Dear Colleagues,
The start of a new presidential administration traditionally brings change to the policies and priorities of our nation’s federal agencies. As a partner in the federal research enterprise, many of these changes are relevant to the University of Michigan, and I want to share information about what we know and what we’re working to better understand.
As a new administration considers its plan for implementing policy, a president’s appointees and designees take time to review ongoing activities, programs, regulations, guidance documents, and communications. This week, federal agencies have received direction from the new administration to review these ongoing work processes as soon as possible. Some of these directives take the form of executive orders. Others take the form of direct communications to agencies from the president. It is worthwhile to note that previous administrations have advanced their own directives in these ways.
My office has heard many questions from our community about the impact of this activity at the Department of Health and Human Services, which includes the Food and Drug Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the National Institutes of Health. The department announced a communications ban through Feb. 1 in a memo issued by the acting secretary. The directive has impacted meetings of federal advisory committees, study sections, and the timing of funding decisions.
The university has established a process to carefully track and review all transition actions, including these agency directives, as well as the administration’s recent executive actions. This process draws on the deep expertise of the university’s leaders and stakeholders. Our aim, as President Santa J. Ono noted in his Jan. 8 message, is to analyze new policies and establish a thoughtful approach for engagement with our campus stakeholders and the new administration.
As I’ve shared in previous messages, the university’s Federal Relations team, in partnership with university leadership, is actively engaged on legislative, regulatory, and research policy developments that affect the U-M research enterprise. We will continue to share key insights from the team in the VPR Update newsletter for the foreseeable future.
As researchers at a public university, our shared endeavor is valuable and important. It helps to save peoples’ lives, strengthen our economy, and improve our quality of life. It is hard work, and it comes with many challenges. We appreciate all you do and will keep you apprised as information is made available. As active researchers, we also welcome your feedback and insight at [email protected].
Thank you for inspiring me every day and for your continuing commitment to our work as we navigate this future together.
Sincerely,
Skip
Arthur Lupia
Vice President for Research and Innovation (interim)
Gerald R. Ford Distinguished University Professor