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The Association of American
Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) today launched
a groundbreaking Presidents' Campaign for the
Advancement of Liberal Learning
(Presidents' CALL). With support from more than 375
college presidents from all parts of the higher education
community, AAC&U is beginning an unprecedented national
effort to increase public understanding of liberal education
and to foster a societal commitment to providing a quality
liberal education to every college student, regardless
of the student's field of study.
"This campaign builds on a national resurgence
and revitalization of liberal education practices and
programs on campuses across the country," said
AAC&U President Carol Geary Schneider. "It
also responds to the business community's call for college
graduates with the analytical and creative capacities
provided by a liberal education." Presidents who
have signed on have pledged to make liberal education
an equal opportunity commitment to all students and
to a democratic society. Several national organizations
are also supporting the campaign, including American
Association of Higher Education, American Association
of University Professors, Carnegie Foundation for the
Advancement of Teaching, Campus Compact, Educational
Testing Service, Great Lakes Colleges Association, Center
of Inquiry in the Liberal Arts (Wabash College), and
American Conference of Academic Deans.
Over the course of the next year, AAC&U will work
with college and university presidents and other educational
leaders to educate the public about the goals of a 21st-century
liberal education and to extend the benefits of this
kind of education to all college students. In August,
AAC&U will release a national report on the aims
and purposes of a 21st-century liberal education as
part of its national initiative, Greater Expectations:
The Commitment to Quality as a Nation Goes to College,
funded with grants from the Pew Charitable Trusts, Carnegie
Corporation of New York, and the Fund for the Improvement
of Postsecondary Education.
The campaign will feature a series of Campus-Community
Dialogues during the 2002-2003 academic year. These
events will engage those within and outside of higher
education in discussion about the aims and purposes
of a 21st century liberal education and the practices
and policies that will lead today's graduates to the
benefits a liberal education can provide. More than
100 campus leaders have already expressed interest in
hosting Campus-Community Dialogues. The following campuses
have already committed to working together to host an
initial set of dialogues in October 2002: Duke University
and North Carolina State University (Raleigh/Durham);
Indiana University-Purdue University and Butler University
(Indianapolis); Oberlin College and Case Western Reserve
University (Ohio); Prince George's Community College
and the University of Maryland Baltimore County (Washington,
DC/Baltimore); San Francisco State University, Mills
College, and Santa Clara University (San Francisco);
Trinity College (Connecticut/Massachusetts); Southern
Oregon University, the Oregon Institute of Technology,
and Rogue Community College (Oregon); Bloomfield College
(New Jersey); and the Utah State System of Higher Education,
Regents Task Force on General Education (Utah). AAC&U
will be working with campuses across the country in
the coming months to schedule additional Campus-Community
Dialogues for the 2002-2003 academic year.
Why Liberal Education? Why Now?
Americans stand at a crossroad. For the first time,
the great majority of Americans not only seek higher
education for themselves and their children, but actually
enroll in some form of postsecondary education. The
College Board reports that 75 percent of high school
graduates now enter postsecondary education within two
years of graduation. Another survey finds that 90 percent
of high school seniors want to attend college. Yet,
even as students of all ages flock to college, they
have had almost no orientation to the kinds of learning
that will serve them best in the years beyond college.
The academic leaders supporting AAC&U's campaign--presidents
of colleges of all types--two-year and four-year, small
and large, public and private--agree that the educational
approach "that best serves individuals, our globally
engaged democracy, and an innovating economy is liberal
education. Liberal education comes in many shapes
and forms in the contemporary academy, but in every
one of those forms, its aims include:
- developing intellectual and ethical judgment;
- expanding cultural, societal and scientific horizons;
- cultivating democratic and global knowledge and engagement;
and
- preparation for work in a dynamic and rapidly evolving
economy."
"As we succeed at expanding students' access to
higher education, we do these students and our society
a disservice if we emphasize only the ways in which
that education can prepare graduates for a first job.
"Our complex society continually calls for citizens'
judgment on issues ranging from school reform to immigration
policy to environmental sustainability. These issues
touch the workplace as well as our communities. A liberal
education prepares college graduates to deal with such
demanding issues," said Nancy Dye, president, Oberlin
College, and former chair, AAC&U board of directors.
This initiative was developed by AAC&U's board of
directors and began with a discussion among college
presidents at AAC&U's recent annual meeting. It
will continue over the coming year with a variety of
activities to educate the public about the value of
a 21st-century liberal education and to foster conversations
on campus and beyond about strengthening educational
programs to address the aims of a quality liberal education
in a knowledge-intensive society.
For a copy of the text of the CALL, visit www.aacu.org/cCALL/CALLtext.cfm.
The text of the call as well as a list of educational
leaders who have signed the CALL will appear in a two-page
announcement in the April 12 issue of the Chronicle
of Higher Education. AAC&U will involve additional
campus participants as the Campaign advances. An list
of signatories is also available at www.aacu.org.
For information about AAC&U, Campaign activities,
or how to get involved, visit www.aacu.org
or call Debra Humphreys at 202/387-3760.
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AAC&U is the leading national
association devoted to advancing and strengthening liberal
learning for all students, regardless of academic specialization
or intended career. Since its founding in 1915, AAC&U's
membership has grown to more than 1000 accredited public
and private colleges and universities of every type
and size.
AAC&U functions as a catalyst
and facilitator, forging links among presidents, administrators,
and faculty members who are engaged in institutional
and curricular planning. Its mission is to reinforce
the collective commitment to liberal education at both
the national and local levels and to help individual
institutions keep the quality of student learning at
the core of their work as they evolve to meet new economic
and social challenges.
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