A message from the Leadership Team on Federal Actions
May 1, 2025
Dear URI Faculty, Staff, and Students:
On Tuesday, President Marc Parlange and Adam Soule, director of the Ocean Exploration Cooperative Institute at URI, joined the presidents, chancellors, and cooperative institute directors from eight other leading institutions in signing a letter to Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick and Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought highlighting the vital importance of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Cooperative Institutes.
In the letter, they express “support for the important role of federal-university partnerships within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to protect and advance the nation’s economic and national security priorities,” and urge “continued investment to maintain efforts across NOAA’s robust portfolio of research programs, all of which benefit the public and industry across the U.S.”
The institutions that signed the letter include the University of Colorado, Colorado State University, the University of Hawaii, the University of Maryland, the University of Oklahoma, Oregon State University, the University of Rhode Island, the University of Washington, and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute.
Update on URI’s research portfolio
As we near the end of the spring semester, we wanted to provide the URI community with an update on the University’s considerable research portfolio.
In February, URI ascended to the highest level of research universities in the United States by earning R1 designation in the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education. The recognition highlights the significant breadth and impact of URI research, innovation, entrepreneurship, and public scholarship.
Cuts in federal research funding threaten to curb the real-world impact of research performed at U.S. universities, including URI. As of this morning, URI has received termination notices from six different federal agencies on a total of 20 awards, including those on which URI is either the prime awardee or sub-awardee. The total value to URI of the terminated awards is $46.3 million—the University received more than $16 million of that total award value to conduct research activities and would have expected to receive the remaining balance over the life of the awards had they not been terminated.
When grants are terminated early, planned activities often stop. Beyond funding loss alone, there also is the impact to people, and the loss of research progress and the real-world benefits that come with it, which are substantial.
Despite these cuts, URI continues to maintain an extensive and impactful research ecosystem, inspired by the remarkable work of our researchers and community. At present, the University’s portfolio includes more than 480 active, funded awards with a total value of more than $802 million over the multi-year span of those awards. And URI researchers continue to submit grant applications.
Work conducted at URI and universities across the nation is essential in solving big challenges, enhancing daily life, and driving societal progress, making it central to the public good. The University remains a strong and active advocate for this cause, collaborating closely with our Rhode Island congressional delegation, the state attorney general, key professional organizations like the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities and the American Council on Education, as well as peer institutions both regionally and nationally, to highlight the positive impact of America’s research universities on society.
To our entire community, thank you for your individual and collective contributions to that work and impact.
University Resources
The Federal Actions Updates webpage offers useful information for our University community. We encourage you to check the page regularly and to share the highlighted resources with your URI colleagues and classmates.
Thank you.