AAC&U News | June 2007 | News & Events

June 2007

AAC&U Invites Proposals for 2008 Annual Meeting in Washington

AAC&U invites proposals for sessions at its 2008 annual meeting, “Intentional Learning, Unscripted Challenges: Knowledge and Imagination for an Interdependent World,” which will be held January 23–26 in Washington, DC. The meeting will explore innovative and imaginative strategies and structures for college learning—purposeful pathways that clearly and intentionally connect wide-ranging knowledge of science, cultures, and society; high-level intellectual and practical skills; active commitment to personal and social responsibility; and demonstrated ability to apply learning to complex problems and challenges. Participants will also explore the role of assessment in measuring achievement of essential outcomes and in providing useful data to ensure that all students get the education they need and deserve in today’s world. The deadline for submitting proposals is July 23.

Early registration is now available for AAC&U’s two fall Network for Academic Renewal conferences. “Civic Learning at the Intersections: U.S. Diversity, Global Education, and Democracy’s Unfinished Work” will take place October 18–20, 2007, in Denver, Colorado. This conference will highlight current research and promising practices related to the creative integration of civic, diversity, and global work on campus and will include a particular focus on articulating the aims and learning outcomes of civic engagement programs. “Sharing Responsibility for Essential Learning Outcomes: New Partnerships across Departments, Academic Affairs, and Student Affairs” will be held November 1–3, 2007, in Savannah, Georgia. The conference will examine new frameworks for essential learning outcomes and highlight collaborative educational practices—between academic and student affairs and across departments—that lead to intentional and integrative learning.

Resources from Undergraduate Research Meeting Now Online

Participants at “The Student as Scholar: Undergraduate Research and Creative Practice," an AAC&U Network for Academic Renewal conference held last spring, explored strategies for developing and assessing effective undergraduate research programs. Resources from the conference, and podcasts of selected sessions, are now available online.

UW–Oshkosh Features Liberal Education and Community Engagement in Alumni Magazine

The Spring 2007 University of Wisconsin–Oshkosh alumni magazine features an article about the school's commitment to a "liberally educated community through collaborations, cultural offerings and service activities." The article, "Liberal Education in the Community: UW–Oshkosh Weaves Culture of Lifelong Learning," profiles the many programs, centers, and initiatives on campus that contribute to students' broad, well-rounded education. This is the third article in a series focusing on how UW–Oshkosh enacts the principles and practices of AAC&U’s Liberal Education and America’s Promise (LEAP) initiative; the University of Wisconsin System is a partner in LEAP. The magazine can be downloaded (pdf) from Oshkosh's Web site.

“Kentuckiana Metroversity” Adopts LEAP Framework

Kentuckiana Metroversity, a consortium of seven institutions of higher education in the Louisville metropolitan area, has organized a liberal education committee that is using the LEAP vision (pdf) as a guiding framework for discussions of the need for more uniform learning outcomes.The consortium also is working with the Louisville mayor’s office to identify ways in which students can apply their learning to real-world problems by becoming involved in the community.

Campus Teams Tackle General Education Reform at AAC&U Summer Institute in Newport

Twenty-eight institutions sent teams to the seventeenth annual Institute on General Education, which was held May 18–23 at the seaside campus of Salve Regina University in Newport, Rhode Island. More than 160 participants explored the latest trends in general education reform and planned their own campus projects. Participants benefited from consultations with experts in the field and shared their experiences with teams from other campuses. Sessions on assessment and ePortfolios generated particular interest at this year’s institute, and many teams drew from AAC&U President Carol Geary Schneider’s keynote address, which connected general education to the ideals of the LEAP initiative.

Carnegie Foundation Announces New Initiative on Business, Entrepreneurship, and Liberal Learning

In July, the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching will begin a three-year project on how educators can help ensure that the many undergraduate students who major in business and other professional fields gain the benefits of a strong liberal arts education. The BELL project was developed in response to the fact that increasing numbers of undergraduates are majoring in professional fields. Unless the central goals of a liberal education are integrated with professional disciplines, these students will be deprived of the kind of education that prepares them professionally and with the intellectual, moral, and civic outcomes they need to be responsible community members. The project will investigate promising approaches to achieving this integration in different kinds of colleges and universities. For more information about the project and ways to get involved, contact Tom Ehrlich at ehrlich@carnegiefoundation.org or Anne Colby at colby@carnegiefoundation.org.

AAC&U Director of Publications Elected to Hampshire College Board of Trustees

Shelley Johnson Carey, AAC&U director of publications and editorial services and editor of Peer Review, was recently elected to a four-year term on the board of trustees of Hampshire College. Hampshire College was part of AAC&U’s Greater Expectations Consortium on Quality Education and is currently a member of the LEAP Campus Action Network and the Teagle Foundation–supported project Engaging Faculty with the Assessment of Liberal Education Outcomes. Carey received her BA from Hampshire in 1979.