Columbia's director of federal relations since 1991, Ellen Smith has been appointed assistant vice president for federal relations.

Smith represents and informs the Univesity on issues such as financial aid, Medicare and Medicaid, research funds and tax policies as they pertain to higher education.

Both the Democratic and Republican platforms address higher education, but discuss the importance of research with slightly different emphases.

  The Democratic platform also presents a proposal for tax cuts for college; the Republican platform comments on increasing tuition. The influence of the platforms is debatable; nevertheless, support of research and development by both parties is clear.

  The Republican platform's section on "Science, Technology, and Innovation in the 21st Century" states:

  "Our goal is to empower the American people by using the benefits of science to improve their quality of life ... Research and development is our commitment to the future... Federal science programs must emphasize basic research. The tax code must foster research and development."

  The Republican platform calls for "a national reassessment of higher education", because of the growing cost of college. They propose ending the Direct Lending program and establishing an American Dream Savings Account for college savings.

  The Democratic platform emphasizes the importance of research and technology development and how universities contribute to science and technology: "We know investments in technology drive economic growth, generate new knowledge, create new high-wage jobs, build new industries, and improve our quality of life."

  Within the platform, the Democrats emphasize the need to give everyone an opportunity to go to college. They propose to expand the work-study program, allow people to use money from their IRAs to pay for college and give a $1,000 honors scholarship for the top five percent of graduates in high schools. In addition, the platform suggests creating a $10,000 tax deduction for families to help pay for education after high school. Also suggested is a $1,500 tax cut in the form of HOPE scholarships and a guarantee that the first year of tuition at a typical community college would be paid.