Eastern Kentucky University President Dr. Doug Whitlock is joining a select group of national university presidents and other educators at the offices of The New York Times this evening for the launching of a collaborative higher education project spearheaded by The City University of New York (CUNY) and The New York Times Knowledge Network, “Investing in Futures: Public Higher Education in America.”
The project has three components: a calendar, curriculum and website, according to an EKU news release.
The calendar — with images, facts and milestones — is targeted to 11th grade and first-year college students. The website will host the complete body of work for the project.
According to Craig Dunn, partnerships manager-education for The New York Times, the CUNY/New York Times in Education 2010 calendar, “Investing in Futures: Public Higher Education in America,” will showcase the contributions and success stories of foundations, agencies, public colleges and The Times in higher education.
“We are particularly enthused about this year’s calendar, which underscores our country’s historic commitment to advanced learning and the importance of a strong system of public colleges and universities to America’s social and economic well-being,” Dunn said. “Its launch reinforces President Obama’s recent announcement of the American Graduation Initiative and funding for community colleges. There are more than 100 community colleges and four-year colleges (including Eastern Kentucky University) and more than 200 contributors (also including EKU) involved in the initial phase of the project.”
A partnership between CUNY and The New York Times in Education — with sponsorship from JPMorgan Chase and TIAA-CREF — has enabled the creation of a series of calendars, beginning in 2005.
Each calendar, said Dunn, is “a rich educational resource, with archival photos and period documents chronicling an issue central to American life, such as voting rights, immigration, and women’s leadership.”
