Contact your Senators and Representatives

Financial aid policies, funding for public colleges and universities, rules governing research-these issues and many more affecting higher education are debated each year in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives. "Faculty members are experts on higher education, but often their views are left out of the legislative decisionmaking process," says Mark Smith, the AAUP's director of government relations, adding that "it only takes a few minutes a week to get your views across." Not sure how to contact your senators and representatives? The Senate Web site lists senators by state and allows viewers to click through to individual senators' Web sites.

Or click on "Contacting the Senate" for a complete list of addresses, telephone numbers, and e-mail addresses for senators and Senate committees. To find your representative, visit the House of Representatives Web site . Click on "Member Offices" for links to individual representatives' Web pages, or use the "Write Your Representative" feature to send a message. For more information, go to the AAUP Web site and click on "Lobbying."