AAC&U News | June 2005 | News & Events

Annual Meeting Call for Proposals Available June 10

The call for proposals for AAC&U's 2006 annual meeting--"Demanding Excellence: Liberal Education in an Era of Global Competition, Anti-Intellectualism, and Disinvestment"--will be available at www.aacu.org on June 10. The 2005 annual meeting marked AAC&U's 90th anniversary by heralding the arrival of a New Academy that promises the benefits of a liberal education to all students. In 2006, we begin a decade of work leading up to AAC&U's 100th anniversary, in which we will address the progress of the New Academy, illuminate its most important characteristics, and translate its ideals into strong practices for liberal education. While we optimistically look forward to a decade of great achievement, the 2006 annual meeting soberly acknowledges the difficulty and complexity of the tasks before us. The deadline for proposals is July 25, 2005.

AAC&U Invites Proposals for 2006 General Education Conference

“General Education and Outcomes That Matter in a Changing World,” an AAC&U Network for Academic Renewal Conference scheduled for March 9-11 in Phoenix, Arizona, is now seeking proposals for presentations. The conference will explore what students need to know and be able to do to succeed in an increasingly information-rich, technologically advanced, and globally connected society. AAC&U invites interested faculty, staff, and students to submit proposals on the topics of liberal education outcomes; learning theories and research; curricular and cocurricular structures; faculty, staff, and advisor roles; and assessment. The deadline for submission is July 18, 2004.

Online registration is now available for “Integrative Learning: Creating Opportunities to Connect,” a Network for Academic Renewal Conference to be held October 20-22, 2005, in Denver, Colorado. The conference will explore ways of helping undergraduates to integrate their learning—across courses, among disciplines, over time, and between knowledge and practice. The deadline for early registration is September 29.

Registration is also available for “The Civic Engagement Imperative: Student Learning and the Public Good,” a Network for Academic Renewal Conference scheduled for November 10-12, 2005, in Providence, Rhode Island. This conference will clarify definitions and outcomes for civic engagement, explore new scholarship on coherent and effective civic engagement programs across the curriculum and cocurriculum, and consider innovative collaborations between educational and community leaders. Early registration rates are available through October 17.

LEAP News:
San Jose State Passes Resolution in Support of Liberal Education, Joins More Than One Hundred Campuses in AAC&U-Sponsored Campaign

San Jose State University (SJSU) recently became a partner campus in AAC&U’s new campaign, Liberal Education and America’s Promise: Excellence for Everyone as a Nation Goes to College (LEAP). As a first step in its involvement, the university’s faculty senate passed a resolution in support of liberal education. The resolution stated that “SJSU has both the ability and responsibility to inform its students and its community of the importance of a liberal education.” It called on the SJSU academic senate executive committee to “identify activities and projects to help expand understanding of the importance of a liberal education.” The LEAP campaign now includes more than one hundred campus partners and has begun planning pilot advocacy activities in Wisconsin. See AAC&U’s Web site for more information about the campaign and how to get involved.

Program for Health and Higher Education Supports Campus Teams in National HIV Prevention Conference

AAC&U’s Program for Health and Higher Education (PHHE) has awarded dissemination grants to support the participation of nine campuses in the 2005 National HIV Prevention Conference, scheduled for June 12-15 in Atlanta, Georgia. Supporting participation in this conference is part of PHHE’s strategy to mobilize the resources of higher education—including the energy and expertise of students—in the global struggle to reduce the spread and improve the management of HIV/AIDS. For more information, see the press release announcing the participating campuses.

AAC&U Institute in Newport Advances Campus Plans for General Education Reform and Assessment

This year's Institute on General Education, which was held May 20-25 in Newport, Rhode Island, drew 175 participants from thirty-one colleges and universities. The diverse group of campuses represented at the institute included an international campus, a state university system, community colleges, and major research universities, among other institutional types. Members of the campus teams examined trends in general education, discussed general education reform plans in the context of their institutional missions, and explored assessment strategies. More information about the institute as well as resources on general education and assessment can be found on AAC&U's Web site.

Latest Issue of Liberal Education Focuses on Diversity

With an eye to the future, the latest issue of Liberal Education examines the present state of diversity on campus. It also explores the relationships between liberal education and the entrepreneurial mindset and between teaching students and waiting tables; the economics of higher education; and the role of liberal learning within the context of the political and social tumult of the late 1960s.

Two Recent Books Feature Chapters on Liberal Education and Its Challenges by AAC&U President

Two new publications, Higher Education for the Public Good (Jossey-Bass, edited by Adriana J. Kezar et al.) and Declining by Degrees (Palgrave-Macmillan, edited by Richard H. Hersh and John Merrow) feature chapters by AAC&U President Carol Geary Schneider. In Higher Education for the Public Good, Schneider writes about liberal education and the civic engagement gap, and in Declining by Degrees, she covers the decline in understanding of and support for liberal education both within and beyond the academy.