NATIONAL CONFERENCE HELD IN NKY PROBES CHALLENGES METRO COLLEGES FACE

Contact: Kimberly Luse
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NATIONAL CONFERENCE HELD IN NKY PROBES CHALLENGES METRO COLLEGES FACE

Covington, KY/October 8, 2008-Bound by tough economic times, cooperation among American universities has never been more important. That will be underscored at a national academic conference at the Northern Kentucky Convention Center, October 18-21.

The Coalition of Urban and Metropolitan Universities (CUMU) will hold its 14th Annual Meeting over the four days. While the venue is in Northern Kentucky, the conference is actually being co-hosted by two schools, NKU and the University of Cincinnati. Appropriately enough the theme of this year’s event is Building Bridges to Regional Stewardship.

Approximately 200 university presidents, vice presidents and provosts (the upper echelon of academia) are expected to attend. They will visit the Underground Railroad Freedom Center and will receive a chance to take part in what is being billed a “Transformational Tour of the internationally acclaimed campus renaissance” at UC’s Clifton campus.

Conference organizer Kimberly Luse says having a chance to host such a group says a lot about how far our region has come. “We beat out seven other high-profile locations. The past four conferences were held in Manhattan (across the street from Ground Zero); South Beach, Fla; Los Angeles; and Baltimore’s Inner Harbor. It’s the first time two schools have jointly hosted the conference. It raises the tide for all boats in getting universities to think and act in a regional way. The success and cooperation Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky enjoy in planning for the future helped capture the attention of CUMU leaders and resulted in us being selected as hosts.”

NKU President James Votruba recruited the conference here two years ago as he was wrapping up his two-year term as CUMU’s sitting president.

Highlights of the conference include:

• Sunday, October 19, Noon, Restoring Prosperity to Older Industrial Cities: The Roles of State Government and Metropolitan Universities, Dr. Steven Crawford, deputy director, Metropolitan Policy Program, Brookings Institution. Drawing on his work with the Restoring Prosperity to Ohio initiative, Dr. Crawford will explain the initiative’s 10 major recommendations for policy change and discuss the implications for metropolitan colleges and universities
• Sunday, October 19, 1:45-2:45 p.m., Regional Planning and the Role of Universities, panel discussion moderated by Dr. Votruba and UC President Nancy Zimpher. Panelists Myrtis Powell, co-chair, Agenda 360 and AJ Schaeffer, co-chair Vision 2015. Hear case studies of two action plan initiatives separated by the Ohio River yet working together;
• Monday, October 20, Noon, Anchor Institutions in a Shifting Economy, Paul Grogan, founder, CEOs for Cities and CEO & president, Boston Foundation. Grogan discusses the contributions of universities in helping to maintain and strengthen the economic competitiveness of their communities;
• Tuesday, October 21, 8-9:15 a.m., The Presidential Election and Higher Education, panel discussion moderated by Mike Philipps, President and CEO Scripps Howard Foundation with panelists Scott Jaschik, editor, Inside Higher Educatio, and Karen Winkler, senior editor, The Chronicle Review. The panel probes what the upcoming presidential election may mean for colleges and universities.

CUMU includes more than 80 member institutions that work together toward national excellence while contributing to the economic development, social health and cultural vitality of the urban and metropolitan centers they serve. Members include both private and public institutions, including in this region NKU, UC and the University of Louisville.

The mission of the Northern Kentucky Convention and Visitors Bureau is that of an aggressive sales, marketing, service and informational organization whose primary responsibility is to positively impact the Northern Kentucky economy through conventions, meetings and visitor expenditures. The direct economic impact of visitors’ spending in Campbell, Kenton and Boone Counties in 2007 was $325 million.