Resolution of the Board of Directors of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting
March 19, 1990
Support for Higher Education Initiatives
Unanimously
WHEREAS,
in 1981, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting signed an agreement with the Annenberg School of Communications (ASC) under which the ASC agreed to provide the Corporation with $10 million a year for 15 years in exchange for which the Corporation would establish the Annenberg/CPB Project. The goals of the Project are: (1) to create one or more significant collections of new, innovative, high quality college level materials; and (2) to demonstrate the use of communications systems for addressing unique higher education problems; and
WHEREAS,
the Board recognizes with gratitude that the generosity of Ambassador Walter H. Annenberg, through the agreement with the ASC, enables the Annenberg/CPB Project to serve millions of America's formal and informal learners each year through its financing of television-based courses and other related materials and demonstration activities; and
WHEREAS,
the Annenberg/CPB Project has been a source of great pride to CPB, enabling it to make television and audio courses available to an estimated 1.5 million college students each year, in 2,000 of the nation's 3,000 colleges and universities, either as independent courses for credit or as complementary materials in their on-campus courses; to provide hundreds of hours of television programming for broadcast by public television stations to approximately 7.5 million viewers each week of the academic year; and to finance demonstration activities to help higher education use the growing array of telecommunications and information technologies to enhance both the numbers of students served and the quality of education available to all; and
WHEREAS, the Board was dismayed to learn of the intention of the Annenberg Foundation, successor in interest to the ASC, not to continue with its commitment to provide funds to the Corporation for use by the Annenberg/CPB Project; and
WHEREAS,
the Board considers the development and maintenance of an activity at CPB that provides support for higher education through public telecommunications and enables Americans to acquire a college-level education, either as formally enrolled students or as informal learners, to be a substantial way for CPB to execute its authorities granted under the Public Broadcasting Act.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED THAT:
in light of the announcement by the Annenberg Foundation of its intention to discontinue support of the Annenberg/CPB Project, Management is authorized to take all actions it deems necessary, in any forum and by all appropriate means, to restore financial support for the Corporation's initiatives for support of higher education through public telecommunications. Management is directed to notify the Board on a timely basis of all actions taken pursuant to this authority.