Specifications include, but are not limited to: A. VCU and the VCU Health System are seeking the services of an individual or lobbying firm to assist the in house Office of Government Relations with government relations efforts on the federal level. The Contractor should have a physical office near the Capitol that could be used by VCU faculty and administrators for meetings when in Washington, D.C. B. The primary focus of the work is to identify opportunities and facilitate increasing federal research dollars for the university. With the current Congressional policy of not distributing money through earmarks, it is expected that most of the work would involve influencing legislation to include research dollars in agency budgets as well as assisting to specify such funds for VCU faculty research projects. VCU currently attracts approximately $250,000,000 in research grants a year under the guidance of the Vice President for Research, Dr. Francis Macrina. Further information about current efforts can be found at http://www.vcu.edu/vcuresearch/index.php.
