COSSA's 2010 Annual Report
Executive Director's Report
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As I write this at the end of February 2011, the politics of federal science policy have become caught up in the frenzy of budget cutting to reduce record setting deficits. The promise of the America COMPETES Act, enacted first in 2007 and again at the end of 2010, to double the budget of the National Science Foundation (NSF) has been swept aside. The Foundation could face a significant budget cut from last year’s funding.
The political shifts resulting from the 2010 election put COSSA and the rest of the science community on alert to potential negative consequences. The threats to the social and behavioral sciences rendered in You Tube videos and leadership letters sent COSSA actively pursuing strategies to once again defend our sciences. So far, they have been spared any successful direct attack, although another attempt to single out “silly grants” for derision and defunding was made during the recent House consideration of current fiscal year appropriations. The COSSA-led Coalition to Promote Research organized and coordinated the response that thwarted this effort.
Looking back to 2010, the policy challenges COSSA faced remained considerable. As the national agenda continued to focus on Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) education pursuing policies to improve American students’ performance in these subjects, the social and behavioral sciences remained outside this discussion. Policy makers used our research to explain the deficiencies and to suggest some solutions, but including the social and behavioral sciences as part of the ‘S’ in STEM was ignored.
COSSA succeeded in convincing the House of Representatives in the report to accompany their version of America COMPETES to include language defining STEM education “as an umbrella term that covers every academic discipline and research area supported across [NSF], including discipline based education research.”
However, two reports issued in 2010 reflected the omission: The National Academies’ Board on Science Education’s (BOSE) A Framework for Science Education, and the President’s Council of Advisers on Science and Technology’s (PCAST) Prepare and Inspire: K-12 Education in Science Technology, Engineering and Math for America’s Future. In both cases, COSSA joining with other groups in the social and behavioral science community and with our leadership at NSF and the National Academies’ Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education, impressed upon both BOSE and PCAST that any attempt to teach science at the K-12 level needs the concepts and methods of the social and behavioral sciences as part of that curriculum.
By the end of the year, although not much ground was given regarding the two reports, the National Academies agreed to examine the role of the social and behavioral sciences in K-12 education and PCAST devoted more time to the role of these sciences and suggested they had an important role to play in America’s energy future in their report, On Accelerating the Pace of Change in Energy Technologies Through an Integrated Federal Energy Policy.
2010 was also the year of the decennial Census. COSSA was a proud member of the 2010 Census Advisory Committee, one of 256,000 partners for the Census, and gratified that the conduct of the count was successful after much difficulty in the years leading up to 2010. The leadership of Census Director Bob Groves and his team as well as the activities of the Census Stakeholder group, including COSSA, which defended the Bureau and fought for its budget, played a large role in that success. As a member of the Advisory Committee, COSSA also joined in the preliminary discussions regarding plans for Census 2020.
COSSA also continued its concern with the federal statistical agencies, advocating for increased budgets for the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), Economic Research Service, the National Agricultural Statistics Service, the Bureau of Justice Statistics, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics. COSSA also helped organize and support the World Statistics Day briefing on Capitol Hill, which included presentations from Groves, former Census Director and COSSA’s 2011-12 President Ken Prewitt, OMB Statistical Policy head Katherine Wallman, and BEA Director Steve Landefeld, who also spoke at the COSSA Annual Meeting.
At NSF, COSSA welcomed new director Subra Suresh. The Consortium continued to work closely with Myron Gutmann, Assistant Director for the Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences Directorate (SBE), and the division directors and program officers there. Gutmann spoke at the COSSA Annual Meeting on his project to identify a long-term research and infrastructure agenda for these sciences. One bit of unfinished business from 2010 is the Senate confirmation of sociologist Cora Marrett as NSF’s Deputy Director.
At NIH, COSSA advocated for the implementation of OppNET, a major initiative to support Basic Behavioral and Social Research related to health. Deborah Olster, Acting Director of the Office of Behavioral and Social Science Research (OBSSR), discussed this and other opportunities for our sciences at NIH. A new director of OBSSR, Robert Kaplan, will come to NIH in early 2011.
As the year closed, the NIH leadership announced two major structural changes. One was to create an Institute for Addiction Disorders that would replace the National Institute on Drug Abuse and the National Institute on Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse. COSSA has closely monitored the discussions at NIH’s Scientific Management Review Board regarding this change. The other is to create a National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences and abolish the National Center for Research Resources.
During 2010, COSSA, aside from its usual testimony in support of the budgets of the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) and Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS), worked with the criminal justice research community to secure the nomination and confirmation of two distinguished social scientists to lead these agencies. Having John Laub at NIJ and James Lynch at BJS provide a great opportunity to increase the importance of these agencies and their commitment to enhanced support for research and data in this arena. A previous National Academies’ report for BJS helped it gain a significant increase in funding. COSSA is hoping that the July 2010 release of Strengthening the National Institute of Justice will help NIJ in the same way.
In 2010, Congress continued to investigate the country’s economic collapse in the previous two years. One group they singled out for blame was the nation’s economists. The House Science and Technology Committee’s Research and Science Education held a hearing in July called “Economics for the Real World.” COSSA worked with the Subcommittee to secure witnesses, including COSSA Board Member Sidney Winter. Earlier in the year, COSSA held a congressional briefing, Better Living Through Economics, based on a book edited by COSSA Executive Committee member John Siegfried, highlighting how basic economic research has improved people’s lives.
COSSA’s advocacy activities with the Department of Agriculture continued apace in 2010. Joint appropriations testimony with the Council on Food and Agricultural Resource Economics, meetings with the leaders of the Research, Education and Economics Mission Area and the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, as well as speaking at the meeting of the Social Science Subcommittee of the Experiment Stations’ Committee on Policy, all constituted efforts to improve support for social science research in rural America.
This past year also saw the departures from Washington of key supporters for COSSA and its mission. Raynard Kington, who has worked with COSSA since 1994, first as a Congressional Seminar Speaker, then in his numerous positions at NIH, and who generously spoke at COSSA’s Annual Meeting more than once, left to assume the Presidency of Grinnell College in Iowa. A joyous farewell reception seemed inadequate to express our gratitude and admiration for all his help during the years.
The retirement of Rep. Brian Baird (D-WA) from the Congress has deprived the social and behavioral sciences of a true champion willing, from his perch as a Subcommittee Chairman as well as on the floor of the House, to promote and defend these sciences. Rep. Vern Ehlers (R-MI), who also retired, often joined Baird in those efforts. Rep. David Obey (D-WI), who also left after the 111th Congress, was a fierce proponent of the National Institutes of Health as well as international education from his Appropriations Committee leadership position. They will all be missed.
Within the COSSA family, the retirement of Arnita Jones as Executive Director of the American Historical Association meant the loss of someone who devoted significant time and energy to make COSSA work. She has been replaced by James Grossman, who came from the Newbury Library in Chicago, and we welcome his commitment. With the official elevation of the Population Association of America as COSSA’s 18th Governing Member, Mary Jo Hoeksema has joined the Executive Committee and has brought her dedication and energy to our activities.
Facing challenges from the new political alignment and the continued economic distress, COSSA remains committed to its role as the advocate for the social and behavioral sciences. It remains grateful for the support of its members and their leaders and allies in the scientific and political community. In 2011, COSSA will celebrate its 30th Anniversary as an advocacy group with a new and improved annual meeting. We hope to see you in Washington on November 2 and 3!
Howard J. Silver
Executive Director
February 2011
Prior Years' Annual Reports