Mention the University of Iowa's membership in the Big Ten Athletic Conference, and most people think sports. 

But there's far more to it than that.  

The UI also benefits from an academic collaboration with other Big Ten universities and the University of Chicago through its membership in the Committee on Institutional Cooperation (CIC). Founded in 1958, CIC universities, including the UI, save millions of dollars on joint purchases and contracts, access resources on the other member campuses, and work together to solve problems faster.  

"CIC is composed of many of America’s best research universities. Our membership in CIC provides opportunities to partner on faculty, student and staff projects that significantly expand what we can do alone," says P. Barry Butler, the UI's executive vice president and provost. "Whether it’s the recently-announced Health Disparities Initiative or partnering across the consortium to deliver less commonly taught languages to our students, the UI benefits by being part of such an outstanding group of schools committed to excellence in research and education." 

CIC member universities together have a powerful voice in the academic conversation both nationally and globally. With annual research expenditures topping more than $10.2 billion—more than the Ivy League and the University of California System combined—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.  

The newly released CIC Annual Report details the collective power and progress of this enterprise:  

• The emerging Health Disparities Collaborative between the state departments of health and the member schools 
• The work of the Big Ten/CIC-Ivy League Traumatic Brain Injury project 
• Data on the economic impact of the scientific workforce and the research being done across the campuses. 

The CIC’s latest project, the Health Disparities Collaborative, is working in concert with state governments in the 11-state region to address the social determinants of health in a whole new way and to examine how health disparities also align with poverty rates as well as inequities in income, high school graduation rates, and home ownership.  

“The University of Iowa and the College of Public Health are committed to the vision and values of the CIC’s Health Disparities Project,” says Sue Curry, dean of the UI College of Public Health and the UI representative to the CIC initiative. “The University of Iowa brings tremendous strengths to this initiative, including faculty and students who are national leaders in developing collaborative approaches to improve population health, and a long history of productive relationships with state and local health agencies throughout Iowa and surrounding states in the Midwest region.”  

The proposed CIC Health Disparities Project seeks to create an infrastructure to develop and foster collaborations at the system level with the goal of:  

• Developing data around disparities. 
• Identifying appropriate interventions. 
• Implementing relevant interventions to eliminate or reduce disparities and advance health equity. 

“As new approaches are explored to promote health equity, there’s growing interest in the idea of ‘Health in All Policies,'" Curry says. "This is a collaborative approach that embeds health considerations into decision-making across sectors not traditionally associated with health policy—such as education, housing, food systems, criminal justice, transportation, and economic development. Breaking down these silos and working across agencies and organizations can produce important benefits that show up as better health outcomes. ”