A Summary of my AAC&U Summer Internship

Chris Glass

I found the whole process of working with AAC&U to be intellectually stimulating and helpful
in my professional development. This essay will outline the different “phases” of this project. I
will describe how the HALE Center’s support helped me accomplish my goals, the educational
and professional benefits the experience provided, and how my relationship with AAC&U
continues to develop. Throughout the essay I will highlight the important elements in each phase
of the process so the reader gets a sense of how the internship developed over time.

I first met Nancy O’Neill in Portland, OR as part of the 2008 Core Commitments Summer
Institute. It was there that I expressed interest in voluntary participation in the Core
Commitments initiative. At this point, our conversations focused on understanding a brief sketch
of each others’ backgrounds and identifying shared values. Nancy carefully listened to my
research interests and motivation for participating with AAC&U and invited me to follow-up
with her in the fall. In the early fall, I began to explore funding for an AAC&U internship with
the HALE Center at Michigan State University.

By October 2008, both the HALE Center and Nancy wanted to know more about the other to
move forward, so Nancy initiated an extended phone call where we discussed my research
interests, Core Commitments possibilities, and funding realities. It became clear from that
conversation that we shared a set of values as well the willingness to collaborate on crafting a
practical project that would benefit Core Commitments and my own professional development.
To move forward in securing funds, it was important for the HALE Center to know the length,
nature of the internship, and that it had a real probability of moving forward. By mid-December
2008, the basic outline from my initial conversation with Nancy provided enough information for
the HALE Center to generously agree to support the project.

I connected with Nancy again in January once I had secured funding from the HALE Center. At
that point, our conversations began focusing on crafting the basics of a specific project for the
summer. We had another extended conversation in April where we discussed specific dates I
would be in residence and the existing priorities at AAC&U. I developed a 3-4 page project
proposal outlining the overall purpose, detailed project description, list of deliverables, and
estimated timeline for completion. I submitted the proposal to her by early June. While the
specific project outlined in the proposal continued to develop after I arrived in Washington D.C.,
the initial proposal helped me to make the most of my time in Washington D.C. It served as co-
created referent point to focus our conversations as we collaboratively designed the final project
in meetings at AAC&U.

Before my arrival, Nancy O’Neill offered several opportunities that signaled a collegial and
collaborative partnership was developing. First, she offered to include me in regular Core
Commitments meetings. While my primary learning came from the research project, attending
meetings allowed me to learn about the process and nature of working at a national association
like AAC&U. Second, she scheduled an opportunity to interview AAC&U’s president, Carol
Geary Schneider. Finally, she connected me with others in the D.C. area, including scholars and
leaders in other higher education associations.
Over the first few weeks of my internship, we collaborated on developing the details of the final
research project. During this period, I also contributed to mini-projects including contributing
material for an Engaging Departments presentation, writing the literature review for a Templeton
Grant, as well as participating in a Research Collaborative meeting with AAC&U Senior
Scholars. The variety of experiences proved quite integral to my scholarly development. On a
practical level, they allowed me to actively contribute to AAC&U as the specific research project
was finalized. Professionally, these projects stimulated my collaboration with a diverse group of
people as well as provided indirect learning opportunities about research communities, the grant
writing process, and how associations see their role in building institutional capacity. These
opportunities provided rich experiences that I reflected on extensively in a personal journal I kept
throughout the experience.

It was critical to be in Washington D.C. long enough to finalize the project and get the project
started. Although I had only conducted one of the seven interviews for the final project by the
time I left Washington D.C., I was confident that we had a developed a shared purpose, a clear
process, and expected time horizon for the project. In our early conversations, I shared with
Nancy that I wanted to establish an “authentic partnership” in co-creating a project that would
benefit AAC&U and my professional development. I believe we did just that. In some ways, we
were able to do much more than that. I am thankful to the HALE Center for funding this integral
experience in my scholarly development.