(02-16-2014 01:24 AM)BruceMcF Wrote:  

(02-15-2014 03:27 PM)The Cutter of Bish Wrote:  Has Johns Hopkins even decided it will join the CIC?

It hasn't even made a permanent commitment to join Big Ten Lacrosse.

(02-15-2014 11:40 AM)lumberpack4 Wrote:  You do know that CIC is not what most folks think it is - is not a research consortium - it's a joint purchasing function and a shared library.

You do know that its not limited to a joint purchasing function and share library services, but rather those are simply the two biggest immediate budget impact aspects of the activities of the CIC? I do not know what you think a "research consortium" consists of, but the CIC certainly provides a framework for faculty from multiple Big Ten schools to collaborate on grant applications. And that is in addition to the shared library services, which you mention as if it were not a critical research support activity of the university.

It was originally established in 1958 in the wake of the football factory scandals of the 50's, to give a fig leaf of greater academic respectability to the Big Ten. Getting academics from across the Big Ten schools together to talk about how they could collaborate for mutual benefit on an ongoing basis since then, some of the benefits of the collaboration have more obvious dollar values attached and some less, but it would be absurd to claim that the CIC is nothing but an organization joint purchasing and shared library services.

Research collaboration is done person to person, not school to school. VT does not call up Purdue and say "hey let's build a car that can drive to the moon". Folks who went to school with each other, who gel at conferences, and who have similar research interests get together and do research. The CIC takes credit for all research in the B10 until you read the fine print.

The shared library function is overblown. You can get into Michigan's library from any other major university and other than Minnesota, Purdue, and Wisconsin none of the rest of the Big 10's is hitting on too awful much that you can get at UNC/Duke/UVa/VT/NCSU. The ACC could claim the same thing. Duke, UNC and NC State could easily claim the same thing, but we don't.

CIC is great marketing for the B10, it's no different than AXE deodorant with the claim that if you use it, women will want to **** your brains out - it's just an advertising claim.

It would really be nice if someone else would get their own "CIC" so we can stop defending it.

The CIC isn't the only institution of that nature out there, SB. But only the CIC is so loud in proclaiming how great they are.

(02-16-2014 06:15 PM)bitcruncher Wrote:  The CIC isn't the only institution of that nature out there, SB. But only the CIC is so loud in proclaiming how great they are.

Tell these people. They obviously have more on their mind besides football.

"The Big Ten is more than an athletic conference, said University System of Maryland Chancellor Brit Kirwan — it also boasts strong academics. Both Kirwan and university President Wallace Loh said opportunities provided in the CIC far exceed what is available through the ACC.

“They just work together academically in a way that no other conference, except possibly the Ivy League, does,” Kirwan said. “There’s nothing like the collaboration of the CIC among the ACC or any other conference. It is a huge benefit, and it’s one of the reasons I was supportive of this decision.”

To be invited to the Big Ten, a university must be a member of the Association of American Universities, a group of the 62 largest and most prominent public and private research universities in the country, Kirwan said. This prerequisite is a testament to the conference’s emphasis on academics, he added.

“That’s one indication of the commitment there to making the conference much more than athletics,” he said"

(02-16-2014 04:21 PM)SeaBlue Wrote:  It would really be nice if someone else would get their own "CIC" so we can stop defending it.

Many conference have something similar now: ACCIAC, SECAC, the B12 started something, heck, even the Colonial Conference has an academic alliance. The CIC is the most mature one sure. They all do some nice things, have some different focuses. None of them do what fan boys often suppose, like increasing or combining research funding. No consortium, with the programs and meager infrastructure that they actually provide, is going to turn a Nebraska into a Michigan, nor even budge it in that direction.

Guess who doesn't have one? The Ivy League. Wow, they must be really be dumb not to have one.

People just need to stop getting caught up in all the hyperbole that occurs in press releases. Press releases are marketing tools. And attempting to justify decisions motivated primarily by money with some higher purpose is a time honored tradition going back 1000s of years.