The Midwest's CIC: Experiment in Regional Cooperation

Abstract

T HE Defense Department's intimation last summer that Midwestern states were losing research contracts because of a dearth of scientific talent brought tremendous regional repercussions. Trips to Washington by Chicago delegations and indignant outbursts by Midwestern governors were only the first in a series of responses to the Pentagon. Hastilyplanned conferences were staged by business leaders, and headlines told of proposals for closer liaison between Chicago and Washington. Only a few days before Secretary Robert McNamara was quoted as downgrading the Midwest's technical skills, a little-noticed regional arrangement consummated in Bloomington, Indiana, seemed to anticipate both the Pentagon's announcement and the furor which followed. At Indiana University representatives of the large universities known collectively as the Ten-located in seven Midwestern states-agreed to contribute funds to an interinstitutional agency established to foster regional cooperation in higher education. Although not a member of the Big Ten group (formally known in athletic circles as the Western Conference), the University of Chicago also voted to provide funds to aid in implementing cooperation. The agreement to support the agency marked the beginning of a new approach to regional administration in American higher education. Interstate cooperation in higher education has become fairly common in recent years, but the Big Ten venture includes some new dimensions. Heretofore, most regional programs have been carried on through interstate compacts ratified by state legisla> The voluntary regional cooperation by the traditionally autonomous centers of learning, described in this article, is one of those rare phenomena-an innovation in the administration of higher education. According to the author, this movement beyond institutional horizons establishes a fresh precedent for American public administration.