Founding member: Western University

Internationally recognized for providing the best student experience among Canada’s leading research-intensive universities, Western University’s commitment to excellence in teaching, research, innovation, and transforming society through knowledge mobilization and translation across a wide range of disciplines has grown for more than 130 years. As befits a large research university of its stature and global aspirations, Western University is striving to increase the reach and impact of its involvement in international activities.

We view this global mind-set as a strategic imperative that will have profound influence on our ability to attract students, faculty and staff of the highest calibre, who will in turn expand our capacity to engage in international and interdisciplinary research initiatives aimed at solving complex global problems. As an institutional citizen of the global academic community, Western’s membership in the ACU is a manifestation of our belief that universities have an essential role to play in making the world a better place. 

Membership of the ACU symbolizes Western’s commitment to being an active and significant participant in the global academic community. We count increased profile among ACU member institutions, and pathways to partnership with other ACU member institutions among the key benefits of Western’s membership.

As a publicly supported institution, Western continues to evolve and redefine its priorities in order to meet the social and educational requirements within our regional context, while at the same time aspiring to play a larger role on the international stage. Membership in the ACU has provided our university another avenue for cultivating ties with the global academic community. It is one of several means through which we demonstrate the importance of fostering a global perspective among our students, staff, faculty and researchers.

To succeed, the best universities understand they must compete for the best talent (students, faculty and staff) in a global marketplace, where talent is increasingly mobile and fiscal resources are increasingly scarce—especially considering the current state of the world economy. The challenge for higher education institutions (particularly those that rely on public funding as a significant portion of their operating budget) is securing the resources and infrastructure necessary to attract, support and retain the best talent in areas of institutional strength—areas of teaching and research that have the greatest capacity or potential to make an impact on a global scale.