Through its recently approved "Presidents' Campaign for the Advancement of Liberal Learning," the AAC&U Board of Directors is urging all college presidents to pledge to educate the public about the value of liberal education. More than 150 institutions including Bucknell University, Miami-Dade Community College, Syracuse University, Mt. Holyoke, University of Richmond, and Washington & Lee University, have already signed the "Presidents' CALL" which will be officially launched at the Presidents' Forum at AAC&U's upcoming annual meeting. How to make the CALL both visible and influential will be discussed at this forum, scheduled for Thursday, January 24, 2002 in Washington, D.C.

The CALL is a campaign to unite college and university presidents throughout the country to educate those within and outside of higher education about the value of a liberal education for all college students in the twenty-first century, whatever their chosen field or vocation. This campaign is designed to further AAC&U's efforts to make excellence in liberal education an equal opportunity commitment for every student and a democratic society.

General Education and the Assessment of Student Learning: A Working Conference on Issues, Models, and Faculty Leadership, AAC&U's next Network for Academic Renewal meeting, is designed to advance practical approaches to achieving learning-centered general education in a range of institutional contexts. Sessions at the February 21-23, 2002, meeting in Dallas, Texas are organized around three tracks: Implementing a Successful Curriculum Review; Designing an Assessment Program for General Education; and Sustaining Momentum and Vitality in General Education. Speakers will include: L. Lee Knefelkamp, Professor of Adult and Higher Education, Teachers College of Columbia University; George Kuh, Chancellor's Professor of Higher Education, Indiana University and Director of the National Survey of Student Engagement; Carol Geary Schneider, President, AAC&U; Peter Stearns, Provost, George Mason University; and Philip Uri Treisman, Director, Charles A. Dana Center, University of Texas at Austin.

Barbara Hill, formerly editor of Liberal Education and more recently president of Sweet Briar College, joined AAC&U's Greater Expectations initiative staff as a Senior Fellow. Working with the Office of Education and Quality Initiatives, Barbara continues a long history of involvement with AAC&U. For most of the 1980s, she was editor of AAC&U's flagship journal Liberal Education, and later was treasurer of AAC&U's Board of Directors. Dr. Hill served as provost at Denison University and, from 1990 to 1996, was president of Sweet Briar College. Prior to joining the Greater Expectations staff, she worked as an independent consultant to numerous associations and institutions including the American Council on Education.

Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) recently hosted the Greater Expectations Consortium on Quality Education where participants shared assessments of student learning strategies. Participants in the November 9-10 meeting also had the opportunity to continue discussions with representatives from U.S. News and World Report. Participants discussed how the publication collects and presents data for its annual special issue that ranks colleges and universities.

Consortium members also provided feedback to AAC&U staff on the current draft of the Greater Expectations National Panel, the Institute for Sustainable Innovation, and the Forum on 21st Century Liberal Arts Education Practice. Greater Expectations will be releasing additional updates on its work early in 2002.

Anne Arundel Community College * Appalachian State University * Berkeley College of New York City and New Jersey * Bryn Athyn College of the New Church * Burlington County College * California Institute of Integral Studies * California State University Monterey Bay * Capital University * Coe College * Colby College * College of Lake County * CUNY Bronx Community College * Delgado Community College * Delta State University * Dickinson State University * Dominican University of California * Drury University * Fairmont State College * Georgetown College * Georgia Perimeter College * Grand Canyon University * Gwynedd-Mercy College * La Sierra University * Lexington Community College * Massachusetts Bay Community College * Messiah College * Mississippi State University * Moraine Valley Community College * New Hampshire Community Technical College, Nashua/Claremont * Northern Essex Community College * Pennsylvania State University * Prescott College * Prestonsburg Community College * Richland College * Saint Mary's University San Antonio * Saint Xavier University * Savannah College of Art and Design * Shorter College * Simmons College * Somerset Community College * Spring Arbor University * SUNY College at Brockport * Teachers College of Columbia University * Three Rivers Community College * University of Hawai'i-Kapi'olani Community College * University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign * University of Maryland University College * University of Missouri Kansas City * University of Montana * University of North Carolina General Administration * University of Northern Colorado * University of Southern Maine * University of Wisconsin River Falls * Virginia Commonwealth University * Wells College * Westchester Community College * Western Carolina University * Wheeling Jesuit College * Wilson College

(The list reflects new memberships as of 12/4/01)

For more infomation on membership in AAC&U, visit http://www.aacu.org/membership/ .

Application forms for The 12th Annual Asheville Institute, a collaborative venture between the University of North Carolina at Asheville and AAC&U, will be available through AAC&U's web site December 15th. This year's institute, designed to provide institutional teams a time and a place for sustained collaborative work on a general education project of importance to their home campuses, is scheduled to take place June 1-5, 2002 on the UNC-Asheville campus. A call for applications will also be mailed later this month.

The deadline for applications is March 15, 2002. Applicants will be notified of their acceptance by March 31, 2002. Additional information is available at http://www.aacu.org/meetings/asheville.cfm.

Results of AAC&U's recent membership survey, including analysis of the data, are now available by contacting Esther Merves, membership director, at merves@aacu.org. Of 595 randomly selected campus representatives, 61.5 percent responded to the survey, conducted last spring to assess membership preferences regarding communication from the Association, to obtain opinions regarding AAC&U's quarterly publications, and to gauge member perceptions of the usefulness of current and future AAC&U initiatives.

Individuals from over 300 institutions will participate in "Changing Students in a Changing World: Culturally Diverse, Economically Divided, Globally Interdependent," AAC&U's 88th annual meeting. Featured speakers include Benjamin Barber and James A. Joseph. The meeting is scheduled for January 23 through 26, 2002, in Washington, D. C. Regular registration rates are available through December 21. Late fees will be assessed after that date. For more information, visit http://www.aacu.org/meetings/annual.cfm.

Watch the mail for new issues of On Campus with Women, Peer Review, and Liberal Education. For more information and selected articles from recent issues, see http://www.aacu.org/publications.

College-Level Learning in High School: Policies, Practices, and Practical Implications
examines college-level learning in high school and related issues such as high school curriculum and standards, college access and equity, faculty jobs and curricular authority, and relations between two-year and four-year colleges.
Edited by D. Bruce Johnstone and Beth Del Genio

Gender, Science, and the Undergraduate Curriculum: Building Two-Way Streets
emerges from the work of ten institutions involved in AAC&U's curriculum and faculty development project, Women and Scientific Literacy: Building Two-Way Streets. Edited by Caryn McTighe Musil.

For ordering information, see
www.aacu.org/publications/

Annual Meeting: Changing Students in a Changing World, Jan. 23-26, 2002

General Education and the Assessment of Student Learning, February 21-23, 2002

Learning Communities: Promising Practices for Deepening Learning and Community Engagement, April 4 - 6, 2002