AAC&U officers and staff regularly travel throughout the country, and occasionally the world, to speak and consult at AAC&U member schools through seminars, institutes, and workshops as well as in more informal gatherings. AAC&U staff also regularly speak on the value of liberal education at various media and public affairs events. These meetings are an opportunity for the membership to influence the direction of AAC&U's initiatives. We look forward to seeing you the next time we are on your campus.

AAC&U President Carol Geary Schneider traveled to Western New England College on April 5 to speak at the college’s annual lecture day. She presented on “Taking the Lead on What Matters in College: Principles of Excellence for the New Global Century.”

Caryn McTighe Musil, AAC&U vice president for diversity, equity, and global initiatives, participated in an electronic forum, “Liberal Education in a Global Century,” from March 16 to March 21. The forum was organized through the U.S. Department of State as part of the Junior Faculty Development Program. Musil also attended a symposium, “Universities, Democratic Culture, and Human Rights: An Action Agenda,” with AAC&U Program Director Kevin Hovland. Sponsored by the International Consortium for Higher Education, Civic Responsibility, and Democracy, the symposium was held March 28–30 at the University of Pennsylvania and built on work from last June’s summit at the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, France. Participants discussed what they had done at their respective institutions on civic responsibility, democracy, and human rights and conferred on the next steps for the partnership.

Debra Humphreys, AAC&U vice president for communications and public affairs, will present on a panel with Patrick Callan, Nancy Shulock, and Jan Somerville at “Access to Excellence,” a summit sponsored by the California State University system; her presentation is part of the LEAP initiative. The summit will take place in Newport Beach, California, April 24–25. Humphreys will also be participating in a strategic planning steering committee in early April in Long Beach, California.

Alma Clayton-Pedersen, AAC&U vice president for education and institutional renewal, led a workshop on urban learners for the Center for Teaching and Learning Excellence at Trinity University on March 26. On March 28, she attended the superintendent’s administrative and supervisory meeting of Montgomery County schools in Maryland. Clayton-Pedersen traveled to the Pepperdine School of Law in Malibu, California, March 30–April 1 to serve on a panel on student success at a sympsium sponsored by the Pepperdine Law Review, "Post-Grutter: What Does Diversity Mean in a Legal Education and Beyond?"