In September 2013 the directors of the Cornell Population Center and the Center for Aging and Policy Studies, along with the Provosts of the two universities, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that commits the two Centers to collaborate on a range of research and outreach activities. The MOU establishes an Upstate Population Research Consortium that is intended to serve several purposes, such as:
- Organizing activities, such as the “Encore Conference,” that will allow for the dissemination of research and scholarly exchange involving the faculty and students associated with each member Center, as well as of other population research scholars that may later join the consortium;
- Facilitating collaborative research projects across institutions;
- Leveraging existing resources and exploiting economies of scale in activities, such as Methodology Workshops, of interest to the faculty and students associated with each institution;
- Raising the profile of each sponsoring Center, both locally and nationally; and
- Such additional collaborative and cooperative activities that may be identified in the future.
The first such activity to be undertaken under this new MOU is the October 18, 2013 “Encore Conference.”