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abstract: This paper briefly describes the structure of the national higher education association community, discusses the role of coalitions in collective advocacy, and reviews collaborations between the Association of American Universities (AAU) and the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) carried out during the tenure of ARL Executive Director Duane Webster. The AAU/ARL collaborations benefitted both associations and their members and were part of a larger set of partnerships and collaborations developed by Duane that expanded the reach and impact of ARL in both national and institutional policy development and implementation.
The Association of American Universities (AAU) was formed in 1900 by 14 U.S. universities that offered the PhD. The Association of Research Libraries (ARL) was formed in 1932 by 42 research libraries. Two Canadian universities-McGill University and the University of Toronto-joined AAU in 1926; their libraries were among the founding members of ARL six years later. The initial goals of AAU were to improve the quality and uniformity of graduate programs in U.S. universities and, thereby, raise the opinion about these institutions and their graduate programs in Europe. The goal of ARL at its formation was "by cooperative effort, to develop and increase the resources and usefulness of research collections in American libraries."1 This focus on institutional policies characterized the early activity of both organizations, no doubt reflecting in part the limited connections between universities, libraries, and the federal government. For much of their early existence, the two associations carried out kindred activities but followed largely parallel, non-intersecting paths. Those non-intersecting paths were connected, to the considerable benefit of both associations, by ARL Executive Director Duane Webster.
An enormous expansion of the interrelationships between higher education and the federal government occurred following World War II. The research relationship between universities and the federal government forged during World War II led to the university/government research partnership framed in 1945 by Vannevar Bush's Science: The Endless Frontier and institutionalized with the formation of the National Science Foundation in 1950. In parallel, the passage of the GI Bill in 1944 provided a massive infusion of federal funds into higher education through the provision of student financial assistance for World War II veterans to pursue higher education and vocational training. The launching of Sputnik in 1957 sparked a...