As Dean of the Graduate School and Acting Vice Provost for Research, Hillary Fouts, Ph.D., represents UCCS in more capacities than one, and recently did so in Washington D.C.
Fouts traveled to D.C. in early December to attend and present at the Council of Graduate Schools conference, and managed to fit in visits to the National Science Foundation and a few congressional offices to share about UCCS and various projects and research opportunities being pursued on campus. While she was not able to meet the congress members themselves, she visited the offices of Senator Michael Bennet, Senator John Hickenlooper and Representative Jeff Crank and talked to their staffers about UCCS initiatives.
“Each office was excited and happy to hear all of the good news about what we’re doing at UCCS,” said Fouts. “They loved hearing about how we’re so connected to the community, and about various programs and our student success stories.”
Fouts also shared about the university’s success in cybersecurity and recent federal grants, highlighting at least one for each UCCS college, and thanked the offices for their support of campus initiatives related to cybersecurity and digital humanities. The National Science Foundation visit the next day saw similar conversations and discussions around funding opportunities and ways to continue promoting faculty and student research.
“I came away feeling energized,” Fouts shared. “It was such a privilege to be able to represent UCCS that way, and I really appreciated how supportive the conversations were. It was fulfilling to talk with them and celebrate the great things happening at UCCS.”
CU System also helped Fouts organize part of her trip and supported her office visits, with Heather Bené, Senior Associate Vice President of Federal Relations, accompanying her.
“The CU government relations team was so supportive,” added Fouts. “They helped me put together talking points, asked what topics I’d like to include and arranged the office visits.”