Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

Working Together: Committee on Institutional Cooperation (CIC)

  • 03/26/15

Headquartered in the Champaign, IL, the Committee on Institutional Cooperation (CIC, www.cic.net) is a consortium of the Big Ten member universities plus the University of Chicago. For more than 50 years, these world-class research institutions have advanced their academic missions, generated unique opportunities for students and faculty and served the common good by sharing expertise, leveraging campus resources and collaborating on innovative programs. Governed and funded by the provosts of the member universities, CIC mandates are coordinated by a staff from its Midwest headquarters.

CIC universities conduct more funded research each year than the Ivy League and the University of California system combined. With annual research expenditures topping more than $10.2 billion, and spanning 11 states from the High Plains to the Eastern Seaboard, the 15 universities of the CIC have an enormous influence in research and education far beyond their geographical footprint.

One successful collaboration among the CIC membership reducing costs in the area of technology and connectivity is OmniPoP. OmniPoP is a fiber-optic network collaboration between participating CIC institutions, connecting them to each other and to research “hubs” worldwide with high-speed connectivity. This collaborative project unites the members’ regional optical networks on collaboratively owned fiber cable circling downtown Chicago. It provides multiple access points for researchers as well as the sort of redundancy that eliminates network downtime due to unforeseen fiber-optic cable damage.

OmniPoP provides services to faculty and researchers that allow them to share bandwidth-intensive applications (such as high-definition video) and massive research datasets between regional, national or global collaborators. In addition, OmniPoP has established direct ultra-high bandwidth connections to higher education and research peers, which reduce users’ cost and network latency.

CIC’s latest Annual Report offers a snapshot of how the member universities collaboratively leverage their strengths to increase access to higher education, improve the health of our communities and region, and create an enormous economic impact across the nation.

For more information on CIC or the OmniPoP collaboration, or to download the Annual Report, log on to www.cic.net.

Featured

  • Full Sail University Announces First Student Housing Facility

    Full Sail University in Winter Park, Fla., recently announced that development has begun on its first student housing community, according to a news release. The university is partnering with Nvision Development for construction and long-term management of the facility, which will stand five stories and have the capacity for more than 570 beds.

  • Embry-Riddle Completes Construction on Research, Lab Facility

    Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (ERAU) in Daytona Beach, Fla., recently announced the end of construction on a new research and lab facility on campus. The Center for Aerospace Engineering II (CAT II) will support aerospace research and technology development and broke ground last summer.

  • RIT Saunders College of Business – Lowenthal Hall Addition

    RIT Saunders College of Business – Lowenthal Hall Addition

    Established in 1999, the Education Design Showcase is a vehicle for showing off innovative — yet practical — solutions in planning, design, architecture, and construction. RIT Saunders College of Business's Lowenthal Hall Addition has been recognized with an EDS 2026 Project of Distinction award in the category of New Construction.

  • Zurn Elkay Releases 2025 Sustainability Report

    Zurn Elkay Water Solutions recently announced the release of its annual sustainability report, according to a news release. The 2025 report discusses the organization’s efforts to maintain good environmental stewardship and the solutions provided in helping customers meet sustainability goals.