Colleen Fitzgerald, NDSU vice president of research and creative activity, is currently serving as a member of the executive committee of the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU) Council on Research (COR).
 
APLU is a research, policy, and advocacy organization dedicated to strengthening and advancing the work of public universities in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. It has members from more than 250 public research universities, land-grant institutions, state university systems, and affiliated organizations. In addition, nine Canadian and five Mexican public research universities are members of APLU.
 
COR is one of APLU’s nine core boards and convenes vice presidents and chancellors of research from major public universities across the nation to coordinate methods of growing and improving the shared research mission of their institutions. It supports the development of initiatives to strengthen research and teaching and promotes research collaboration among universities and industry. COR also engages with federal lawmakers and agency officials to advance policies on a national level and it serves as a forum to share knowledge and findings on key issues impacting APLU members and their campuses.
 
The COR executive committee oversees activities of the Council and its chair sits on the APLU Board of Directors. As a member, Fitzgerald sees a great opportunity to strengthen NDSU’s research enterprise through collaborations with her APLU colleagues. “As part of the overall campus transformation NDSU is undertaking, it is a critical time for us to draw upon the best practices of our peer and aspirational peers, especially R1 land-grant universities," she said.
 
“NDSU’s rich history of researching and developing innovative solutions for society’s problems and reaching the pinnacle of success as the region’s lone R1 institution was an accomplishment,” said NDSU President David Cook. “But to reach the next level and truly unlock our potential we need to study the strategies other R1 institutions have implemented.”
 
COR executive committee members serve for three years.