Our historically Black college and university (HBCU) community has an abundance of riches when it comes to the profound thinking, robust research and collective wisdom of our students, alumni, educators and academics. Our HBCU institutions have many differences - they vary in size, academic focus, and assets offered to their students. No single institution has a monopoly on how best to approach learning, but what they all share is a collective genius and an unrelenting drive to provide an ever-more excellent education to their students.
A vision for HBCUv, our groundbreaking initiative at the UNCF (United Negro College Fund) Institute for Capacity Building (ICB), is to foster more cross-pollination among these riches, to allow them to be more easily shared across UNCF partner institutions for the benefit of all, no matter which HBCU they call home. 
Dr. Shawna Acker-Ball
The idea of learning collaboratives in higher education is not new. There are some well-regarded models across the country, and we are surely learning from what they have built. But that’s just the beginning for HBCUv.
What makes HBCUv so unique is the breadth of what we are building. It’s not just a platform to share the valuable treasures of individual educators, but a true learning and research and development center where innovations in curriculum, approaches and a range of educational assets are tested, honed and fast-tracked for adoption at our partner institutions across the country. Our innovations will signal a shift from online classrooms to online learning experiences, not just for our own institutions, but for higher education as a whole.
And here’s another vital part of the HBCUv vision: offering a shared community for virtual education that will make this kind of mind-sharing a typical experience for all HBCU students.
Just imagine the possibilities. Our best educators, regardless of school affiliation or location, will now shape the minds of not just dozens of students a semester, but hundreds, if not thousands. Students across all UNCF partner institutions will be able to use different learning modalities to engage with world-renowned professors and researchers. Each institution will be able to share the best of what they have to offer - their greatest minds, their most challenging and innovative ideas.
