Rutgers University
The Situation
Rutgers is the State University of New Jersey. From its roots as a colonial college (chartered in 1766) and land-grant institution, Rutgers has developed into one of America's leading public research universities. New Jersey's state university fulfills its three-part mission of instruction, research, and service by educating a diverse student body of over 48,000 on its three campuses, by creating new knowledge, and by contributing to the economic and cultural vitality of the state.
In 1994, Rutgers University established an office in Washington, D.C., to communicate Rutgers' interests to the nation's policy makers. The Office of Federal Relations is staffed with a Director, an Associate Director, and a Federal Relations Assistant. They work with the New Jersey congressional delegation and the national associations of higher education - especially the Association of American Universities (AAU) and the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges (NASULGC) - to secure support for the University's interest in student financial aid, research funding, tax, and regulatory matters. Francine Newsome serves as the Associate Director of Federal Relations and has worked in the Rutgers Federal Relations Office for nearly seven years.
The Challenge
"With such a small staff representing such a large organization with a wide-variety of federal interests, we needed a tracking service to help us manage, organize, and track our legislative efforts. Our bill tracking covers a wide spectrum that ranges from immigration issues to research funding to student aid," said Ms. Newsome. "When the tracking service we were using, Legi-Slate, ceased operations in 1999, we needed to find a cost-effective service that met our needs."
The Solution
According to Ms. Newsome, "Because we had become accustomed to the convenience that a tracking service provides, we decided that we wanted to continue with one. In our research to find a new service, we looked into a subscription to Congressional Quarterly, but found that it was very expensive and didn't provide us with the personalized training and customer service we desired. Other services, like Lexis-Nexis, were cost-prohibitive for a federal relations staff of our size. After being introduced to GalleryWatch via a colleague from another major university's government relations staff, we quickly realized that we had found the service that met our needs. With GalleryWatch, all of the congressional and legislative information we need is organized in one location in an easy-to-use format. We don't have to worry about missing out on valuable information as updated status reports are provided to us on demand. Our office has found the service to be very valuable and cost-effective, and we are very happy that we discovered GalleryWatch."
The GalleryWatch Difference
"GalleryWatch has brought tremendous value to our organization," commented Ms. Newsome. "The ability to automatically receive e-mail updates on legislative actions keeps me up-to-date on floor and committee actions. Using GalleryWatch, there have been some unexpected bonuses along the way: I have learned about Rutgers faculty testifying at committee hearings before I knew about it from the faculty members themselves; I receive automated e-mail updates whenever 'Rutgers' is noted in a bill or the Congressional Record; and I've learned about terrific accomplishments by alumni noted in the CR by Members of Congress, and have been able to immediately pass that information along to our Alumni Relations office on campus."
"GalleryWatch is also a tremendous help when I file our 'Federal Lobbying Report' each winter and summer. By generating reports via GalleryWatch on my tracked bills with our personal notes and ID's included, I know exactly what legislation I need to list in the federal report and which lobbyist in the office worked on various legislation. This really takes the guesswork out of which bills we've been following and when. I also really appreciate the convenience and timeliness of GalleryWatch's 'Additional Government Documents' section. I often have the text of appropriations bills and other documents long before my colleagues. Thru GalleryWatch, I also receive e-mail updates about retirements, the appointment of conferees, and more, that put me 'in the know' as quickly (or even quicker sometimes) than congressional staff."
"Meanwhile, the customer service is the best in the business. The GalleryWatch team is always quick to respond to my questions and provides personalized assistance whenever I need it. I've come to rely on so many aspects of GalleryWatch for timely information about Congressional actions, all tailored so that I am able to communicate that information to our campus quickly and easily. GalleryWatch has been a great investment for our office, and I highly recommend the service to other organizations each and every time I have the opportunity."
About GalleryWatch's Federal Services
Information and services provided by GalleryWatch on the federal level include tracking and searching capabilities on legislation, congressional Members and committees, and federal agencies. Notification capabilities for most services include receiving timely updates via e-mail, text messaging, PDA's, and pagers. Two exclusive services offered by GalleryWatch are Congressional VIP which enables users to effortlessly track and analyze Member voting history and patterns, and GalleryWatch's USBudget.com service, the most comprehensive source of information on the $2.1 trillion federal budget which offers in-depth analysis and summaries on all the components and line-item program details of the budget. Additional services include committee transcripts, committee reports, and editorial coverage which are available though GalleryWatch's partnership with The National Journal, and Congressional Research Reports which are available through GalleryWatch's partnership with Penny Hill Press.
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