2005 Annual Meeting to Explore "Liberal Education and the New Academy"

AAC&U's 2005 Annual Meeting, "Liberal Education and the New Academy: Raising Expectations, Keeping Promises," will be held January 26-29, 2005, in San Francisco. The conference program offers more than 100 presentations and includes speakers from approximately 300 AAC&U member institutions. We invite you to join us—from the Opening Night Public Forum, "Degrees of Mediocrity, Degrees of Excellence," a preview of John Merrow's latest documentary and a discussion led by the filmmaker, to the Closing Plenary delivered by Lani Guinier. For a complete schedule of events and registration information, visit the 2005 Annual Meeting Web pages. Please note: if you have not made hotel reservations, check our Web site for updated information.

AAC&U's 90th Anniversary Annual Meeting has been sponsored in part by a generous grant from The James Irvine Foundation.

AAC&U to Host Symposium on Entrepreneurship and Liberal Education

Please join AAC&U in San Francisco on January 26 for a symposium examining the points of connection, controversy, and creativity in new curricular and student life initiatives that introduce entrepreneurial ideas across the curriculum and campus life. "The Power of Good Ideas: Social Entrepreneurship and Justice" is the title of the plenary luncheon speech by Bill Drayton, CEO of Ashoka, a global organization that invests in social entrepreneurs whose creative ideas for social change transform communities. The symposium, which will be held immediately before the 2005 Annual Meeting, is made possible by a grant from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. For more information, visit the Annual Meeting Web pages.

Register Now for Spring AAC&U Network for Academic Renewal Conferences

Registration forms for the spring 2005 Network for Academic Renewal conferences are now online. "General Education and Assessment: Creating Shared Responsibility for Learning Across the Curriculum," which will be held February 17-19 in Atlanta, Georgia, will explore how campuses are cultivating important outcomes across the curriculum and across institutions. "Pedagogies of Engagement: Deepening Learning In and Across the Disciplines," scheduled for April 14-16 in Bethesda, Maryland, will examine emerging practices to increase students' engagement in their learning.

AAC&U Invites Proposals for "Integrative Learning: Creating Opportunities to Connect"

AAC&U invites proposals for "Integrative Learning: Creating Opportunities to Connect," a Network for Academic Renewal conference that will be held October 20-22, 2005, in Denver, Colorado. The conference will explore ways of helping undergraduates to integrate learning—across courses, among disciplines, over time, and between knowledge and practice—and to develop habits of mind that prepare them for challenges of personal, professional, and civic life. Interested faculty, academic administrators, student affairs professionals, graduate students, and others can submit proposals for approaches that offer students purposeful, progressively challenging, integrative learning experiences in and out of the classroom. The deadline for proposals is February 18, 2005.

2005 Institute on General Education Accepting Applications

Applications are now being accepted for the 2005 AAC&U Institute on General Education. This year's institute will be held May 20-25 in Newport, Rhode Island, and will offer an intellectually stimulating environment for advancing campus planning in general education. Additional information, including an institute brochure and application form, is available online. The deadline for applications is February 25, 2005.

5th Annual Greater Expectations Institute Faculty Announced

AAC&U is pleased to announce the faculty for the 5th annual Greater Expectations Institute, "Campus Leadership for Inclusion, Engagement, and Achievement," which will be held June 22-26, 2005, in Burlington, Vermont. Thirteen nationally recognized scholars and practitioners in institutional transformation and student engagement, inclusion, and high achievement will work with campus teams to align their specific projects to institutional mission, refine planning and processes, clarify outcomes, and build a culture of assessment. New faculty this year bring expertise in faculty development, inclusive excellence, student affairs/academic affairs partnerships, and organizational change. A list of faculty and an online application form are available on the Greater Expectations Institute Web pages. The deadline for applications is March 15, 2005.

Bringing Theory to Practice Requests Preliminary Proposals for Engaged Learning, Student Mental Health, and Civic Development Demonstration Program

Bringing Theory to Practice (BTtoP), in partnership with AAC&U, is seeking preliminary proposals for projects that will demonstrate what happens when colleges and universities build capacity for engaged learning in ways that promote mental health and the well-being of students—specifically by addressing depression and alcohol abuse—and contribute to their civic development. BTtoP will support small and large institutions that have already begun to increase engaged learning and propose strategies to take their work to the next level. For more information, see the Bringing Theory to Practice Web site or contact Jennifer Reynolds (Reynolds@aacu.org).

AAC&U Forms Partnership with Association of University Leaders for a Sustainable Future

AAC&U is partnering with the Association of University Leaders for a Sustainable Future (ULSF) to advance student and campus commitments to sustainable development. Activities related to the partnership will begin at AAC&U's 2005 Annual Meeting, where participants will have the opportunity to learn how issues of sustainability can enrich the college curriculum and strengthen liberal education outcomes such as critical thinking, integration, and global awareness. AAC&U enters into this partnership with ULSF as part of Shared Futures: Global Learning and Social Responsibility, an ongoing, multi-project AAC&U initiative. For additional information, see the press release announcing the partnership.

Center of Inquiry in the Liberal Arts Calls for Participation in National Study of Liberal Arts Education

The Center of Inquiry in the Liberal Arts at Wabash College, with support from AAC&U, is issuing a call for institutional participation in one of the most comprehensive longitudinal studies of the effects of American higher education on student learning and development ever conducted. Details about this study will be presented at a Saturday morning session at the AAC&U Annual Meeting, "Student Achievement of Liberal Arts Outcomes: A Study of Claims and Causes." The Center of Inquiry in the Liberal Arts will also host a reception at the Annual Meeting on Friday, January 28, beginning at 5:30 p.m.

Peer Review Focuses on General Education and Assessment

Watch your mail for the Fall issue of Peer Review, "Creating Shared Responsibility for General Education and Assessment." Challenging the widespread notion that general education is something to "get out of the way as soon as possible," this issue explores ways that campuses are now working to cultivate important outcomes across the curriculum and, given the growth in student transfer, across institutions. Selected articles are available online.

Resources from 2004 AAC&U Diversity and Learning Conference Go Online

Resources from "Diversity and Learning: Democracy's Compelling Interest" are now online. The conference, which drew hundreds of participants to Nashville last October, explored higher education's stake in making democracy work. To view the conference schedule and to access selected presentations, visit the 2004 Diversity and Learning conference Web page.

AAC&U Announces New Editor of Liberal Education and New Director of Publications and Editorial Services

AAC&U recently announced the appointment of David Tritelli as the new editor of its flagship journal, Liberal Education. Tritelli, who will also assume the role of senior editor at AAC&U, moves to this position from his role as editor of AAC&U's Peer Review. He succeeds Bridget Puzon, who served as editor of Liberal Education for twelve years. Tritelli holds a BA from the University of Delaware and is completing a PhD at George Washington University.

AAC&U also announced the appointment of Shelley Johnson Carey as Director of Publications and Editorial Services and Editor of Peer Review. Carey holds a BA from Hampshire College and served most recently as director of periodicals publishing at the National Science Teachers Association. She brings twenty-five years of experience in editing and publishing to AAC&U.

Our Students' Best Work: A Framework for Accountability Worthy of Our Mission
A Statement from the Board of Directors of the Association of American Colleges and Universties

Taking Responsibility for the Quality of the Baccalaureate Degree
A Report from the Greater Expectations Project on Accreditation and Assessment

2005 Annual Meeting:

Liberal Education and the New Academy: Raising Expectations, Keeping Promises will take place January 26-29, 2005, in San Francisco, California

Network for Academic Renewal Conferences:

General Education and Assessment: Creating Shared Responsibility for Learning Across the Curriculum will take place February 17-19, 2005,
in Atlanta, Georgia

Pedagogies of Engagement: Deepening Learning In and Across the Disciplines will take place April 14-16, 2005, in Bethesda, Maryland

Summer Institutes:

The Institute on General Education will be held May 20-25, 2005, in Newport, Rhode Island

The Greater Expectations Institute: Campus Leadership for Inclusion, Engagement, and Achievement will be held June 22-26, 2005, in Burlington, Vermont

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