Apply to Present at Pedagogies of Engagement Conference; Deadline Is September 10

October 10, 2003, is the deadline for campuses to apply for participation in Integrative Learning: Opportunities to Connect. A collaboration between AAC&U and The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, the initiative will engage campuses in developing curricular designs to provide students with purposeful, progressively more challenging, and integrated educational experiences. Complete information on the project as well as the Call for Campus Participation brochure are available at www.aacu.org/integrative_learning/.

Register Early for Fall Network for Academic Renewal Meetings

Online registration has started for the Network for Academic Renewal's Technology, Learning, and Intellectual Development conference that will take place from October 30 to November 1, 2003, in Cambridge, MA. Achieving Greater Expectations will take place November 13-15, 2003, in Washington, DC. Registration and information for both conferences is available online at http://aacu.org/meetings/nar.cfm.

AAC&U 2004 Institute on General Education To Be Held in Newport, Rhode Island

AAC&U's 2004 Institute on General Education will be held on the campus of Salve Regina University from May 21-26, 2004. As the Association's successor to the Asheville Institute on General Education (run for thirteen years in collaboration with the University of North Carolina at Asheville), the enriched program of the AAC&U Institute on General Education will create an intellectually stimulating environment for advancing curricular work.

The Institute will continue to provide reflective work time for teams of faculty and senior academic administrators interested in reviewing and revising their general education programs. Starting in 2004, a significant focus on assessment will be built into the meeting, and campus teams will learn how to apply the latest tools and strategies for assessment to their own programs. Institute applications will be available in December 2003. For more information on the institute, please visit www.aacu.org/meetings/institute_gened/index.cfm.

Diversity Digest Explores the Future of Affirmative Action

The next issue of Diversity Digest will feature promising programs aimed at increasing minority access and achievement in the wake of the recent Supreme Court decisions on affirmative action. The issue will also include a policy alert on “Case Analysis and Lessons Learned Regarding the Use of Race for Colleges and Universities.” Campus planning in the aftermath of the Supreme Court decisions on affirmative action also will be featured at AAC&U's upcoming annual meeting. For more information about Digest, visit www.diversityweb.org/digest. Also see the “Statement on Diversity and Democracy: The Unfinished Work” issued by AAC&U in cooperation with other higher education organizations after the decisions, and amicus briefs filed by AAC&U on behalf of the University of Michigan.

Three Campus-Community Dialogues Scheduled for October as Part of Presidents' CALL

Three dialogues involving six institutions will take place this October, as part of the Presidents' Campaign for the Advancement of Liberal Learning (CALL). The Presidents' CALL sponsored fifteen dialogues in the 2002-2003 academic year. These regional roundtable discussions bring together presidents and academic leaders with secondary educators, trustees, business, civic, and community leaders to address the learning students need in today's society. Sponsoring schools for the fall dialogues include Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville, San Francisco State University, Santa Clara University, Mills College, and Park University, (MO).

New Peer Review Revisits General Education Reform in the New Academy

The newest issue of Peer Review, a quarterly that covers emerging trends in general education reform, includes articles on fostering quantitative literacy, the states' leadership role in general education, and “the dollars and sense” behind general education reform. The issue also features a follow-up to the Winter/Spring 2002 Peer Review special issue on the Rand/CAE Value Added Assessment Initiative and a “reality check” by Jerry Gaff, AAC&U senior scholar and author of Twelve Principles of Effective General Education Programs, and The Status of General Education in the Year 2000: Summary of a National Survey. For more information, visit the Peer Review home page.

New Book Steers Applicants Away from Traditional Rankings

College Rankings Exposed: The Art of Getting a Quality Education in the 21st Century, published by Peterson's, Inc. and featuring a forward by AAC&U President Carol Geary Schneider, argues for a new focus for college admissions planning and learning aims. College Rankings Exposed argues that traditional rankings of colleges and universities create a false impression that the college experience can be reduced to a single number, encouraging students to scramble up a nonexistent ladder. Instead of numbers, this publication provides a broader picture of what college can offer in terms of students' own interests, aspirations, and strengths. For more information about this book and other AAC&U-related publications, visit our publications page. For a press release on the book, visit the newsroom. To order, visit the Peterson's Web site.

On Campus with Women Welcomes New Editor

Karen Rowan joined the AAC&U staff this summer as the new editor of On Campus with Women (OCWW). In addition to editing OCWW, she will manage the CampusWomenLead listserv and Web site, support the work of the National Initiative for Women in Higher Education, and assist in additional AAC&U women's programming. Rowan is currently completing her dissertation on academic mentorship at the State University of New York, Albany. For more information on AAC&U work on women's issues, visit www.aacu.org/issues/women/.

Prize-Winning Essay on Academic Freedom and 9-11 Now Online

Michelle Asha Cooper, program associate in AAC&U's Office of Diversity, Equity and Global Initiatives, was awarded the National Education Association's (NEA) Democracy in Education prize for her award-winning essay entitled "Academic Freedom and the Challenges of September 11: Strengthening Democracy Through Dissent and Debate." For more information about the award and to read the essay, visit the current issue of Thought and Action.

AAC&U News Offers New Page for Member Announcements

Submit resources, calls for papers, announcements, and position openings in the new AAC&U News member announcements section. Bookmark www.aacu.org/aacu_news/postings/index.cfm for updates throughout the month.

The Living Arts: Comparative and Historical Reflections on Liberal Education
by Sheldon Rothblatt

Technology, Learning, and Intellectual Development will take place October 30-November 1, 2003, in Cambridge, MA

Achieving Greater Expectations
will take place November 13-15, 2003, in Washington, DC

Practicing Liberal Education: Deepening Knowledge, Pursuing Justice, Taking Action, the AAC&U annual meeting, will be held January 21-24, 2004, at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Washington, DC

General Education and Assessment: Generating Commitment, Value, and Evidence will take place March 4-6, 2004, in Long Beach, California

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

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