Last week, the University of Arizona held inaugural events to celebrate the opening of its new Center for Outreach and Collaboration in Washington, D.C. UA President Dr. Robert C. Robbins, along with other members of UA administration and representatives from government agencies, were in attendance.

The purpose of the Center for Outreach and Collaboration is to bring the UA’s resources and expertise to the nation’s capital. The center, located above Freedom Plaza in D.C., will have extensions of some UA institutions, including the James E. Rogers College of Law, the National Institute for Civil Discourse and UA Government and Community Relations, among others.

UA representatives hosted numerous workshops and panels on social issues and societal challenges. Event topics included preparing students for the workforce, the immigration crisis on the U.S.-Mexico border and civil discourse, along with more typical open house events.

One major benefit of this new center is allowing UA representatives to reach out to and meet with government agencies that the UA works with.

“A really significant proportion of our research funding comes from federal agencies, and almost all of them, not all of them, but 90 percent of them have their headquarters in the Washington, D.C. area,” said Elizabeth Cantwell, senior vice president of research and innovation at the UA. “We might have faculty members who are funded by the Department of Energy, by the [U.S. Environmental Protection Agency] and by the [National Science Foundation] all at once. One of the things they can’t do all at once, unless they can convene with sponsors and other agencies here in D.C., is actually really express the breadth and strength of our multidisciplinary work.”

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