The name change from the Committee on Institutional Cooperation is designed to eliminate confusion with other CICs, including the Council of Independent Colleges, and to better convey the organization’s aims as the 58-year-old academic counterpart to the Big Ten Conference. The change is effective today.
“It will help make sense of the organization for people outside higher education,” said Barbara Allen, executive director of the Big Ten Academic Alliance. “It will make it possible to speak more forcefully about the value of research universities to the nation."
Since 1958, universities in the alliance have collaborated to save money, build powerful academic and research connections and increase opportunities for students and faculty.
In tough budget times, alliance members have worked together to buy resources and materials together, saving more than $20 million last year through coordinated purchases.
The Big Ten Academic Alliance also owns and operates a high-speed internet connection that is 5,000 times faster than what is in the average home. It allows member schools to share massive research data; connect with the Large Hadron Collider in Cern, Switzerland, in seconds; and collaborate in record time – while saving the universities nearly $4.8 million a year.
Members of the Big Ten Academic Alliance are Rutgers University, University of Illinois, Indiana University, University of Iowa, University of Maryland, University of Michigan, Michigan State University, University of Minnesota, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Northwestern University, Ohio State University, Pennsylvania State University, Purdue University and University of Wisconsin-Madison.