After joining the Big Ten last month, Rutgers University and the University of Maryland accepted invitations to join the Big Ten’s academic consortium. The universities will formally become members on July 1 of next year.

The Committee on Institutional Cooperation is a consortium of research institutions and is composed of the Big Ten Conference Universities and the University of Chicago. The addition of Maryland and Rutgers will increase the total number of CIC memberships to 15.

After their acceptance into the Big Ten Conference, both universities sent letters to the CIC expressing interest in joining the consortium. CIC provosts voted on whether to invite the universities to join.

Maryland’s Senior Vice President and Provost Mary Ann Rankin filed the formal request for CIC membership. 

“This is a terrific holiday gift for the entire campus — a major leap forward for our students, faculty, researchers and staff,” Rankin said in a news release. “There are tremendous opportunities to collaborate on research, share resources and save money. We feel right at home among our academic peers.”

According to a CIC news release, the addition of Rutgers and Maryland to the CIC could increase research funds from $8.4 billion to about $9.3 billion, contributing to research projects in areas such as biotechnology, transportation, cyber-security, and food safety research. Eight million library volumes and more than 5,600 full-time faculty members will also be added to the organization.

Richard Edwards, executive vice president for academic affairs at Rutgers, said he thinks Rutgers will fit in well with CIC.  

“Because we are heavily involved in research, being a member of the CIC gives us greater opportunities for our faculty and students to engage in collaborative research,” Edwards said.

Rutgers is comparable to the other CIC members in terms of its research funding and that they are a land-grant university, he said.

Chancellor Phyllis Wise said in a statement that she is pleased to have Maryland and Rutgers join the CIC and Big Ten Conference.

“Together they bring new perspectives, academically and geographically, which will help to advance the reputations of all our universities, in classrooms and laboratories and on our athletic fields,” Wise said. “The addition of both Rutgers and Maryland is an exciting new step for the Big Ten.”

The vote to include Rutgers and Maryland took place on Sunday in Indianapolis at a regularly scheduled CIC meeting, according to Barbara McFadden Allen, executive director of the CIC.

Allen said provosts voted unanimously in favor of accepting Rutgers and Maryland and that there was no hesitation in the voting. 

“We are quite excited, both (Rutgers and Maryland) have a strong research emphasis and projects in a wide variety of interests,” she said. “They are both land-grant colleges and universities, which are a contribution to the nation.”

Lauren Rohr contributed to this report.