Campus Activities and New AAC&U Resources Advance LEAP Goals

Many of AAC&U's member campuses have become part of the Campus Action Network formed as part of AAC&U's Liberal Education and America's Promise (LEAP) campaign. Through the network, these campuses are working to strengthen student achievement of liberal education outcomes and make the case for liberal education. Indiana State University, for example, will host a campus-community dialogue September 21-22 to address the learning students need in today's society. The Associated New American Colleges held a working session on LEAP goals and strategies at its June meeting, and the Council of Public Liberal Arts Colleges has voted to become an active partner in LEAP. AAC&U and the University of Wisconsin also continue to plan advocacy activities throughout Wisconsin, the first pilot state in the LEAP initiative. Seven campus-community dialogues are planned there for the 2005-6 academic year. For more information about the essential liberal education outcomes identified by the LEAP campaign, view the LEAP Vision for the New Academy (PDF).

AAC&U has also launched a new series of articles in its flagship journal, Liberal Education, as part of the LEAP campaign. The series will provide a wide array of perspectives on the value and changing character of liberal education in the twenty-first century. The first article in the series, "Liberal Education for the 21st Century: Business Expectations," is written by Roberts T. Jones, a member of the LEAP National Council. Also in the latest issue of Liberal Education is AAC&U President Carol Geary Schneider's January 2005 annual meeting address launching the LEAP campaign.

AAC&U's 2006 annual meeting, "Demanding Excellence: Liberal Education in an Era of Global Competition, Anti-Intellectualism, and Disinvestment," will be held January 25-28, 2006, in Washington, DC. A pre-conference symposium, "Recentering: Science and Global Learning in the Undergraduate Curriculum," is scheduled for Wednesday, January 25. The opening plenary speaker for the Annual Meeting will be Roberts T. Jones, President of Education and Workforce Policy LLC, speaking on "Demanding Excellence: Liberal Education and Global Competition." The closing speaker will be Azar Nafisi of Johns Hopkins University, author of Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books, speaking on "Liberal Education and the Republic of the Imagination."

The Bringing Theory to Practice Project is now seeking proposals for a new student civic engagement track organized as part of "The Civic Engagement Imperative: Student Learning and Public Good." This conference track is sponsored by the Charles Engelhard Foundation of New York City. Representatives from student-led clubs, organizations, projects, and programs involving campus mental health, community service, substance abuse, and political engagement are encouraged to submit proposals. The deadline for submission is September 30, 2005.

New AAC&U Publication Highlights Effective Campus Assessment Practices

Advancing Liberal Education: Assessment Practices on Campus, a new AAC&U publication by Michael Ferguson, tells the stories of six different colleges and universities that have developed innovative programs to help students achieve key liberal education outcomes. Originally written for AAC&U News, these stories--which focus on writing, information literacy, understanding of diversity, critical thinking, quantitative reasoning, and civic engagement--offer models for effective assessment practices. The publication also includes information about finding additional assessment resources. For more information about AAC&U publications on assessment and to see online resources from around the country, visit our assessment resources page.

Liberal Education Features Papers from Annual Meeting

The latest issue of Liberal Education covers the theme of AAC&U's 2005 annual meeting, "Liberal Education and the New Academy." Included are selected papers presented at the meeting. Additional essays explore the challenge of religion in the liberal education of world citizens, the civic promise of service learning, and the importance of liberal education to employers.

Two new books on higher education feature the work of senior scholars at AAC&U. Faculty Priorities Reconsidered: Rewarding Multiple Forms of Scholarship (Jossey-Bass, 2005) is coedited by KerryAnn O'Meara and AAC&U Senior Scholar R. Eugene Rice. This book considers recent efforts to realign faculty roles and restructure faculty reward systems. Another recent book, University Teaching: A Reference Guide for Graduate Students and Faculty (Syracuse University Press, 2005, 2nd edition), includes a forward by AAC&U Senior Scholar Jerry G. Gaff and includes a number of essays written by faculty and graduate students involved in Preparing Future Faculty.

ACAD and Phi Beta Kappa to Hold Joint Conference on Liberal Arts Education

"Liberal Arts Education in America and the World," a conference cosponsored by the American Conference of Academic Deans (ACAD) and the Phi Beta Kappa Society, will be held October 27-29 on the campus of George Washington University in Washington, DC. More information, including a schedule of events and a registration form, is available on ACAD's Web site.

Recommend AAC&U Quarterlies to Your Campus Library

On many AAC&U member campuses, only a few representatives and associates receive Liberal Education and Peer Review each quarter. If you agree that your campus would benefit from having broader access to these quarterlies, please consider recommending that your library subscribe to them. Simply fill out AAC&U's library recommendation form (PDF) and send it to your campus's main library or education library.