Every year the AAS brings volunteers to Washington, DC, to advocate for federal support of their science with their members of Congress for a Congressional Visits Day (CVD). This is part of a coordinated effort to gather scientists, engineers, researchers, educators, and technology executives in the nation’s capital to raise visibility and support for science, engineering, and technology.
This year there will be two Congressional Visits Day opportunities: the AAS CVD and the SET CVD. We are no longer accepting volunteers for AAS CVD 2017 or for SET CVD. Please check back in late-2017 for information about the 2018 opportunities.
A few things to keep in mind while you consider volunteering for either opportunity:
The AAS is a part of the Science-Engineering-Technology (SET) Working Group, which is organizing a CVD on Tuesday-Wednesday, 25-26 April 2017. Both days will require full-day commitments, about 8:00 am to 6:00 pm. Day 1 will be an all-day seminar on how to communicate effectively with policy makers, including some information on the issues that are currently impacting science in general. Day 2 will be a day full of meetings on Capitol Hill with congressional staffers.
We aim to select around six volunteers who balance the program by career stage and experience. We especially encourage graduate students and early-career professionals to volunteer. Selected members will be notified early-March 2017. AAS will be able to reimburse per diem and minimal travel expenses but does not have sufficient funds to reimburse other expenses for SET CVD.
This year the AAS CVD will be held Tuesday-Wednesday, 21-22 March 2017, with both days requiring full-day commitments, about 8:00 am to 6:00 pm. Day 1 will be an all-day seminar on how to communicate effectively with policy makers, including some information on the issues that are currently impacting astronomy and science in general. Day 2 will be a day full of meetings on Capitol Hill with congressional staffers.
We aim to select at least 15 volunteers who balance the program by location, career stage, and experience. We especially encourage graduate students and early-career professionals to volunteer. We are no longer accepting volunteers for AAS CVD 2017. Selected members will be notified mid-February 2017. AAS has sufficient funds to reimburse most travel expenses related to the AAS CVD.
To sign up for SET CVD, please use our Congressional Visits Day 2017 Sign-Up Form--you’ll need to sign in to aas.org using your AAS username and password to submit the form.
NOTE: You must be logged in as an AAS member to submit this form. If you haven't already signed in, please click the "Sign in" link in the top right corner of the page. If you are having trouble viewing the form, then please email [email protected].
