Ralph Rossum Appointed By U.S. Secretary of Education To FIPSE Board

Ralph Rossum, the Salvatori Professor of Political Philosophy and American Constitutionalism at Claremont McKenna College, and director of CMC's Rose Institute for State and Local Government, has been appointed by U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige to a three-year term on the board of the Fund for Improvement of Post-Secondary Education (FIPSE).
Rossum becomes one of 15 members of the FIPSE board, selected by the Secretary of Education on the basis of their accomplishments as educators, students and public interest representatives. The eight public interest and student members, and the seven educational representatives, help develop strategies for educational and institutional change, as well as advise on and approve fund allocations to innovative post-secondary educational reform programs.
"FIPSE operates in much the same way as the National Endowment for the Arts and Humanities or the National Science Foundation," Rossum explained. "The organization plays a key role in funding and nurturing regional, national and international programs whose purpose it is to improve post-secondary education. We look at post-secondary education in a systemic fashion, developing partnerships among academic institutions, business enterprises, and other organizations with a stake in the quality of education available to workers and future employees."
Established 28 years ago as part of the Higher Education Act of 1965, FIPSE sponsors a grant program that supports innovative educational reform programs; and funds cooperative education programs between the United States and Europe, the U.S., Canada and Mexico, and the U.S. and Brazil. It also administers Learning Anytime Anywhere Partnerships (LAAP), which link colleges and universities, employers, technology companies and other organizations to provide distance education opportunities on both the national and regional level.
"I am honored to be a contributor to FIPSE's efforts," Rossum said. "It's a hands-on, results-oriented organization, and one that I think makes a significant contribution to educational reform and improvement, both in America and around the world."