Dual Mission Summit & ACE Collaboration Update

November 2, 2023

Dear Colleagues:

Thank you for your continued efforts and collaboration in advancing the Dual Mission Colleges and Universities community. We are writing to provide an update on this important work.

First, we are excited to report that the American Council on Education (ACE) will support the Dual Mission community and coordinate the next national summit. As you know, ACE has been a longtime ally to the Dual Mission movement and its involvement is a natural next step. The ACE team will be reaching out soon with more about this transition. We are excited for the potential of continued and even enhanced momentum that comes by way of this new direction.

Second, we will postpone the 2023 in-person national summit, originally scheduled for this November at Albany State University to the Spring of 2024 (location and details TBD). In lieu of a fall meeting, the ACE team will conduct a series of listening and learning sessions through the fall and winter to understand and assess the current opportunities and challenges facing Dual Mission colleges and universities.

Finally, please join us in expressing appreciation to Alison Griffin, Senior Vice President of Whiteboard Advisors. Alison has been our dedicated project lead for several years. We’ve been able to accomplish so much more because of her excellent leadership and the in-kind support of her organization. Alison will shift to an advisory role as the management and administrative duties shift to ACE.

We also wish to thank the generous supporters and sponsors of our collective work. In particular, Lumina Foundation invested and believed in this cohort of colleges and universities early on, giving Dual Mission institutions a platform to be recognized, understood, valued, and replicated.

This note is also timely given the release of ACE’s first report on a series of changes announced to modernize the Carnegie Classification of Institutions in Higher Education framework. The Dual Mission voice has been present in the discussions leading to this report and a reminder that any future classification system needs to represent institutions that don’t fall neatly into traditional categories.

Please keep ACE team posted on matters relating to the Dual Mission agenda and how its support can benefit the learners you serve. Key contacts include: Derrick Anderson (DAnderson@acenet.edu), Gailda Davis (GDavis@acenet.edu) and Louis Soares (LSoares@acenet.edu).

With appreciation,