Annual Meeting Podcasts Now Available

AAC&U is pleased to offer audio podcasts of twelve featured sessions from the 2006 annual meeting, “Demanding Excellence: Liberal Education in an Era of Global Competition, Anti-Intellectualism, and Disinvestment.” To learn more about the available podcasts and to listen to the sessions, visit AAC&U’s podcast pages.

 
 Register Now for Learning and Technology Conference

“Learning and Technology: Implications for Liberal Education and the Disciplines” will be held April 20-22 in Seattle. Participants at this Network for Academic Renewal conference will develop a deeper understanding of the ways and contexts in which people learn, and examine and share approaches for using technology to advance student learning. Highlights of the conference will include a keynote address by learning sciences scholar John Bransford and an opportunity to visit the University of Washington’s innovative learning spaces, which respond to the ways today’s students learn and interact. The cutoff date for reservations at the Renaissance Seattle Hotel is March 29. 

 
Registration for General Education and Assessment Conference Continues On-Site

On-site registration for “General Education and Outcomes That Matter in a Changing World” is available March 9-11 at the conference hotel in Phoenix. AAC&U extends a special note of thanks to the Idea Center and Multi Health Systems for their support of the Network for Academic Renewal’s 2006 General Education and Assessment conference.

AAC&U Calls for Proposals for Conference on Faculty Roles

AAC&U is now accepting proposals for “Faculty Work in the New Academy: Emerging Challenges and Evolving Rewards,” a Network for Academic Renewal conference to be held November 9-11 in Chicago. The emergence of a New Academy raises new questions about faculty roles, responsibilities, and rewards. “Faculty Work in the New Academy” will explore these questions and provide answers and resources to guide productive reforms. AAC&U invites faculty members, administrators, faculty developers, teaching and learning center staff, librarians, and community leaders to submit proposals online that respond to the emerging challenges for faculty work in the New Academy. The deadline for proposal submission is Friday, April 7.

Deadline Approaching for 2006 Greater Expectations Institute

The deadline for applications to the Greater Expectations Institute is Friday, March 17. The institute, which will be held June 21-25 in Snowbird, Utah, is designed for campus teams that are working on ways to improve student engagement, inclusion, and high achievement. This year’s faculty members include Edgar Beckham, Susan E. Borrego, Alma R. Clayton-Pedersen, L. Dee Fink, Tori Haring-Smith, L. Lee Knefelkamp, George Kuh, Jeffrey F. Milem, Judith A. Ramaley, Carol Geary Schneider, Daniel Hiroyuki Teraguchi, Jesús Treviño, Damon A. Williams, and Vera Zdravkovich.

Peer Review Calls for Student Author Submissions

AAC&U is seeking creative essays written by undergraduates that reflect upon first-year academic experiences. One essay will be selected for inclusion in the Summer 2006 issue of Peer Review, and several others will be featured online. A $100 prize will be awarded to the author of the printed essay. We encourage you to let your students know about this opportunity.

Campus-Community Dialogue in Wisconsin Features Discussion of LEAP Vision for Learning

As part of the Liberal Education and America’s Promise (LEAP) campaign’s pilot project in Wisconsin, AAC&U Vice President Debra Humphreys presented the LEAP vision for learning at a campus-community dialogue at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire on February 27. The discussion focused on the role of higher education in preparing students for a rapidly changing global economy and the influence universities have in ensuring the vitality of the state of Wisconsin. Among the participants in the dialogue were a local judge and Wisconsin Lt. Governor Barbara Lawton, a member of the LEAP National Leadership Council. The event was followed up with a March 6 discussion on The West Side, a program of Wisconsin Public Radio. A recording is available in the program’s audio archive. Visit LEAP online for more information about advocacy activities in Wisconsin.

Nominations for Ness Book Award Now Being Accepted

AAC&U invites nominations for the 2007 Frederic W. Ness Book Award. This award is given annually to recognize a book that contributes to the understanding and improvement of liberal education. The award, which includes a prize of $2,000, is a mark of distinction for both authors and publishers and is presented at AAC&U's annual meeting. For information on eligibility, please visit AAC&U's Ness Book Award page. Nominations are due by May 1, 2006.

Limited-Time Discount Offered for Campus Orders of Student Handbook

Why Do I Have to Take This Course? A Student Guide to Making Smart Educational Choices is a practical handbook for students written by AAC&U Senior Fellow Robert Shoenberg. Ideal for use in new student orientations and first-year programs, this guide is intended to take some of the mystery out of curricular requirements and to educate students about what really matters in college—the broad liberal learning outcomes developed over the entire course of their undergraduate years. AAC&U is offering special bulk discounts for purchases placed by March 15. For more information, contact AAC&U’s publications desk at pub_desk@aacu.org or 800-297-3775.

HIV Education Site Provides Latest Online Resources

HIVCampusEducation.org, a Web site developed by AAC&U's Program for Health and Higher Education (PHHE), serves as an online hub for resources on HIV education and prevention. The site is regularly updated to provide up-to-date information for college students, faculty, and administrators. The newest resources include HIV/AIDS-related syllabi from courses at Temple University, a report from the Black AIDS Institute, and information from PHHE’s November student symposium.

Diversity Digest Highlights New Jersey Campus Diversity Initiative

The latest issue of Diversity Digest focuses on the work of the New Jersey Campus Diversity Initiative. Funded by the Bildner Family Foundation, the issue offers concrete examples of how participating institutions in this statewide initiative have incorporated diversity and intercultural learning into the curriculum in powerful, effective, and educationally transforming ways.

 
AAC&U Invites Applications for Vice President Position

AAC&U invites applications and nominations for a vice president to develop and lead national initiatives related to the improvement of student learning and achievement in college. The vice president for quality, curriculum, and assessment will be part of the leadership group at AAC&U and will report directly to the president. Building on AAC&U’s Greater Expectations initiative, the vice president will advance AAC&U’s work in building campus leadership for liberal education, general education, and assessment of college learning outcomes and in fostering connections between school and college learning and between academic and student affairs.

AAC&U Remembers James F. Slevin

AAC&U notes with deep sadness and regret the death on March 1, 2006, of James F. Slevin, professor of English and director of the Office of Curriculum and Pedagogy in the Center for Social Justice Research, Teaching, and Service at Georgetown University. In addition to his distinguished career at Georgetown, where he taught since 1976, Professor Slevin was an active and influential member of the AAC&U community. His contributions to AAC&U—on graduate education, students’ intellectual development, and our responsibilities for social justice—were far-reaching, and he will be sorely missed.

General Education: A Self-Study Guide for Review and Assessment
By Andrea Leskes and Ross Miller

Levels of Assessment : From the Student to the Institution
By Ross Miller and Andrea Leskes

Why Do I Have to Take This Course? A Student Guide to Making Smart Educational Choices
By Robert Shoenberg

Making Diversity Work on Campus: A Research-Based Perspective
By Jeffrey F. Milem, Mitchell J. Chang, and Anthony Lising Antonio

Network for Academic Renewal Conferences:

General Education and Outcomes That Matter in a Changing World will take place March 9-11, 2006, in Phoenix, AZ

Learning and Technology: Implications for Liberal Education and the Disciplines will take place April 20-22, 2006, in Seattle, WA

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