Christina West

Christina West is the director of federal relations in Vanderbilt University’s Office of Federal Relations and executive director of the Washington office. In this role, West focuses primarily on higher education policy issues as well as budget and appropriations matters for federal research funding. She works closely with both campus leaders and Washington policy makers on topics such as federal student aid, funding levels for federal research programs, tax issues, tech transfer, international student and scholar policies and campus safety. West interacts regularly with leaders in Congress, focusing primarily on the Tennessee congressional delegation and their staffs. Building on her previous experience on the Hill in a Tennessee congressional office, West has built solid relationships with many of the key offices with which Vanderbilt interfaces. She currently serves as the co-chair of the Association of American Universities' (AAU) Council on Federal Relations which she will chair in 2010. She has previously chaired AAU's Humanities Task Force which advocates on behalf of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Prior to joining Vanderbilt, West was a senior associate at the government relations firm of Collins & Company where she had direct, day-to-day interaction with the company's customers, advancing their government relations agenda from strategy formulation to execution. Her primary responsibilities were for the firm's higher education and international development customers, building on her past experiences in these areas. She had direct responsibility for proposing, developing, and executing strategic plans for each customer to include: building relationships with key Members of Congress and their staffs; matching customer priorities with federal funding opportunities; identifying key points of intervention; providing access to Capitol Hill; and securing federal funds for specific priorities.

West has also served as the assistant director for international affairs at the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges. In that position, she promoted, both on Capitol Hill and within the Administration, the international agendas of major public research universities, including the Department of Education's Title VI programs and immigration issues related to international students and scholars.

In addition to her experience in the private sector, West spent several years as the senior legislative assistant for former Representative Bob Clement, D-Tenn., with responsibility for his work on the Budget Committee as well as his education, foreign relations, trade, immigration, and defense issues. Representative Clement was the co-chair of the House Education Caucus, for which West had primary responsibility in developing and executing the policies and events. West began her tenure in Rep. Clement's office as an intern, serving also as staff assistant, legislative assistant, and ultimately senior legislative assistant. She also completed a summer internship in the legislative office of Sen. Fred Thompson, R-Tenn.

A graduate of Haverford College, in Haverford, Pennsylvania, West has a bachelor’s degree in political science. She spent part of her junior year studying abroad in Athens, Greece, and she lived in Geneva, Switzerland, from 1989 to 1992. The West family lived in Nashville following their time in Switzerland; she is a graduate of the University School of Nashville. Her interests include competitive masters swimming; she served for three years as co-captain and vice president on the board of the District of Columbia Aquatics Club. She is also an active member of Women in Government Relations; she co-chaired their Congressional Relations task force for two years.

Christina West

Director, Federal Relations
Executive Director
(202) 216-4370

 

STAFF MEMBERS

Janelle St. Croix
Legislative Analyst

Paula Cleggett
Associate Director for Policy

Mel Bass
Director of Federal Affairs