The presidents of Colorado Mountain College in Glenwood Springs and Fort Lewis College in Durango will join the American Council on Education’s board of directors.

ACE is a membership organization for over 1,400 colleges, universities and related entities that advocates for higher education policy. Carrie Besnette Hauser has been president of Fort Lewis College since 2013. Tom Stritikus has led Fort Lewis College Since 2018. Their terms will begin in March 2020.

The two presidents are the only representatives of Colorado organizations on the board, which also includes the president of Harvard University and the chancellor of the City University of New York.

“ACE has long provided gold standard national leadership when it comes to shaping policy and fostering innovation in higher education,” Stritikus said.

“As the pipeline of high school graduates is expected to decline, and the population of historically underrepresented and nontraditional students increases proportionally,” Hauser said, “colleges and universities must consider entirely new operational paradigms and prioritize inclusivity and success strategies for all students to compete in such a highly competitive workforce and knowledge-based economy.”

Earlier this week, ACE released a report suggesting that blanket college-affordability policies tend to reinforce the status quo, and that loans, grants, and tuition fees targeted to under-served students are more effective for college enrollment and completion.