WASHINGTON, DC. - More than 130 college and university administrators, sponsored programs officers, and faculty will gather in Washington, D.C. February 25-27, 2010, for the annual meeting of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities’ (AASCU) Grants Resource Center.

Sonal Shah, director of the White House Office of Innovation and Civic Participation, will deliver a keynote address on the role regional comprehensive universities play in the Obama administration’s community development and social change priorities.

Martha Kanter, undersecretary of the U.S. Department of Education, will open a networking event on the evening of Friday, February 26, at the National Museum of Women in the Arts. Her comments will focus on the importance of undergraduate research in advancing the nation’s education, innovation, community development and competitiveness goals.

Senior officials from most federal grant-making agencies and national higher education organizations will network and share ideas related to the theme of undergraduate research. This event is co-convened by the AASCU Grants Resource Center and the Council on Undergraduate Research.

The three-day meeting seeks to reinforce the ways successful research and sponsored programs administration at regional comprehensive universities help to solve critical national and international needs. The meeting agenda also includes 25 sessions led by congressional representatives; the leaders of replicable higher education research and sponsored programs initiatives; and federal officers from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, National Endowment for the Arts, National Endowment for the Humanities, National Science Foundation, and the U.S. Departments of Defense, Education, Energy, Interior, State, and Health and Human Services, including the National Institutes of Health, the Health Resources and Services Administration, and the Administration for Children and Families.

Space is extremely limited. All sessions except the February 26 networking event will be broadcast live online, and members of the press may receive one complimentary connection per organization. All members of the press must register to participate by February 23, 2010. No admittance to the February 26 event without prior registration.

Meeting agenda: http://www.aascu.org/grcinfo/workshop10/program.pdf 

Meeting location: Sofitel Lafayette Square, 806 15th Street, NW, Washington, DC 20005.

Networking event location: National Museum of Women in the Arts, 1250 New York Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20005.

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The Grants Resource Center, a not-for-profit service of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities, is committed to strengthening the competitive edge of college and university faculty members and administrators pursuing sponsored programs funding from public and private sources. With a pre-award focus, the Grants Resource Center offers a range of informational services to personnel on member campuses to support the realization of institutional goals and program development priorities.

AASCU is the leadership association of 430 public colleges and universities Delivering America’s Promise through their common commitments to access, affordability and educational opportunity. Enrolling more than 3 million students, these institutions fulfill the expectations of a public university by working for the public good through education, stewardship and engagement, thereby improving the lives of people in their community, their region and their state.