Date: November 1, 2011
Contact: Eric Matanyi
Governors State University
Phone: (708) 534-4044
Email: ematanyi@govst.edu
For Immediate Release
Governors State President Elected to AASCU Board
University Park, Illinois, November 1, 2011 – Governors State University President Elaine P. Maimon has been elected to a three-year term on the Board of Directors of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU). Dr. Maimon, GSU’s President since 2007, will serve on the AASCU Board from 2012 to 2015. She will join other college and university leaders from across the United States on the board.
AASCU, celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2011, is a Washington-based higher education association of nearly 420 public colleges, universities, and higher education systems. Its members share a culture of learning and teaching, a historic commitment to underserved student populations, and creativity that advances their regions’ economic progress and cultural development.
Dr. Maimon said Governors State University shares many of the goals that AASCU pursues on a national basis. “I am honored to be elected by my presidential peers to this national board,” she said. “AASCU in its representation of regional public universities promotes the work that we do at Governors State University. Our concept of the university as a public square is a further development of the AASCU concept of ‘stewards of place.’ My leadership role in AASCU will help promote GSU as a model 21st century university.”
At Governors State, Dr. Maimon is continuing her lifelong commitment to making higher education accessible to all and advancing the role of the university as a public square, a center for advancing the interests of the larger community.
Under Dr. Maimon’s leadership, GSU has created new and innovative opportunities for its students, many of whom are underserved and the first in their families to pursue a baccalaureate degree. She has spearheaded a number of groundbreaking programs at the university, including The GSU Promise, a scholarship that allows qualified students to receive a debt-free bachelor’s degree, and the Dual Degree Program, a partnership with area community colleges that gives students a clear course to degree completion. During a recent visit to GSU, Dr. Martha Kanter, Under Secretary of U.S. Department of Education, called the Dual Degree Program a national model for degree completion.
