For Immediate Release: February 22, 2006
Contact: Susan Chilcott 202.293.7070
Heather Berg 202.478.4665
VISION FOR HIGHER ED, PLEDGE TO ACCESS AND NEW BOND WITH STATES NEEDED TO RENEW THE PROMISE BETWEEN STATES AND PUBLIC UNIVERSITIES
Washington, D.C. – College campuses must develop and sustain a long-term vision for higher education, renew and update basic commitments of access and public partnership, and forge a new relationship with government to renew the commitment between the public and the public colleges and universities, according to policy and higher education leaders in a new report, “Renewing the Promise: The Public’s Universities in a Transforming World.” (Editor’s note from VSU’s University Relations: VSU President Ronald M. Zaccari is one of 11 university presidents and two state chancellors from across the nation who serves on the Commission on Public University Renewal. Please refer to the complete list located at the end of the release.)
The report recommends that to ensure public support and guidance to campuses in exchange for broad access to educational opportunity and partnership in addressing economic and social challenges the following steps need to be taken:
Washington, D.C. – College campuses must develop and sustain a long-term vision for higher education, renew and update basic commitments of access and public partnership, and forge a new relationship with government to renew the commitment between the public and the public colleges and universities, according to policy and higher education leaders in a new report, “Renewing the Promise: The Public’s Universities in a Transforming World.” (Editor’s note from VSU’s University Relations: VSU President Ronald M. Zaccari is one of 11 university presidents and two state chancellors from across the nation who serves on the Commission on Public University Renewal. Please refer to the complete list located at the end of the release.)
The report recommends that to ensure public support and guidance to campuses in exchange for broad access to educational opportunity and partnership in addressing economic and social challenges the following steps need to be taken:
| 1. States and their universities must develop and sustain a long-term vision for higher education. 2. Campuses and systems must renew and update basic commitments of access and public partnership. 3. Campuses and systems must forge a new relationship with government. |
The American Association of State Colleges and Universities’ Commission on Public University Renewal, comprised of college and university presidents and policymakers, developed these recommendations on how to renew the unwritten contract between the American people and their publicly funded higher education institutions.
The report provides an examination of how the unwritten contract has changed as well as key questions and suggestions for next steps for policymakers and presidents and chancellors to address as a guide to renewing the relationship between states and public universities.
AASCU developed the commission to address the renewal of the public university and to address the following questions:
| ·What do states and communities need from the public’s universities to remain competitive? ·What commitments are most important for the public’s universities in the world that is taking shape? ·What can be done to build stronger partnerships between the public’s universities and their government? |
The commission developed a working statement of core values, commitments, and priorities for public universities that correspond with contemporary economic, social and political transformations.
Existing approaches to supporting and delivering public higher education must be reviewed and revised to ensure that the people’s universities are equipped to meet the needs of a growing, diversifying, and information-driven society.
Using the Commission’s report as a guide, AASCU has initiated conversations with other national organizations to look at ways to apply these recommendations and demonstrate the change that is possible.
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Commission on Public University Renewal Members
President John C. Hitt, University of Central Florida (chair)
President Hazo W. Carter, Jr., President, West Virginia State University
President Max Castillo, University of Houston-Downtown, Texas
President Susan Cole, Montclair State University, New Jersey
President Carol Harter, University of Nevada-Las Vegas
President Glen Johnson, Southeastern Oklahoma State University
President Jolene Koester, California State University Northridge
President Charles Kupchella, University of North Dakota
President Muriel Howard, State University of New York College at Buffalo
President Michael Rao, Central Michigan University
Chancellor James Renick, North Carolina A&T State University
Chancellor Bruce Shepard, University of Wisconsin-Green Bay
President Ronald Zaccari, Valdosta State University, Georgia
A national advisory group worked with the commission offering feedback on issues and practices.
National Advisory Group Members
Madeleine d’Ambrosio, Vice President, TIAA-CREF and Executive Director, TIAA-CREF Institute
The Honorable Jim Geringer, former Governor, Wyoming
The Honorable Lana Oleen, State Senator, Kansas
The Honorable Jack Scott, State Senator, California
Members of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU) work to extend higher education to all citizens, including those who have been traditionally underrepresented on college campuses. By Delivering America’s Promise, these institutions fulfill the expectations of a public university by working for the public good through education and engagement, thereby improving the lives of people in their community, their region and their state. AASCU’s membership is comprised of more than 425 colleges, universities and systems of public higher education throughout the United States and its territories.