In his continuing efforts to champion the liberal arts at great research universities, CWRU President Edward M. Hundert has joined a task force of university administrators who will help shape the future of humanities education at colleges across the country.

Hundert has been appointed to the Association for American Universities' (AAU) Task Force on the Role and Status of the Humanities. Through the sharing of best practices, the national task force aims to help colleges overcome challenges, including declines in federal and foundation funding, and embrace opportunities, like new technology, in liberal arts education.

The task force is looking into discipline strength, multi- and interdisciplinary initiatives in the humanities, campus-based humanities centers, recruitment and data needs. Among its projects are a survey on humanities activity and best practices at AAU institutions and two literature searches, one on the national infrastructure for the humanities and one on the impact of information technology on the humanities. A report from the survey is expected later this spring.

Hundert's participation on the task force is just one more example of how the new president is affirming the University's commitment to the arts, humanities and social sciences and reaching out in partnership to other institutions-both elements of CWRU's vision to become one of the most powerful learning environments in the world.

In addition to gaining insight from the task force, CWRU has plenty to contribute to other colleges. Among its humanities-related best practices, the University has developed unique partnerships with University Circle institutions, including shared curricula with the Cleveland Institute of Art and Cleveland Museum of Art and a joint faculty appointment with the Cleveland Museum of Art.

Hundert is joined on the task force by: John Casteen, president of the University of Virginia and chair of task force; Bob Berdahl, chancellor, University of California, Berkeley; Lee Bollinger, president, Columbia University; Bill Chace, president, Emory University; Robert Connor, director, National Humanities Center; Shirley Kenny, president, Stony Brook University-State University of New York; Steven Knapp, provost and senior vice president for academic affairs, Johns Hopkins University; Don Michael Randel, president, University of Chicago; Hunter Rawlings, president, Cornell University; John Sexton, president, New York University; Ruth Simmons, president, Brown University; Kate Stimpson, dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Science, New York University; Teresa Sullivan, Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, The University of Texas System; Jon Whitmore, provost, The University of Iowa; Pauline Yu, dean, College of Humanities, University of California, Los Angeles.