Federal government policy research has been an increasingly important part of the Institute for Veterans and Military Families’ portfolio, employees said.

The IVMF, a major nonprofit based out of Syracuse University that’s recognized as one of the United States’ premier veterans research organizations, has recently expanded its connections with powerful federal agencies as part of a development of its policy work in Washington, D.C.

Members of the IVMF’s research team met with federal officials for a meeting in Washington at the beginning of February to discuss a finalized report for the independent Office of Personnel Management agency, employees said. OPM manages the federal government’s civilian workforce.

“We’re hopeful to continue to influence policy and practice,” said Zachary Huitink, a D’Aniello Family postdoctoral research fellow at the IVMF. “Whether it’s through a presidential executive order or congressional legislation.”

A final draft of the report was released in mid-December. An interim report for an expansive OPM study was published more than a year ago by the IVMF, Huitink said. Some of that report’s recommendations were included in legislation sponsored by Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.) during the 115th Congress’ session, Huitink said.

The report found a “clear opportunity for improvement and increased inter-agency learning” to sustain or enhance gains in the employment of veterans by the federal government. Heitkamp’s Senate legislation would require federal agency offices to “enhance employment opportunities for veterans,” records show.

Veterans made up about 30 percent of the federal workforce in fiscal year 2015, according to OPM.

With the veterans institute expanding its staffing size, according to a University Senate budget report published last Wednesday, members have developed a new focus on policy research, Huitink said. That development has taken place in the last two-and-a-half years, he said.

Chancellor Kent Syverud, in a December interview with The Daily Orange, said IVMF research has contributed to SU’s designation as a Research 1 university.

“I’d say it’s part of our story of how we became an R1 university in 2015. And the growth in that area is likely to help us continue to be one,” Syverud said of veterans research.

The university’s R1 classification is used as a benchmark by agencies including the U.S. Department of Education to determine grant awards. The R1 classification has been touted by university administrators, including Vice Chancellor and Provost Michele Wheatly.

Operating entirely on “soft money,” the IVMF has received more external gifts than any individual school or college at the university in the last three budget years, according to the Senate report. The IVMF does not receive funding from SU. Of the donations referenced in the Senate report, in the past three budget years the IVMF received more than $49 million in sponsored awards for research, per the report.

“These awards have contributed significantly to the Carnegie Classification,” the report stated of the R1 designation.

Some of the money used for research projects has been allocated through JPMorgan Chase & Co. funding, Huitink said. The multinational bank is the founding partner of the IVMF. JPMorgan Chase & Co., along with SU, donated $13.8 million in early 2016 to renew support for the institute.

Nate Birnbaum, a research and evaluation analyst at the IVMF, and Huitink both said they don’t exactly know how the bank’s funding is allocated to the research team, which includes 10 full-time members.

The JPMorgan Chase & Co. funds are distributed by the IVMF internally, Birnbaum and Huitink both said. Birnbaum added that he and Huitink have not dealt with a specific grant from JPMorgan Chase & Co. for research.

The OPM study was funded internally by the IVMF, Huitink said, but the institute was approached by OPM in 2015 to work on the project. The researcher said he doesn’t know yet how much the project will cost.

A final version of the OPM report was released in mid-December. Researchers, including Birnbaum and Huitink, recommended that OPM “conduct a targeted assessment to determine how human resource professionals can address differing views related to civil-military culture within the workforce and how gaps in understanding and opinions may be impacting perceptions of fairness, diversity, and inclusion,” among other things, according to the report.

“They approached us a couple of years ago to engage our expertise on the ‘veterans preference,’ which is a preferential hiring provision in the federal rules and regulations governing who can be hired into government,” Huitink said of OPM.

The last bill to be sponsored by Heitkamp, the senator from North Dakota, was her Empowering FED Vets Act, federal records show. The Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs discussed the bill in June 2017, records show. The bill would require federal agencies to establish or maintain a Veterans Employment Program Office.

Some specific IVMF research funding awards are published online. In seperate grants last year, the New York State Department of Health and IBM Center for the Business of Government awarded the IVMF’s research and evaluation division more than $235,000. The health department grant is being used to analyze the efficiency of state-level veterans services.

The year-long, ongoing IBM project has helped research team members meet officials in federal agencies, Birnbaum said, including the Department of Housing and Urban Development, Department of Labor and Department of Veterans Affairs.

“Oftentimes, our research agenda is kind of geared toward, like ‘Where we can get projects,’” Birnbaum added. “But that being said, we also take projects on our own, kind of like, without a funder. But we’ll pull in various partners.”

Huitink said IVMF research projects aim to support the organization’s overarching “strategic vision.” IVMF researchers study trends related to veterans’ employment, the needs of veteran families, and veteran entrepreneurship, “on account of our founding partnership,” Huitink said, referencing JPMorgan Chase & Co. The IVMF has published about 40 in-depth research reports, Huitink said.

“We won’t take just anything. We’re still choose-y and strategic in terms of what we pursue,” he said. “We want to make sure that the work that we’re doing, in terms of individual projects, is in service to the strategic visions and goals of the institute as a whole.”

Heitkamp’s Senate legislation is tangible evidence of what IVMF policy research can do, Huitink said.

“We’re not in Washington, D.C. So we’re definitely ‘on our way,’ and learning the game of being in D.C.,” Birnbaum said of the research team.

Published on February 27, 2018 at 9:49 pm

Contact Sam: sfogozal@syr.edu | @SamOgozalek