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To:
College and University Presidents, Leaders of Partner Organizations
From:
William E. Kirwan
Chancellor, University System of Maryland
Chair, Solutions for Our Future Oversight Committee
David Ward
President (2001-2008), American Council on Education
In March of 2006, launched the “Solutions for Our Future” campaign. The goal of this campaign is to engage in a national conversation about the broad-based public benefits from higher education and the importance to our country’s future of sustained investments in America’s colleges and universities.
Research shows that the public has generally high opinions about our colleges and universities, and understands that a college education has become the gateway for individual opportunity and success. But we also know that the public is alarmed about rising tuitions, and does not believe that institutions are doing all that they could do to ensure efficient use of resources. To ensure continued support of higher education as a public policy priority, we must collectively tackle the political challenge of accountability by being forthright and clear about resource use, quality, and performance.
The success of this effort will depend on our collective ability to provide the American public with compelling evidence that our diverse institutions contribute in myriad ways to the development of human talent, to economic opportunity and innovation, to stronger communities and deeper understanding of ourselves and others. Our core messages are:
- Well-educated citizens are crucial to America’s ability to confront the challenges of the future. Colleges prepare the people who will help solve the problems and they teach the people who ultimately will change the world. Our standard of living and America’s place in the world, the survival of our free, democratic society, the quality of life in our communities, the competitive strength of our economy, our very future, all depend on people, Americans who are better and more fully educated than ever before.
- Our colleges and universities contribute to the economy, well-being, and quality of life in our country. They provide the people, ideas, and scientific and technological advancements that will be the source of solutionsto our society’s most pressing problems. Each of you will be able to cite examples where your institution has done this.
- Our country must continue to expand college access and achievement to build the human capital necessary to succeed in the international knowledge economy. We cannot be satisfied with maintaining the status quo; we cannot risk losing ground to our international competitors.
- To meet the needs of the future, America must sustain public investment in higher education. We benefit today from investments made years ago. It is our turn to invest on behalf of future generations. This is especially important now when other countries are dramatically increasing their investments in higher education.
While the overall messaging will establish a context and a “language” for the project, these messages need to be amplified with specific examples and individual stories from diverse institutions across the country. Each institution will do this differently, depending on its mission and the students and communities it serves.
To help you and your staff contribute to this effort, we have enclosed this grassroots organizing toolkit. This is not a playbook of cookie-cutter templates for each campus to follow. Rather, it provides a framework that can be easily adapted as appropriate to your campus. These materials are also available on the campaign website (http://www.solutionsforourfuture.org), where you will find additional resources in the form of a library of articles, web pages, and other places you can go for additional information.
As you use this material to communicate the broad benefits from higher education, we also urge you to emphasize the ways your institution addresses public concerns about costs, accountability, and efficiency. The toolkit is organized as follows:
- About Us
The who, what, when, where and how of the initiative
- Our core messages
Key talking points for use in presenting the initiative
- Facts in brief
A synthesis of research documenting evidence behind our core messages
- Reaching the public
A summary of research on public perceptions about higher education
- Communications strategies
Ways to demonstrate that your institution is providing the solutions that are contributing to America’s future.
- The Solutions Website
solutionsforourfuture.org - what’s on it and how to use it
- Campaign materials
Logos, brochures, and print advertisements
- Sample materials
Examples of op-ed pieces, articles, and presidential speeches on our key points
- Issue papers
Summaries of research behind proof points and bibliography of additional materials
If you have questions on campaign activities, please contact:
Solutions for Our Future
American Council on Education
One Dupont Circle, NW
Washington, DC 20036
202/939-9456
solutions@ace.nche.edu
Thank you for your effort to engage the public on this important set of issues. We will be in communication with you throughout the next several months. Please keep us informed of the steps you are taking, and obviously, if we can be helpful please let us know.
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solutions@ace.nche.edu | (202) 939-9456
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