Today, the Council of the Great Lakes Region (CGLR), the University of Illinois System and the University of Toronto signed a Memorandum of Understanding officially creating and launching the binational Great Lakes Higher Education Consortium, which will provide a unique platform for higher education institutions to connect across borders to discuss a range of regionally significant socioeconomic and environmental issues. The creation of the consortium is a key recommendation from the council’s recent report, Great Lakes, Great Minds: Setting the Stage for Higher Education, Business, and Government Collaboration in the Great Lakes to Drive Talent Development, Innovation & Entrepreneurship, which was funded by the United States Mission in Canada.

The Great Lakes, Great Minds report was co-authored with John Austin, director of the Michigan Economic Center and senior non-resident fellow with the Chicago Council on Global Affairs and the Brookings Institution. It highlights the strength of the region’s world-class teaching and research institutions, one of the largest higher education networks in the world, and the role they can and must play in positioning the region to compete and win globally and ensuring its long-term competitiveness, development, and sustainability. 

The formation of a Great Lakes Higher Education Consortium, which will be administered by the council and co-chaired by the U of I System and the University of Toronto, will also provide the impetus for building more regular, impactful, cross-border collaborations amongst Great Lakes higher education institutions, first and foremost, and then between these institutions, companies and government, in order to develop partnerships and programs that seek to find solutions to the challenges identified by the consortium.

In this regard, in addition to the launch of the Great Lakes Higher Education Consortium, the council has received funding from the United States Mission in Canada to test the value of establishing a dedicated Great Lakes Higher Education Partnership Fund and Grant to facilitate the creation of binational partnerships and programs in the region. Thanks to the funding, which is earmarked for supporting a series of pilot partnerships, the council will soon be announcing a call for proposals to solicit partnership ideas and applications from Great Lakes institutions.

Quotes

“Great Lakes higher education institutions have played a vital role in building the region’s companies, industries, workforce and cities, turning the Great Lakes into the lynchpin of the United States-Canada relationship and North American commerce. By launching the binational Great Lakes Higher Education Consortium, the stage is set for positioning the region as a global leader in producing the talent of the future, solving global challenges through innovation, and supporting a new generation of entrepreneurs that will transform the region and drive commerce,” said Mark Fisher, president and CEO, Council of the Great Lakes Region.

“Learning, discovery and innovation are fundamentally collaborative endeavours. To address the big challenges and opportunities facing the Great Lakes region, our two countries and our world, we need to work across disciplines, sectors and borders. That’s why partnerships such as the one we’re launching today are so important – and so hopeful,” said Professor Meric Gertler, president, University of Toronto.

“The Great Lakes region is home to some of the world’s most admired and accomplished universities. Bringing them together to explore the region’s distinctive challenges and opportunities will create a pipeline of world-class talent and innovation that will pave the way to progress, sustainability and economic growth for generations to come,” said Tim Killeen, president of the University of Illinois System.

“The launch of this MOU is a vital step towards developing relationships that are necessary to solve global challenges. By anchoring our cross-border initiative through academic partnerships in the Great Lakes region, we are also directly supporting the economic well-being of both of our countries,” said United States Consul General Susan Crystal.