Press Release

Contact: Kevin Hovland
202-387-3760 ext. 431
Hovland@aacu.org

Association of American Colleges and Universities and Association of University Leaders for a Sustainable Future Announce New Partnership

Advancing Student Commitment to and Knowledge about Sustainable Development Goal of Partnership

Washington, DC—November 30, 2004—To coincide with the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development, the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) and the Association of University Leaders for a Sustainable Future (ULSF) recently announced the launch of an historic partnership. Together, these two organizations will act as a catalyst and incubator for new ideas, campus-based innovations, research, and collaborations to advance student and campus commitments to sustainable development.

"Bringing together the resources, experience, and perspectives of these two organizations will help move this urgent work forward in exciting ways," said ULSF Senior Fellow Debra Rowe, who is facilitating the partnership.

AAC&U is entering into the partnership as part of an ongoing, multi-project initiative, Shared Futures: Global Learning and Social Responsibility. The partnership further advances AAC&U's strategic goal of helping campuses provide all college students with an "education for a world lived in common." "Taking global learning seriously means engaging students with the most pressing intellectual, ethical, and civic questions of our time, notes AAC&U Senior Vice President Caryn McTighe Musil. "In exploring education for sustainable development we hope to demonstrate the relevance of liberal education to the real-world challenges we all face in the twenty-first century."

The activities of the partnership will begin at AAC&U's upcoming annual meeting, "Liberal Education and the New Academy: Raising Expectations, Keeping Promises," scheduled for January 26-29, 2005, in San Francisco, California. Participants at the meeting will have the opportunity to learn about how issues of sustainability can inform and enrich the college curriculum and strengthen liberal education outcomes such as critical thinking, integration, and global awareness. Participants will also have the opportunity to help shape the future activities of the partnership.

For more information about the partnership, contact either Kevin Hovland at AAC&U (Hovland@aacu.org) or Debra Rowe at ULSF (dgrowe@oaklandcc.edu).

The Association of University Leaders for a Sustainable Future (ULSF) is a leading international nonprofit organization devoted to strengthening higher education's capacity to make sustainability and environmental literacy a major focus of teaching, research, service, and operations. ULSF also functions as the secretariat for signatories of the international Talloires Declaration (1990), a ten-point action plan for incorporating sustainability into university and college life, which has been signed by over 300 presidents and chancellors worldwide.

ULSF activities include research, publications, and resource development; campus sustainability assessment; partnership building; and membership support.

Please visit www.ulsf.org. ULSF is a major program of the Center for Respect of Life and Environment, which is an affiliate of the Humane Society of the United States.

AAC&U is the leading national association concerned with the quality, vitality, and public standing of undergraduate liberal education. Its members are committed to extending the advantages of a liberal education to all students, regardless of academic specialization or intended career. Since its founding in 1915, AAC&U's membership has grown to more than 1100 accredited public and private colleges and universities of every type and size.

AAC&U functions as a catalyst and facilitator, forging links among presidents, administrators, and faculty members who are engaged in institutional and curricular planning. Its mission is to reinforce the collective commitment to liberal education at both the national and local levels and to help individual institutions keep the quality of student learning at the core of their work as they evolve to meet new economic and social challenges.

Information about AAC&U membership, programs, and publications can be found at www.aacu.org.