2019 Steering Committee meeting and General Assembly

The Talloires Network hosted a Steering Committee meeting and General Assembly 2-3 December in New York City which included 37 leaders in higher education representing 17 countries: Australia, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Canada, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ireland, Kenya, Mexico, Pakistan, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Sudan, Uganda, United States, and Zimbabwe.

Photo by Maggie Marguerite Studio

The Talloires Network Steering Committee reviewed the Network’s accomplishments over the previous nine months and strategic priorities for the next six months. Additional business included approving a slate of candidates to stand for election to join the TN Steering Committee and voting to hold an international competition to rename the Talloires Network and redesign the network’s logo. A call for proposals for the design competition will be released in 2020.

The General Assembly began in the afternoon with representatives of the Talloires Network Leaders Conference 2020 local organizing committee presenting plans for TNLC 2020 to be hosted by Tufts University and Harvard University in Boston, 24-27 September 2020. Sara Ladrón de Guevara, Rector ofUniversidad Veracruzana, began the conversation with a recap of the highly successful 2017 Talloires Network Conference in Veracruz Mexico. Many others in attendance had participated in the 2017 conference in Veracruz and the 2014 conference in Cape Town. They offered their reflections on their experience of those gatherings. The TNLC 2020 organizing committee shared pictures of venues, a preliminary conference schedule and engaged assembly participants in a discussion of potential areas of focus.

The second day of the assembly focused on the idea of a global community engagement classification and how the Carnegie Classification has been adopted in various international contexts. Andrew Petter, President of Simon Frasier University opened the conversation with reflections on the value of a community engagement classification in Canada. Matthew Johnson of Brown University’s Swearer Center moderated a panel featuring Verity Firth, University of Technology Sydney, Nisar Ahmed Siddiqui, Sukkur IBA University, and Lorraine McIlrath, National University of Ireland Galway. Each had an opportunity to discuss the opportunities and challenges of their particular university contexts as well as the progress they have made in the practice and assessment of community engagement in their respective countries.

Talloires Network Steering Committee Chair Tony Monaco facilitated a roundtable discussion of global trends in higher education featuring Alonzo Plough of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Claudia Frittelli of the Carnegie Corporation of New York. The conversation identified several shared areas of concern, including: climate change and public health, migration and displacement, and reconciliation and indigenous communities. The assembly concluded with a dynamic and fruitful workshop to explore the possible use of the Carnegie Community Engagement Classification in Africa.

Talloires Network Steering Committee:
Anthony P. Monaco
Tufts University

Sara Ladrón de Guevara
Universidad Veracruzana

Haifa Jamal Al-Lail
Effat University

Lorraine McIlrath
National University of Ireland Galway

Andrew Petter
Simon Fraser University

Nisar Ahmed Siddiqui
Sukkur IBA University

Adam Weinberg
Denison University

Chau Au
University of Technology Sydney

Sara Ghouth
Effat University

Leaders in Higher Education from Africa:
Geoffrey Ajiki
2X Education

Annou Abdoul Wahab
International Institute for Water and Environmental Engineering

Gasim Badir
Ahfad University for Women

Loretta Feris
University of Cape Town

Hlekani Kabiti
Walter Sisulu University

Kimberly Tapiwa Kujinga
University of Zimbabwe

Nico Koopman
Stellenbosch University

Phumelele Kunene-Ngubane
Mangosuthu University of Technology

Pakiname Mamdough
The American University of Cairo

Mapendo Mindje
University of Rwanda

Phionah Namuwenge
LivingStone International University

Jane Nyutu
Mount Kenya University

Wubanyehu Mamo Agonafir
Addis Ababa University

George Openjuru
Gulu University

Tassew Woldehanna
Addis Ababa University

Distinguished Guests:
Nancy Cantor
Rutgers University-Newark

Verity Firth
University of Technology Sydney

Claudia Frittelli
Carnegie Corporation of New York

Alonzo Plough
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

Lisa Zuppe
Effat University

TNLC 2020 Local Organizing Committee:
Diana Chigas
Tufts University

Jen McAndrew
Tufts University

Rob Watson
Harvard University

Talloires Network Secretariat:
James Garrett
Talloires Network Secretariat

Lorlene Hoyt
Talloires Network Secretariat

Max Loebl
Talloires Network Secretariat

Consulting Partners:
Mathew Johnson
Brown University

Georgina Manok
Brown University