For the University of North Dakota, the future is federal.
Just look at the numbers: 26 percent of UND’s $280.6 million budget in 2002-03 came from grants and contracts, most of them dependent on federal funding. In fact, UND received about $72 million in sponsored program awards — mostly federal — in 2002-03.

That’s not to understate the importance of funding from the North Dakota Legislature, which made up 27 percent of UND’s 2002-03 budget. North Dakota provides critical foundation funding that allows UND to grow. But feeding that growth, helping to move the University toward the $100 million level in sponsored program awards, is the federal dollar, which carries significant leverage for developing partnerships with industry and government agencies.

Members of North Dakota’s Congressional delegation from both parties have long supported UND’s growth with federal funding. The current delegation has been particularly resourceful. Through the efforts of Senators Byron Dorgan and Kent Conrad and Congressman Earl Pomeroy, earmarking of federal dollars is helping UND compete on the national research front. And federal dollars will drive the development of the Red River Valley Research Corridor (see President Kupchella’s overview on the opposite page), with UND as a lead player.

To help get the best possible access to those federal dollars, institutions of higher learning like UND and North Dakota State University hire lobbyists. UND’s is among the best in the business.

UND’s lobbyist in Washington tells this story on herself: “I was at a wedding in Wyoming and my husband said, ‘I’m surprised that people don’t know what you do,’ and I said, ‘That’s by design.’”

That may be true outside of the Beltway, but inside the nation’s capitol, it’s a different story: “I’m pretty visible here — I play the local game.” And she plays it with perfection. At UND the word is this: If you want to do business in Washington, you want to get to know Sara Garland.

At once everyone’s kid sister, everyone’s college sweetheart, everyone’s best friend, Garland is the consummate insider. On Capitol Hill, in the offices of Senators Kent Conrad and Byron Dorgan and Rep. Earl Pomeroy, they call her the “Queen of the Dakotas” — an affectionate name for one of Washington’s most effective lobbyists. President of The Greystone Group, Garland gives North Dakota’s Congressional delegation all of the credit for the tremendous success the University has enjoyed in attracting federal funding. But Conrad (for whom Garland once worked as chief of staff), Dorgan and Pomeroy would agree that no other single individual has been as instrumental to the process as Garland. In fact, the UND Alumni Association recognized the Glen Ullin native in September with its highest honor, the Sioux Award.

“I’m sort of the cog,” Garland said. “I can advise people on how they can make government work for them, whether it’s in a regulatory way or a legislative way. I always see my role as a coordinator, making sure the pieces get put together.”

Garland is more than the “cog,” however. She is a key player in virtually every move UND makes in D.C. In Washington, where the game is about access, Garland knows how to get it. She knows how to open doors. She understands how to take a 30-page proposal and turn it into the three paragraphs that will gain five crucial minutes with a key Congressional leader.

Garland seems to know everyone, and she seems to know everything. Her word about protocol is gospel. Her knowledge of the federal system — how it works and how to work it — seems limitless. Maybe that’s because her political roots go back to 1968, when she worked on the Gene McCarthy presidential campaign.

Garland’s first love was media. A 1968 graduate with a bachelor’s degree in journalism, she was hired by KXJB Televison and became the first female on-camera television reporter in the state. After earning a master’s degree in history from UND in 1971, Garland moved to Washington, D.C., where she took a job with the Public Broadcasting Corporation, a relationship which still continues in some ways: “Sesame Street” remains one of her favorite clients. After a stint with Congresswoman Margaret Heckler (who went on to be Secretary of Health and Human Services under Ronald Reagan), Garland joined Sen. Quentin Burdick’s team. In 1986 she established her own consulting firm, with UND as one of her first clients. In the early 1990s, she served as Sen. Conrad’s chief of staff before returning to her lobbying firm.

Relationships on Capitol Hill — that means everything, said Garland. But it is also about what you know, and particularly what you know about who you know, what motivates them, what pushes their buttons. So there is a constant search for information.

“Every day, I spend two hours reading nothing but The Post, Roll Call, the Times, The Hill, Congress Daily, as well as reading through Internet updates,” Garland said. “There is a constant barrage of information. Trying to stay on top of everything to do your job well is important.”

Part of Garland’s job is to take what she learns and help UND match opportunities.

“This University has so many areas of expertise, so many people doing research. But not all of the research is of equal value to government,” said Garland. “There is a sort of matrix you use in helping your client.” She looks for opportunities that will be of particular interest to members of North Dakota’s delegation. She looks for opportunities that have current federal importance, current state importance. She looks for opportunities that match the North Dakota delegation’s committee assignments.

“The variables change over the years,” she said. “You have to constantly look for partners. You have to change your strategy. None of this is constant, and I think that is part of the value of having somebody in Washington who is a constant.

“I’ve been through who knows how many years of the appropriations process,” she continued. “The process changes. We’re doing things now that we didn’t do in the past. The University leadership is very engaged in the process and provides me with lots of access, lots of flexibility. I’ve been very lucky to have good partners on the client side.”

A North Dakota farm girl, Geri Gaginis wasn’t sure she wanted to make her career in Washington, D.C. “I was trying to decide whether to stay or to go home,” she recalled. “I was very intimidated by the size of the city.” After a year of teaching political science and typing in a small Wisconsin school, the Grafton, N.D., native wanted a change. So she went to the nation’s capitol on an internship. A courtesy call to Sen. Quentin Burdick turned into a job opportunity for the 1967 UND graduate who had majored in business education and political science. And she has worked for a United States senator every since. In 1992, she became Sen. Kent Conrad’s executive assistant and D.C. scheduler, which helps keep her in touch with her native state as well as with the many North Dakotans in the Washington area — North Dakotans like Sara Garland (see separate story on this page), UND’s lobbyist on Capitol Hill. Gaginis is godmother to Garland’s daughter. “I really think what’s kept me here is the North Dakota connection,” Gaginis said. “The North Dakotans always rise to the positions at the top of organizations out here.” Gaginis enjoys her work with Sen. Conrad, who is her friend and mentor as well as her boss. She says Conrad and North Dakota’s other representatives in Congress — Sen. Byron Dorgan and Rep. Earl Pomeroy — have a close relationship and work hard individually and in tandem for North Dakota. “It’s been a lot of fun having a ringside seat.”

Dimensions is published quarterly in September, December, March, and May by the University of North Dakota. It is published by the University of North Dakota, Charles E. Kupchella, president, with assistance from the Office of University Relations, Box 7144, Grand Forks, ND 58202-7144

Contributors:
Charles E. Kupchella, David Vorland, Peter Johnson, Marilyn Hagerty, Kathryn Sweney, and Daryl Sager. Photographer Chuck Kimmerle. Designer: Dick Larson. Web Designer: Chad Sperling.

Content may be reprinted without prior permission for non-commercial purposes. If you have questions or comments, contact us at (701) 777-2473, or email University Relations. To reach Office of Enrollment Services, UND's main recruiting arm, call 1-800-CALLUND (225-5863).