Liberal Education and America's Promise

Wisconsin Advocacy and Campus Action Initiative

Wisconsin was designated the first official partner state in the LEAP campaign in March 2005. In collaboration with AAC&U, leaders in Wisconsin have piloted a series of campus action and advocacy efforts that champion the value of a liberal education for all college students. Through the advocacy and campus-action activities described below, LEAP Forward Wisconsin is advancing a strategic dialogue on the future of higher education and the importance of liberal education in the state. 

AAC&U has partnered with the University of Wisconsin System through its initiative, The Currency of the Liberal Arts and Sciences: Rethinking Liberal Education in Wisconsin.

Latest News from LEAP Forward Wisconsin

• The Faculty Senate at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh recently passed a new set of student learning outcomes based on the Essential Learning Outcomes of LEAP. The specific UW-Oshkosh outcomes were developed by the University's Liberal Education Reform Team and Resource Group, comprised of faculty, staff, and students. Upon approval, UW-Oshkosh Chancellor Richard H. Wells noted that "we need to deliver a strong, intentional liberal education if our students are to succeed in this ever-changing global century." Learn more about LEAP and how to get involved.

• Wisconsin Lieutenant Governor and LEAP National Leadership Council member Barbara Lawton recently gave the commencement address at University of Wisconsin-Baraboo/Sauk County , telling students that "creativity is one of the last legal ways to gain an unfair advantage over your opponents." 

Recent and Upcoming Events

• Wisconsin Lieutenant Governor Barbara Lawton and UW-System President Kevin Reilly hosted a leadership meeting at the Wingspread Conference Center in Racine, WI on "Liberal Education and Wisconsin"s Promise" April 29-30, 2008. Bringing together state leaders in public and private higher education, K-12 education, business, media, philanthropy, and government, the meeting developed an agenda for advancing the LEAP learning outcomes as part of a larger Wisconsin Growth agenda. The meeting ended with the official signing of a LEAP Year Proclamation that noted, in part that "the State of Wisconsin will dedicate itself with extra diligence to align its PK-12 and higher education systems and to make liberal education available to all its citizens for teh benefit of individuals, communities, nation and the world."

• On April 25, 2008, AAC&U hosted a regional meeting in Madison, WI on the "Role of the Departments in Advancing and Assessing Liberal Education Outcomes." Representatives from Edgewood College, St. Olaf College, the UW System Administration, UW-Madison, UW-Milwaukee, UW-Oshkosh, UW-Parkside, and UW-Whitewater all gathered to talk about current practices in student learning and assessment and strategies for strengthening assessment practices in departments and undergraduate majors. This meeting--along with three others held in other areas of the country--was supported with a grant from The Teagle Foundation.

Resources and LEAP Forward Wisconsin Websites

• Public opinion research—focus groups with high school and college students regarding their own goals for college learning. See Memo on Wisconsin Focus Groups as well as earlier Findings from Focus Groups with Current College Students and Rising High School Seniors (Indiana, Oregon, Virginia). WI campuses involved in the initiative will also be conducting and analyzing the findings from student focus groups that assess their own students’ college learning goals and their awareness of important liberal education outcomes.

• University of WIsconsin-Madison LEAP Web Site provides information on how LEAP and the Essential Learning Outcomes are being used to guide curricular reform, advising policies, and other activities on the UW-Madison campus.

Press Releases and Coverage

• Three undergraduate students from the University of Wisconsin System were honored in the third annual UW System Liberal Arts Scholarship Competition, established to support and promote liberal education throughout the state’s public university system. For the essay competition, students were invited to imagine themselves as a graduating senior giving advice to a younger sibling on how best to navigate college to reap the benefits of a liberal education. Each winner received a $2,000 scholarship to help support their undergraduate education.
• The Wisconsin system used leap year and leap day to promote LEAP on their campuses. Donna Silver, assistant director in the office of professional and instructional development in the Wisconsin system, wrote "LEAP program vital to education in the state" in The Capital Times (February 28, 2008). Scott Furlong, dean of liberal arts and sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, wrote "LEAP promotes liberal arts education" in the Green Bay Press Gazette (February 29, 2008). John Koker, dean of the College of Letters and Sciences at Oshkosh, wrote "Promoting a 'liberal' education, as in 'liberating' the mind…." in The Northwestern (March 4, 2008). And George Savage, chair of the department of languages and literatures at UW-Whitewater, wrote “Time to value well-rounded universities” in the Wisconsin State Journal (February 28, 2008), stating that a liberal education is “is practical, politically essential and philosophically relevant.”
• AAC&U Annual Meeting podcasts including speech by Wisconsin Lt. Governor Barbara Lawton
• The Lt. Governor of Wisconsin, Barbara Lawton, gave a speech about LEAP to the UW Board of Regents.
• Wisconsin public radio program, The West Side, on Liberal Education and UW-Eau Claire Campus-Community Dialogue (March 6, 2006)
• UW-Oshkosh LEAP activities featured in UW-Oshkosh Magazine.
• Press release announcing University of Wisconsin System and AAC&U partnership

If you would like to be involved in LEAP Forward Wisconsin,, please contact Rebecca Karoff at 608-263-2728 or rkaroff@uwsa.edu or Debra Humphreys at Humphreys@aacu.org.