AAC&U’s 2007 Annual Meeting in New Orleans to Explore “Liberal Education and Democracy’s Big Questions”

AAC&U's 2007 annual meeting—“The Real Test:  Liberal Education and Democracy’s Big Questions”—will be held January 17–20, 2007, in New Orleans, Louisiana. A pre-conference symposium, "The Politics of Accountability: A Real Test for Higher Education,” is scheduled for Wednesday, January 17. The opening plenary speaker for the annual meeting will be Marvalene Hughes, president of Dillard University, and the closing speaker will be Walter Isaacson, president and CEO of the Aspen Institute. The meeting will also feature a major report from the LEAP National Leadership Council on preparing all students to meet the demands of a new global century and findings from a new national poll of business leaders and recent graduates. Online registration is now available at the annual meeting Web site.

John Hope Franklin to Deliver Keynote Address at Diversity and Learning Conference

Online registration continues for “Diversity and Learning: A Defining Moment,” an AAC&U Network for Academic Renewal conference to be held October 19–21, 2006, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. John Hope Franklin, professor emeritus of history at Duke University and the distinguished author of From Slavery to Freedom, will deliver the keynote address at the conference. L. Lee Knefelkamp will lead a featured session on the development of the multicultural self, and Elizabeth Minnich, José Moreno, and Kathleen Wong (Lau) will facilitate discussion about the past and future of campus diversity work. This year’s conference will also feature a special dinner to celebrate the vision and legacy of the late Edgar F. Beckham. September 27 marks the deadline for early conference registration discounts and guestroom conference rates at the Sheraton Philadelphia City Center.

AAC&U Invites Students to Participate in Edgar F. Beckham Student Diversity Leadership Symposium

AAC&U invites students to take part in the Diversity and Learning conference and the pre-conference student symposium, “Mobilizing Knowledge: Transforming the Future of Diversity.” The symposium, scheduled for October 19, will focus on building collaborative leadership skills, creating multicultural alliances, and exploring identity. It will also prepare participants to actively participate in, and influence, the Diversity and Learning conference that follows. If you have questions about the student symposium, please e-mail StudentDiversity@aacu.org.

Register Now for Chicago Conference on Faculty Work and the New Academy

“Faculty Work and the New Academy: Emerging Challenges and Evolving Roles” will be held November 9–11, 2006, in Chicago, Illinois. Lee Shulman, president of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, will address faculty responsibilities in an age of accountability in his keynote address. Other speakers at the conference include Linda McMillin, who will explore the potential for a shared sense of professional identity for all those who work in the academy, and Ann E. Austin and Roberto Ibarra, who will examine a vision of the New Academy as a learning-centered institution committed to collaboration. October 20 marks the deadline for early conference registration discounts and guestroom conference rates at the Hyatt Regency McCormick Place.

Bringing Theory to Practice Project to Host Student Conference

The Bringing Theory to Practice Project will host its second annual student conference November 10–11, 2006. The “Student Leadership and Service Conference” is designed to encourage college students to reflect on their own attitudes and leadership ability through areas of engaged learning and civic engagement. Details about the conference, including an agenda and registration information, are available online.

Core Commitments Initiative to Issue Call for Proposals and Call to Action

Core Commitments: Educating Students for Personal and Social Responsibility, a new AAC&U initiative funded by the John Templeton Foundation, aims to revitalize the academy’s role in fostering students’ development of personal and social responsibility. Core Commitments will be selecting up to twenty institutions for a leadership consortium that will focus on assessing how effectively institutions are embedding key dimensions of personal and social responsibility as core aspects of students' educational experiences. The call for proposals to apply to be part of the leadership consortium will be announced before the end of September. AAC&U also invites all college and university presidents to sign a call to action and pledge their leadership in a far-reaching reengagement with issues of ethical and civic responsibility. The call for proposals and the call to action will both be available on the Core Commitments Web page later this month. If you have questions, contact Lucia Cruz at cruz@aacu.org.

LEAP Campaign Launches Pilot Initiative in Virginia

Under the leadership of AAC&U Senior Fellow Robert Shoenberg, the Liberal Education and America’s Promise (LEAP) campaign has launched a pilot effort in Virginia. This campus-action and public advocacy initiative will unfold over the next several years and serve as a model for other states. In the fall, President John Casteen will host a meeting of a newly formed Virginia Leadership Council at the University of Virginia. Members of the leadership council will discuss how to advance a public dialogue in Virginia about the aims and outcomes of a contemporary liberal education and how to strengthen Virginia students’ preparation, from school through college, for participation in an innovation-fueled economy and for civic engagement.

AAC&U Collects Articles and Speeches That Make the Case for Liberal Education

As part of its LEAP campaign, AAC&U has collected more than fifty news articles, op-eds, and speeches making the case for liberal education. The authors of these messages—college presidents, recent graduates, reporters, and business leaders—have endorsed and extolled the benefits of a liberal education through a variety of media outlets, from MSN Careers to National Public Radio. These messages are made available on the LEAP campaign’s speeches and articles page as resources for campus leaders seeking to spread the word about the aims and purposes of liberal education. 

AAC&U Convenes Curriculum and Faculty Development Institute on Global Learning

From July 30 to August 4, over one hundred faculty and administrators from the sixteen institutions of AAC&U’s Shared Futures: General Education for Global Learning project assembled at Smith College for an institute on general education reform and the inclusion of global topics in the curriculum. Participants examined selected elements of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals through the following five themes: religion, conflict, and democracy; sustainability; globalization, wealth, and poverty; human rights; and health and social justice. Shared Futures: General Education for Global Learning is supported by a grant from the Henry Luce Foundation.

2006 Wye Seminars Focus on Global Values and Citizenship

Each summer, AAC&U and the Aspen Institute cosponsor two seminars at Aspen’s Wye River Campus. This year’s Wye Faculty Seminar, which was held July 22–28, gathered a diverse group of faculty in roundtable discussions that centered on citizenship, the American polity, and global values. The Wye Presidents’ Seminar, which was held July 21–23, focused on the Middle East and explored the implications of fundamental values such as liberty, justice, and democracy.

On Campus with Women Archives Go Online

As many readers may know, On Campus with Women became a purely Web-based publication in fall 2002 (with volume 32, number 1). This summer, AAC&U converted the old print issues of On Campus with Women into PDFs. Archived copies dating back to the early 1990s are now available online.

Assessing Global Learning: Matching Good Intentions with Good Practice
By Caryn McTighe Musil

Shared Futures: Global Learning and Liberal Education
By Kevin Hovland

Network for Academic Renewal Meetings:

Diversity and Learning: A Defining Moment
October 19–21, 2006
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Faculty Work and the New Academy: Emerging Challenges and Evolving Roles
November 9–11, 2006
Chicago, Illinois

2007 Annual Meeting:

The Real Test: Liberal Education and Democracy’s Big Questions
January 17–20, 2007
New Orleans, Louisiana

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