The University respects the right of employees to communicate with Congressional offices and Federal officials on matters of public policy.
When faculty/staff communicate with Congressional staff and identify themselves as a George Mason employee, staffers may believe the Mason employee is speaking on behalf of or with the approval of the University.
The following guidelines are designed to clarify the roles and responsibilities of faculty and staff petitioning their elected officials.
The President must approve official University positions.
Accordingly, when George Mason employees communicate views to Congressional offices in an email or other means as individuals or as representatives of an organization other than George Mason, a simple disclaimer: “I am not representing the views of George Mason University” will suffice.
George Mason faculty are encouraged to communicate in writing to their deans and/or department chairs any request for the University to publicly support a specific legislative proposal. It would also be helpful to provide a recommendation with supporting reasons in any such communication.
The dean or department head will determine if the matter should be referred to their vice president for further review and action. The vice president will, in turn, decide whether to forward the request on to the president for approval.
To ensure consistency of messaging, we ask that you coordinate with the Office of Federal Government Relations when working with Federal legislators. Contact the Director of Federal Relations at [email protected] and 571-425-2937.