"Learning Communities: Promising Practices for Deepening Learning and Community Engagement," an AAC&U Network for Academic Renewal meeting, will be held April 4-6, 2002 in Atlanta, Georgia.

Applications for Asheville Institute on General Education and the Institute on Campus Leadership for Sustainable Innovation are due March 15th. There is still time to apply to send a team to either of two AAC&U summer institutes. For more information and an application form, visit /www.aacu.org/meetings/asheville.cfm (Asheville) or www.aacu.org/meetings/sustainableinnovations.cfm (Sustainable Innovations).

Proposals to present at the AAC&U biennial conference "Diversity & Learning: Education for a World Lived in Common" are due April 26. Topics planned for the meeting, scheduled to take place October 24-27, 2002, in St. Louis, Missouri, include research on assessing the impact of diversity on student learning and development, religious pluralism at home and abroad, and technologies to enhance diversity work.

Eleven colleges and universities have been chosen to participate in "Liberal Education and Global Citizenship: The Arts of Democracy," AAC&U's curriculum and faculty development project supported by The Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE). The schools chosen are:

• Albany State University
• John Carroll University
• Pacific Lutheran University
• Beloit College
• Rochester Institute of Technology
• Brooklyn College, CUNY
• University of Delaware
• Heritage College
• University of Alaska Fairbanks
• University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee
• The American Unviersity of Paris (affiliate)

These schools have committed to developing new courses within undergraduate majors that will teach students about issues of globalization, diversity, justice, equality, and democratic practices and principles.

This is the first funded project in AAC&U's ongoing initiative, "Shared Futures: Learning for a World Lived in Common" which aims to prepare future college graduates to become more informed, socially responsible, and engaged citizens of the nation and the world. For the press release and a list of advisory board members, visit /www.aacu.org/communications/fipseschools.cfm.

For more information about the project, visit www.aacu.org/globalcitizenship/index.cfm.

William Bennett has been named senior fellow for the AAC&U initiatives Science for New Civic Engagements and Responsibilities (SENCER) and Program on Health and Higher Education (PHHE). Dr. Bennett has extensive experience in the health fields of immunology, minority health, and health education and is a founding member of the editorial advisory board of the journal Minority Health Today. Dr. Bennett will advise on the SENCER and PHHE initiatives, and will assist AAC&U as it builds relationships with historically black colleges and universities.

Ann S. Ferren, professor of educational studies at Radford University, has been named senior fellow for AAC&U's Preparing Future Faculty Program. Dr. Ferren's research on curriculum, instruction, faculty development, and academic leadership has been published in numerous publications including Journal of General Education, College Teaching, To Improve the Academy, and Liberal Education. She has served as vice president for academic affairs at Radford University from 1996-2001, among other administrative positions.

For more information on Drs. Ferren and Bennet, please view the press release at www.aacu.org/communications/ferrenbennett.cfm.

Charles Bashara and Karen Kalla joined the staff of AAC&U's Office of Education and Institutional Renewal in January. Mr. Bashara returns to AAC&U as associate director for the Preparing Future Faculty Program (PFF) after working for the Society of Jesus (commonly know as the Jesuits). He is finishing his dissertation at Catholic University of America. Ms. Kalla, formerly the director of conferences and meetings at the American Association for Higher Education (AAHE), will serve as associate director for the Network for Academic Renewal and associate director for the Institute for Sustainable Innovation. She also worked at the Sierra Club National Headquarters, where she participated in establishing a program of educational workshops. For more information on the Network for Academic Renewal, visit www.aacu.org/meetings/nar.cfm#. For more information on PFF, visit www.aacu.org/pff/index.cfm.

Freeman A. Hrabowski III, president of the University of Maryland - Baltimore County campus and AAC&U board member, has been awarded the 2001 Harold W. McGraw Jr. prize in education. The award recognizes Mr. Hrabowski's work establishing the Meyerhoff Scholars Program, a pioneer program to provide more opportunities for African American scientists, engineers, and mathematicians. This program awards scholarships to 50 high school graduates each year who have shown promise in math or science. Nearly all Meyerhoff students continue study in graduate or medical school. Mr. Hrabowski shares this year's McGraw prize with Carl W. Cohn, the longest-serving head of an urban school district in the United States (Long Beach Unified School District) and Mary Catherine Swanson, founder of Advancing Via Individual Determination (AVID) in San Diego. The 13-year old McGraw prize was founded in honor of the chairman emeritus of the McGraw-Hill publishing companies. Former winners include Secretary of Education Rod Paige and former first lady Barbara Bush. For more information, view www.mcgraw-hill.com/community/mcgraw_prize/2003/index.html.

For more information on the Meyerhoff Scholars Program, please visit www.umbc.edu/meyerhoff/Undergrad/.

Kapi'olani Community College in Honolulu, Hawai'i, recently hosted The Greater Expectations Consortium on Quality Education. Twenty- two colleges and universities were represented at the meeting held in mid-February to share information on signature programs at their home campuses, and assist in planning the second annual summer institute, Campus Leadership for Sustainable Innovation. The consortium also formulated draft definitions of practices in undergraduate education associated with student engagement. This work will support conversations with U.S. News and World Report and make recommendations to the magazine on how to collect information on innovative curricular programs. For more information on the Consortium on Quality Education and other Greater Expectations project updates, visit www.aacu.org/gex/consortium.cfm.

Liberal Education and On Campus with Women

Watch your mail for the winter issues of Liberal Education on the topic of "Vital Signs: Voices from the Field": It includes articles describing how the academy has responded to events on and since September 11, and On Campus with Women, covering women's health and education. Visit www.aacu.org/ocww/index.cfm for information on OCWW and www.aacu.org/liberaleducation/contents.cfm for information on Liberal Education.

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

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

Spirituality and Learning: Redefining Meaning, Value, and Inclusion in Higher Education, April 18 - 20, 2002

To register, see http://www.aacu.org/meetings/nar.cfm