OUR MISSION

The Office of Consortial Academic Collaboration works to develop and maintain effective, efficient, sustainable, and enduring cross-campus academic collaborations among The Claremont Colleges.

GUIDING PRINCIPLES

In order to advance the core academic missions of the colleges, two principles guide our work: (1) Do together that which either cannot be achieved alone or would be more stunning if done together; and (2) Do together that which does not differentiate among our institutions.

OVERARCHING GOALS

This work serves three primary goals:

1. To support the development of cross-campus programs and initiatives that benefit faculty, students, and other College stakeholders.
2. To cultivate cross-campus curricular coherence.
3. To foster cross-campus research collaborations.

UPCOMING EVENTS:

7C COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH CONVENING ON

RACE AND RACIAL JUSTICE

Date and Time: April 1, 2022, 2pm – 5pm

Location: Founders Room at Honnold Mudd Library

To RSVP or get on our mailing list, click here.

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DATA SCIENCE PANEL FEATURING CLAREMONT FACULTY AND ALUMNI

Date and Time: April 12, 2022, 3pm/Zoom

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CURRENT PROJECTS

Responding to the interests of faculties, staffs, and administrations of the 7 Colleges, the Academic Deans Committee identify a rotating number of priority themes to focus this office’s attention. The office begin in 2017 with the emphases founding initiatives, “Data Science” and “Justice Education.” The newest initiative, launched January, 2021, is “Faculty Mentoring and Collaborative Research.”

• • Faculty Mentoring and Collaborative Research: Working group and vision/measurable goals are still being created; check back soon for more information.

Announcement of New OCAC Director:

The Academic Deans Committee (ADC) and the Office for Consortial Academic Collaboration (OCAC) are pleased to announce the next director of OCAC will be Dr. Andrew Vosko, beginning July 1, 2022. Dr. Vosko has been working at CGU for the last five years and is currently Associate Provost,, Director and Kozmetsky Chair of the Transdisciplinary Studies Program, and Clinical Associate University Professor.

Prior to joining the Claremont Colleges, Dr. Vosko was Assistant Professor and Director of Faculty Development at Rocky Vista University and before that, Assistant Professor at Southern California University of Health Sciences. He received a PhD in Neuroscience from the University of California, Los Angeles and a BS in Biopsychology and Cognitive Science from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.

During his tenure at CGU, he has provided leadership in CGU’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion initiatives, strategic planning, and academic programming, growing the university’s boundary-crossing curriculum and scholarly culture and teaching, advising, and mentoring students in matters of cross-disciplinary collaboration and complex systems approaches to equity. One major area of emphasis in his field of transdisciplinary study is the ability to collaborate across academic silos, wherein he has developed a large working, application-based expertise.

Dr. Vosko notes: “Through my role at CGU, I have had the chance to work with OCAC and across the seven schools for the past five years, and I know many of the projects, players, and resources in 7C collaboration. From getting involved with OCAC founding director Deb Mashek’s work during the early stages of the data science initiative, to being an active member in numerous 7C associate dean committees (Claremont Faculty Leadership Program, Professional Development Network, 7CDEI), to recently leading a small research team as part of my role on the new OCAC Faculty Mentoring and Collaborative Research Initiative working group, my relationship to The Claremont Colleges has increasingly become a greater part of my professional identity. Given the priorities of data science, justice education, DEI, collaborative research and faculty mentorship, I can ‘hit the ground running’ with nearly each of these projects because of my positioning and involvement with other 7C administrators and OCAC throughout my Claremont career.”

We believe that Dr. Vosko’s skills as a bridge-builder and creative problem-solver are a perfect fit for OCAC’s mission, and are excited to welcome him in doing the important work of OCAC with colleagues across the consortium.

Dr. Vosko will be the third OCAC director, a position that rotates between faculty leaders from the 7 Claremont Colleges. The founding director, Deb Mashek (Harvey Mudd) helped create and lead OCAC in its first year (2017-18) and the current director, Tessa Hicks Peterson (Pitzer) has worked to grow the organizational structure and initiatives since (2018-2022). OCAC’s charge is to develop and maintain effective, efficient, sustainable, and enduring cross-campus academic collaborations among The Claremont Colleges, serving three primary goals: to support the development of cross-campus programs and initiatives that benefit faculty, students, and other College stakeholders; to cultivate cross-campus curricular coherence; and to foster cross-campus research collaborations. Responding to the interests of faculties, staffs, and administrations of the 7 Colleges, the Academic Deans Committee identify a rotating number of priority themes to focus this office’s attention, which have thus far included “Data Science,” “Justice Education” and “Faculty Mentoring and Collaborative Research.” For more information, visit the OCAC website.