science Funding, cosigned by NCA and over 130 other scholarly and professional associations
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February 2018 |
Action Alert asking NCA members to write to Members of Congress, in partnership with the National Humanities Alliance
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September 2017 |
Action Alert asking NCA members to contact Members of Congress
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May 2017 |
Action Alert asking NCA members to write to Members of Congress, in partnership with the National Humanities Alliance
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January 2017 |
Action Alert asking NCA members to write to Members of Congress, in partnership with the National Humanities Alliance
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July 2016 |
Statement and letter issued by the Coalition for National Science Funding, cosigned by NCA and over 130 other scholarly and professional associations
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June 2015 |
Statement issued by the American Historical Association, cosigned by NCA and 21 other scholarly organizations
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May 2015 |
Action Alert asking NCA members to write to Members of Congress, in partnership with the Consortium of Social Science Associations
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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
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April 2014 |
Action Alert asking NCA members to write to Members of Congress, in partnership with the National Humanities Alliance
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April 2014 |
Letter to Senators Barbara Mikulski and Richard Shelby with over 30 additional organizational signer, coordinated by The Census Project
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March 2014 |
Letter to Representatives Larry Bucshon and Lamar Smith, with over 50 organizational sponsors, coordinated by the Coalition for National Science Funding
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March 2014 |
Action Alert asking NCA members to write to Members of Congress, in partnership with the Consortium of Social Science Associations
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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
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August 2013 |
Action Alert asking NCA members to write to Members of Congress, in partnership with the National Humanities Alliance
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July 2013 |
Letter to Senate Appropriations Chair Barbara Mikulski and Ranking Member Richard Shelby, with 40 signatories, organized by The Census Project
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April 2013 |
Congressional Briefing participation, organized by the Coalition for National Science Funding with the House Research and Development Caucus
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April 2013 |
Action Alert asking NCA members to write to Members of Congress, in partnership with the National Humanities Alliance
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March 2013 |
Letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, with 56 organizational signatures, organized by the Census Project
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June 2012 |
Letter to the Senate, with 121 organizational signatures, organized by the Coalition for National Science Funding
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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
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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
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December 2017 |
Joint Statement of NCA and other organizations
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December 2017 |
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December 2017 |
Joint Statement from NCA and other organizations
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November 2017 |
Joint Statement of NCA and over 20 other organizations
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November 2017 |
Action Alert asking NCA members to write to Members of Congress, in partnership with the National Humanities Alliance
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October 2017 |
Joint statement of NCA and over 70 other organizations
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September 2017 |
Joint statement of NCA and over 20 other organizations
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May 2017 |
Joint statement of NCA and nearly 50 other organizations
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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
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January 2014 |
Letter to Texas State Board of Education, from NCA
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October 2013 |
Letter to Senior Vice President and Chief Academic Officer of the North Carolina Community College System (NCCCS), from NCA
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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
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May 2013 |
Letter to Congressman Lamar Smith, with 110 signatories, organized by the Coalition for National Science Funding
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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
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May 2012 |
Letter to Leaders of Congress, organized by the Consortium of Social Science Associations, with member organization signatures
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February 2012 |
Letter to Attorney General of Texas from the Consortium of Social Science Associations governing members
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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
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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
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