The Consortium of Social Science Associations (COSSA) held its 2015 Annual Meeting and Social and Behavioral Science Advocacy Day on March 9 and 10, bringing together more than 100 members of the social and behavioral science community for a day of discussion on federal issues impacting social and behavioral science research. More than 60 people took to Capitol Hill for Social and Behavioral Science Advocacy Day to meet with their Congressional delegations to discuss the value and importance of this research.
AERA Executive Director Felice J. Levine, who chairs the COSSA Board of Directors, welcomed attendees at the opening session on March 9. AERA was a meeting sponsor.
On March 9, attendees heard from France Cordova, director of the National Science Foundation, and William Riley, acting director of the Office of Behavioral and Social Science Research at the National Institutes of Health, on the importance of social and behavioral science at their respective agencies.
The meeting was also an opportunity to hear from speakers from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Bureau of Transportation, and the Department of Defense about the contributions of social and behavioral science.
On March 10, COSSA members, including Levine and Juliane Baron, AERA Director of Government Relations, were divided into teams and met with Senate and House of Representatives staff from 84 different offices to discuss the value of social science research and the critical role the federal government plays in supporting this research.