The mission of the ACC Academic Consortium is to enhance the educational programs of the ACC member institutions, especially in ways that promote the scholarly impact of faculty and the academic success and achievement of students, including student-athletes. Its vision is to be recognized as the academically strongest Division 1 sports conference. Strategically, the Consortium will excel in addressing higher education issues by sharing practices, engaging experts, and taking official positions when needed; unify the ACC through leadership development and academic pursuits; promote and fund programs and activities that are enhanced by collaboration among universities to engage ACC universities and enrich the collective experience of ACC students, faculty, and leadership; leverage the confluence of academics and high-profile sports to lead in showcasing the value of research-intensive higher education; and enhance the reputation of collegiate sports as an agent of personal growth for students, compatible with academic excellence.
Atlantic Coast Conference Academic Consortium Programs
The ACC ALN, Atlantic Coast Conference Academic Leaders Network, is a leadership program hosted collectively by ACC universities and sponsored by ACC Provosts with the goals of building internal leadership capacity, diversifying the leadership pool, facilitating succession planning, and developing internal networks and collaborations. The program consists of three on-site sessions over the course of the calendar year, each hosted at a different participating university campus. These sessions are designed to build academic leadership awareness and effectiveness in the context of higher education and facilitate conversations over a range of topics that support leadership growth in key areas across multiple spheres of influence. Wake Forest faculty and leaders have participated in multiple leadership cohorts.
Associate Provost Anne Hardcastle serves as liaison for this program.
In 2015 Provosts from across the ACC submitted proposals for funding and Wake Forest’s proposal to revive the ACC debate championship was selected as the winner. The ACC Debate Championship dates back to the 1950s and is now funded by the ACC Academic Consortium, which is supported by a special fund within the conference budget and guided by the universities’ presidents, provosts, and chief undergraduate education officers.
Wake Forest has won the championship in 1954, 1957, 1959, 1960, 1962-1966, 2015-2017, 2021, and 2023.
Prof. Jarrod Atchison serves as the co-chair for the championship and is the liaison for this program.
The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Meeting of the Minds conference is held each spring (usually March or April) and is hosted by one of the ACC member schools. It is funded in part by revenue from athletic events. The conference celebrates undergraduate research and provides an opportunity for sharing ideas and collaboration.
The URECA Center coordinates Wake Forest’s participation. Prof. Wayne Pratt serves as liaison for this program.
Each year, usually in February, 5-10 student leaders (accompanied by a faculty/staff member) from each ACC institution gather at a host university to study and teach, to swap and share both leadership strategies and knowledge regarding a specific social issue.
Lauren Haynes from the Office of Leadership and Engagement serves as liaison for this program.
The ACC InVenture Prize is an innovation competition in which teams of undergraduates representing each ACC university pitch their inventions or businesses before a live audience and a panel of judges. Teams compete for $30,000 in prizes and a chance to be the next ACC InVenture Prize winner. Wake Forest students have participated in several competitions.
Prof. Gregory Pool serves as liaison for this competition.
ACC & Center for Research in Intercollegiate Athletics (CRIA) Grants
The Innovation Initiative Small Grant Program funds research projects examining issues related to college athletics administration. Specifically, the program calls for research proposals with a focus on one of the five key areas: student-athlete welfare (mental health, time, physical health), revenue generation (donor relations, ticket sales, increasing expenditures), athletics organizational behavior (work-life balance, salaries, culture), NCAA rules (transfer students, scholarship levels, sports wagering), and current issues (NIL, COVID, social justice).
Prof. Peter Brubaker, Faculty Athletics Representative, is the contact person for this program.