Utah State receives most federal funding
Utah State will look to set itself apart as one of the nation’s top research universities as funding faces further decline, said Michael Kennedy, vice president for federal and state relations.
“Big schools who are known get bigger, and the small schools, who are not known, have a chance to die on the vine,” Kennedy said, indicating USU’s fortitude would come in the form of a one-of-a-kind research program.
A lot of university funds come from state, local and private benefactors. However, a sizable portion of USU research dollars come from federal investments, Kennedy said. Of these funds, 10-15 percent of them come in the form of earmarks which are promoted by Utah’s congressmen, such as Sen. Bob Bennett.
“We have enjoyed a great relationship with Senator Bennett, and he has been a great champion for our research,” Kennedy said. “We look forward to working with his successor and our entire delegation, in fulfilling our economically vital research mission.”
With Bennett moving out of office, USU will be on the lookout for a new political advocate for the appropriation of federal funds. Bennett has been on the Federal Appropriations Committee for 18 years. Kennedy said the amount of earmark funding will definitely drop after Bennett is gone.
Mike Lee, the republican senatorial candidate, will presumably win November elections, he said. According to Kennedy, Lee said he’s going to do a one-year earmark moratorium to allow for earmark reform.
“It’s really kind of a rare time in history where a new senator can get on the committee. I think a guy like Mike Lee could probably get on, if he wanted to,” Kennedy said. “If Mike Lee becomes senator, we’ll work with him to understand how important these projects are.”
Director of the Energy Dynamics Lab (EDL) Jeff Muhs said its Innovation Campus facility will generate around $8 million in revenue this fiscal year. The lab is approaching two years old and will evidently double last year’s revenue. As these programs continue to make advances and create marketable ideas, USU will continue to prove its economic viability.
Our mission is to develop transformational energy systems that help solve some of the most intractable energy problems in America,” Muhs said.
EDL has approximately 40 employees, including about 10 graduate and undergraduate students.
He said EDL has five main areas of research: vehicle and roadway electrification, algae energy systems, intuitive buildings, environmental and wind measuring, and next generation fossil energy. These are examples of the important projects Kennedy referred to. Several other ventures are aimed at boosting marketability.
According to a Narrative Information for Congressionally-Directed Funding report, joint research and extension programs in China “are contributing to the increasing emphasis on international research cooperation at USU.”
All of the myriad research efforts made by USU’s campuses are integral to the future of the university’s funding and jobs, Kennedy said. As programs continue to grow, critics of processes like earmarking will be able to see the importance of such investments.
“It is important for us to understand that eliminating Utah earmarks doesn’t return money to the taxpayer’s pocket or even to the Treasury,” Kennedy said. “It merely shifts our taxpayer dollars to other states or to the (Obama) Administration’s discretion.
“Then we have to pay for some of these projects twice. Once, with the federal dollars we’ve already sent to Washington, and twice, with local tuition or taxpayer funds.”
According to a document entitled “Outside Funding and Job Creation Data from Congressionally-Directed Funding,” USU has received over $54 million from the 2005 to 2009 fiscal years. These federal appropriations help to leverage state, local and private funding, which allocates an additional $95 million over the same time period.
The document also states that 208 part-time and 111 full-time jobs were created as a result of those funds being put into action. Besides creating new jobs, federal financial backing also helped retain 694 already existing jobs.
“We’re stepping it up,” Muhs said. “We have partnerships with tier-one universities and national labs in the U.S. and abroad. We’ve been able to be nimble and flexible to get into these arenas.”
He said the “algae team,” along with campus colleagues have gone from just doing lab research to creating deployable, cost-competitive advancements in oil-based products. The team may possibly break ground on a multi-acre facility next year.
The EDL will continue to look for solutions to air pollution, over-dependence on foreign oil and economy damaging energy price spikes, Muhs said. “We’re trying to address all three of those major challenges through out-of-box thinking.”
It is thinking like this that Kennedy said will increase economic development capabilities. Skeptics who call federal earmarks “pork barrel” spending will not be able to look at USU and legitimately deny that federal funding is money well-spent.
“The pork at USU is really the bacon at USU,” Kennedy said. “It creates jobs and research opportunities and, really, at the end of the day, that’s what it’s all about.”
– dan.whitney.smith@aggiemail.usu.edu