A Message from the Executive Director

A Message from the Executive Director

A Message from the Executive Director

Oct 10, 2018, 11:13 AM

Fall is a magical time at Big Ten Academic Alliance universities. New student orientations, move-in days, football games, homecomings, and marching bands on crisp autumn days herald a new academic year full of potential and promise. The fourteen Big Ten Academic Alliance universities have just welcomed almost 90,000 freshmen to their campuses, all eager to begin the educational and social journey that will shape their future in countless ways.


Fall is a magical time at Big Ten Academic Alliance universities. New student orientations, move-in days, football games, homecomings, and marching bands on crisp autumn days herald a new academic year full of potential and promise. The fourteen Big Ten Academic Alliance universities have just welcomed almost 90,000 freshmen to their campuses, all eager to begin the educational and social journey that will shape their future in countless ways.

Marshall for webThe fall is special for the Big Ten Academic Alliance, too, as we kick off another year of collaboration, cooperation and co-investment to help our member institutions reach their individual and collective goals. And this fall is particularly exciting as it marks the 60thanniversary of our founding! As legend has it, it was in the fall of 1958 that Herman B Wells, President of Indiana University, started the conversation with the other Big Ten Presidents, then known as the Council of Ten, that led to the creation of the Committee on Institutional Cooperation. I’m sure Herman would be quite proud to see how that kernel of an idea grew into a national model with six decades of successful collaboration.

In this newsletter, you’ll see several examples of the power of collaboration and co-investment at work. From accessibility initiatives to the fight against interruptions to access to scholarly publishing, to the student design competition, the Big Ten Academic Alliance is bringing together its members to address critical societal problems, enrich the educational opportunities of more than 600,000 students, and support the teaching, research and outreach efforts of over 48,000 faculty.

We’re also quite excited to welcome three new members to the Big Ten Academic Alliance programs staff. Laurel Rosch, Lori Frost, and Sharon Lee will be joining us in our Champaign, IL, headquarters and providing programmatic support for a wide range of initiatives. Please join me in welcoming them to the Big Ten Academic Alliance team.

 

Best,

Keith Marshall signature
Keith A. Marshall, Ph.D.
Executive Director