Spanier Named Chair Of National
Commission On The Future Of Universities

10-1-97
University Park, Pa. -- Penn State President Graham B. Spanier has been named chair of the Kellogg Commission on the Future of State and Land-Grant Universities, effective Jan. 1. He currently serves as a member of the commission, which is composed of 30 presidents and former presidents of state and land-grant universities.

The commission was established last year by the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges (NASULGC) with a $1.2 million grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation to refocus public higher education for the 21st century.

"Higher education has entered an era of extraordinary change," says Spanier. "It is a time of technological revolution and shifting demographics; of constrained resources and growing demand for access; of new competition; of renewed cries for accountability and greater engagement with society. In the next century, public service and outreach will be central obligations of higher education."

This fall, the commission is conducting regional meetings and, with the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, the American Council on Education and NASULGC, is co-sponsoring a "Forum on Change" Oct. 8-9 in Washington, D.C. The meeting will bring together leaders from foundations, higher education associations, government education agencies and several university presidents to share successful initiatives on on access, developing engaged institutions, the student experience and a learning society.

In actions so far, the commission is considering a broad definition of university access to include involvement with the preparation of high school and community college students for university work to graduation and life-long learning. It is looking at ways universities can demonstrate their receptiveness to change and to form partnerships, and is examining the internal and external dynamics of the learning society to include the public more effectively.

While considerable change has already occurred in the campus culture to encourage change and public service, the commission is also looking at the role that research and information technology have on faculty and the role that faculty play in the success of their students.

Spanier will take over the chairmanship from Ohio State President E. Gordon Gee, who will remain on the commission when he becomes president of Brown University in January.

"The Kellogg Commission has an extremely ambitious agenda facing it, and Graham Spanier is precisely the right person to take up the mantle from E. Gordon Gee." says NASULGC President C. Peter Magrath. "He has the energy and skills to continue the momentum the commission has achieved over the past year. We are elated that he is willing to fit this important leadership role into his busy schedule as the president of one of our nation's leading land-grant universities."

In other national positions, Spanier was appointed to the NCAA's board of directors and executive committee by the presidents of Big Ten universities last year. He is a member of the steering committee of America Reads and serves on the board of directors of national 4-H.

Spanier serves as chair of the Commission on Information Technologies and is a member of the board of directors of NASULGC. A long supporter of the use of electronic technology in higher education, he is the convenor of the President's Advisory Board on Information Technology Penn State is a leading institution in the development of Internet 2.

The Kellogg Commission also recently announced several changes in membership and subcommittee assignments. Francis Lawrence, Rutgers University, will become chair of the subcommittee on the Learning Society. Other subcommittee chairs are Access, Sam Smith, Washington State University; Engaged Institutions, Martin Jischke, Iowa State University; and Campus Culture, David Ward, University of Wisconsin-Madison.

New members joining the commission this fall are Daniel L. Bernstine, president of Portland State University; Peter S. Hoff, president of the University of Maine; W. Ann Reynolds, from the University of Alabama at Birmingham; and Mark Yudof, president of the University of Minnesota.

For more information on the activities and publications of the Kellogg Commission, go to http://www.nasulgc.nche.edu on the Web. The next general meetings of the Kellogg Commission are scheduled for Oct. 6-7 and Dec. 2-3 in Washington, D.C.

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Contacts:
Christy Rambeau at Penn State: (814) 865-7517 or cmr7@psu.edu
Roselyn L. Hiebert at NASULGC at (202) 778-0813 or hiebertr@nasulgc.nche.edu