AAC&U Annual Meeting Preliminary Program Now Online;

Conference Hotel Booked, Make Reservations at Overflow Hotel Soon

The Preliminary Program for AAC&U's 2004 Annual Meeting is now available online. The meeting, "Practicing Liberal Education: Deepening Knowledge, Pursuing Justice, Taking Action," will be held in Washington, DC, January 21-24, 2004. Featured speakers include: Nicholas Lemann of Columbia University and former Washington correspondent for The New Yorker; Freeman A. Hrabowski, III, University of Maryland, Baltimore County; Stanley Fish, University of Illinois at Chicago; David L. Kirp, author of Shakespeare, Einstein, and the Bottom Line: The Marketing of Higher Education; and Azar Nafisi, author of Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books. Please note: The conference hotel is full, and the overflow hotel is The Marriott at Metro Center (202-737-2200). For complete information and online registration, visit AAC&U Annual Meeting 2004.

Register online now for the spring Network for Academic Renewal conferences, "General Education and Assessment: Generating Commitment, Value, and Evidence," and "Pedagogies of Engagement: New Designs for Learning In and Across the Disciplines." The "General Education and Assessment" meeting will take place March 4-6, 2004 in Long Beach, California. "Pedagogies of Engagement" (POE) will be held in Chicago from April 15-17, 2004. For information visit General Education and Assessment and POE.

Peer Review Focuses on Writing

"Writing in the New Academy" is the focus of the Fall 2003 issue of Peer Review, featuring the latest trends and research on writing in college. Articles also address writing preparation in high school. Visit the Peer Review section for more information and watch your mail for the new issue due out soon.

National Alliance on the Uses of Writing in the Transition to College

AAC&U is a founding member of the National Alliance on the Uses of Writing in the Transition to College. The Alliance was formed to address appropriate writing evaluation, particularly as it relates to the college admissions process, and to provide a prompt response to the national need for writing guidelines and leadership. The Alliance will produce guidelines for how student writing may appropriately be used in collegiate admissions and placement procedures. The National Council of Teachers of English convenes the alliance. For more information visit AAC&U partnerships. For more on writing in college, visit the new issue of Peer Review.

Fall Liberal Education Focuses on Faculty

The newest issue of Liberal Education addresses “Realigning Faculty Roles” in the New Academy. The lead article “The Morphing of the American Academic Profession,” is by Martin Finkelstein, professor of education at Seton Hall University. To see the full table of contents and sample articles, visit Liberal Education.

Ten Colleges and Universities Selected to Work on Advancing Integrative Learning

The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching (Carnegie Foundation) and the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) recently announced the ten colleges and universities selected to participate in a new national project, Integrative Learning: Opportunities to Connect. During this three-year project, the two organizations will work with participating campuses to develop and assess advanced models and strategies to help students pursue learning in more intentional, connected ways. For more information and a list of the ten schools involved, visit AAC&U's news room. For more information on the project, visit integrative learning.

AAC&U Launches Strategies for Achieving Greater Expectations (SAGE) Group

In response to many campuses seeking assistance with planning and implementing reform efforts, such as of those expounded in Greater Expectations: A New Vision for Learning as a Nation Goes to College, AAC&U has launched a new consulting service. The SAGE Group includes senior academic administrators and other leaders with significant experience in facilitating educational change in diverse institutional settings. For updates on Greater Expectations, visit the Greater Expectations Newsletter, (PDF).

Inclusive Excellence Project Begins Forum Series

AAC&U recently hosted the first of a series of external invitational forums for AAC&U’s "Inclusive Excellence: Diversity, Inclusion, and Institutional Renewal" project. This forum was held in conjunction with ACE’s Educating All of One Nation Conference in Atlanta from October 22-25. The forum involved individuals representing ten campuses and The Fund for Theological Education. Participants were asked to reflect on and respond to a series of questions that program officers hope will help provide direction and insight into campus efforts to bring together practices that advance both academic achievement and inclusion. For more information visit Inclusive Excellence.

New Book Examines Contingent Faculty and Student Learning

Exploring the Role of Contingent Instructional Staff in Undergraduate Learning: New Directions for Higher Education #123 by Ernst Benjamin has just been released. The book builds on an analysis by Benjamin, senior consultant and special projects director, American Association of University Professors that was published in last year’s issue of Peer Review.Visit Benjamin’s Peer Review article. For information about the new book, visit the Amazon.com Web site or John Wiley and Sons, Inc..

AAC&U Welcomes First High School as an Affiliate Member

The Immaculate Heart of Mary High School (IHM) in Westchester, Illinois, a college preparatory school for girls, has joined AAC&U as its first affiliate high school member. The 500-student school has 95 percent of its graduates enter college. IHM champions academic success for all students, and 43 percent of the student body are minorities. Dr. Karen M. Ristau, Principal says she joined AAC&U because she knows how important it is for high school faculty to “be on the mark” preparing students for college. For information to pass on to other undergraduate or secondary institutions seeking membership, visit AAC&U Membership.

AAC&U Seeks Photos from All Member Schools for Web Site

AAC&U would like to have all of its over 1000 member schools represented on our Web site (aacu.org). If your institution has not already sent photos to AAC&U, now is your chance to do so. Images must be at least 200 dpi. Please send to AAC&U Web editor Noreen O’Connor at o'connor@aacu.org.

The Living Arts: Comparative and Historical Reflections on Liberal Education
by Sheldon Rothblatt

Practicing Liberal Education:
Deepening Knowledge, Pursuing Justice, Taking Action, the AAC&U annual meeting, will be held January 21-24, 2004, at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Washington, DC

General Education and Assessment: Generating Commitment, Value, and Evidence will take place March 4-6, 2004, in Long Beach, California

Pedagogies of Engagement: New Designs for Learning In and Across the Disciplines will take place April 15-17, 2004, in Chicago, Illinois

AAC&U Institute on General Education will take place May 21-26, 2004, in Newport, Rhode Island

For more information on meetings, visit www.aacu.org/meetings/index.cfm.

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