AACRAO Congressional Hill Day

Background What to do before coming to DC What to expect for the day What to do after your visit AACRAO legislative issues for Hill meetings

Things to do before coming to DC Check weather forecast Pack comfortable shoes Pack professional attire for meetings Bring business cards to leave behind for staffers Plan to wear your AACRAO pin

Things To Keep In Mind For Hill Meetings Hill meetings are about policy debates, so please avoid political debates If necessary, agree to disagree Remember that you are representing both AACRAO as a board member, as well as your institution

Method of Arranging Meetings All of you represent higher education “voices” from the respective states where your institutions are located. We matched your states with members of the House Education and Workforce Committee and the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pension (HELP) Committee. Thus, all offices that you will be meeting with have DIRECT jurisdiction over higher education issues. You will be meeting with the individual responsible for Education issues for the Congressman or Senator.

Items that AACRAO will provide for the day AACRAO will provide individualized folders that will have all information for the day, including: Your schedule of Congressional meetings Congressional directory and map A bio of each Member of Congress whose office you will be visiting Information about AACRAO members from each of their states Talking points for each of the issues to discuss One pagers on each of the issues that we want to discuss with staff AACRAO staff members to accompany you for each meeting

Items that AACRAO will provide for the day AACRAO staff members will be present for each meeting For the meetings, AACRAO will provide folders for the staff member that will be left behind. These will include: About AACRAO information, including our overall legislative priorities One pagers about the specific issues that we will discuss with each office A roster of the AACRAO Board and staff members that were present at the meeting U.S. map of AACRAO members per state

Getting to Capitol Hill Breakfast will be provided at One DuPont Circle, Suite 520 between 7:30 am -8:00 am Overview of the day will be from 8:00 – 8:40 am. We will depart for the Hill at 8:45am AACROA will provide an UBER code for transportation to the Hill Do not bring luggage or large bags. Security is like at the airport

What to Expect On The Hill First meetings are scheduled for 9:30 am At 10:00, am all Board members will meet in Longworth 1712 for a meeting with Rep. Jarid Polis (D-CO) After this, we will go to Longworth 1230 to meet with Rep. Luke Messer (R-IN) These will be very short substantive meetings and photo-ops.

What to Expect on The Hill When you arrive to an office, please let the front desk person know who you are and who you are meeting with Many times they will ask for your business card If you are running late, or need to cancel, please be sure to notify the congressional office

What to Expect on The Hill Designate a spokesperson to start the discussion Most effective is if the constituent is point Spokesperson should ask everyone to introduce themselves and mention that you are with AACRAO. Provide staff a folder.

What to Expect on The Hill Space is limited on the Hill (especially the House) so you may end up meeting in the hallway or cafeteria if no room in office. Do not be offended Do not underestimate the “youthful” look of Hill staff At the end of the meeting, make sure that you get a card from the staffer

What to Expect on The Hill Between your meetings be sure to give yourself time to walk, especially if you are going from the House to Senate (or vice-versa). Normally a 10-15 minute walk Give yourself enough time to go through security again

After Your Congressional Meetings Use UBER code to return to AACRAO We will have a “debriefing” session at the AACRAO office Lunch will be provided Send a follow up email to staffers within a week after your meeting

AACRAO Issues for Hill Meetings

Issues to Discuss There are a lot of issues that are important to AACRAO in the higher education space However, we only will have 15-20 minutes per meeting Therefore, we want to limit the number of items to 2-3 issues

Issues to Discuss HEA Reauthorization: Updates to FERPA and Electronic Records Correcting Provisions Created by 2012 Regulations The Reverse Transfer Efficiency Act of 2017 NOTE: As part of the email, you will find one pagers about each of these issues and bullet points for you to discuss during the meetings