The particular advantages and opportunities of the urban-based consortium are examined by several consortia directors in a special issue of this newsletter. The first article, by Joseph G. K. Miller of the Pittsburgh Council on Higher Education, suggests ways in which trustees enhance the cooperative effort in an urban setting. In the second article, by Richard Arrington, Jr., of the Alabama Center for Higher Education, focus in on the advantages for service to minority urban residents through cooperative efforts of the urban academic institutions. M. Parker Lansdale, of the Higher Education Center for Urban Studies, explores opportunity for service to the urban communities through cooperative efforts that would probably not be available to individual institutions. In the fourth article Howard Johnston, formerly of the Associated Colleges of Central Kansas, discusses potentials for cooperative efforts between urban and rural consortia for program development. Lloyd J. Averill, of the Kansas City Regional Council for Higher Education, describes the advantages of location to academic cooperation among consortia members. Finally, Lansdale also describes the experience of the Bridgeport consortia with a HUD-funded experimental program, the Urban Observatory Program. (LBH)