ACRL: PARTNERS IN HIGHER EDUCATION: Provosts, libraries, and electronic information: Reports from AAHE and CNI

“Taking Learning Seriously,” the American Association of Higher Education’s (AAHE) 53rd National Conference, held March 2124 in Atlanta, Georgia, brought together college and university personnel to discuss the ways student learning is at the center of institutional missions and programs. In an effort to help identify ways in which academic libraries can and are helping their respective campuses with student learning and information issues, ACRE and AAHE jointly sponsored a lively discussion, “Fo­ rums on Information Issues facing Higher Education,” held Monday, March 23. Twenty provosts from all over the United States provided rare glimpses into their con­ cerns and their campuses. Community, state and private colleges, as well as, state and Research I universities, were all represented at the forum. Additionally, six librarians were present, including W. Lee Hisle, ACRL presi­ dent. Earlier this spring, in preparation for the forum, topics were identified, researched, and incorporated into a document created to guide the discussion. Topics included: fa­ cilitating student retention, enhancing the quality of the teaching and learning envi­ ronment on campus, preparing students for lifelong learning and career changes in the information age, ensuring access to the full range of print and digital scholarly resources in the future, addressing intellectual prop­ erty issues on campus, and assuring quality in distance education. The document was distributed to each participant prior to the session with the final report from the Task Force on Institutional Priorities and Faculty Rewards, “Academic Librarianship and the Redefining Scholarship Project.” It was ob­ vious as the session opened that most of the provosts had read the materials and were prepared for the lively discussion that followed. After some brief introductions, Hisle welcomed the provosts and shared the es­ sence of coming together for the Provosts’ Forum. Cooperation and collaboration were the cornerstone of his welcome. Hisle hoped the forum would serve as an impetus to build new working relationships, to create a healthy and vigorous dialogue between aca­ demic administrations and academic librar­