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.

On December 7, Carol Geary Schneider, president of AAC&U, will attend the Council on Competitiveness 25th Anniversary Celebration Dinner in Washington, DC, and on December 15 she will moderate a panel discussion, “Anchors and the Civic Mission of Schools: Examples from the Field," at the Anchor Institutions Task Force Annual Conference at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.

Caryn McTighe Musil, AAC&U senior vice president, participated October 27-29 as a member of the Council of Academic Advisors to the American Institute of Universities (AIU) in Aix-en-Provence, France, which provides study abroad programs and home stay housing for students from American colleges and universities. As a member of the Board of the National Writing Project, she attended the NWP Board meeting and annual meeting in Chicago, November 17-18.

Susan Albertine, vice president, office of engagement, inclusion, and success, traveled to Williamsburg, VA, for the November 16 Virginia Assessment Group 2011 Annual Conference, together with Terrel Rhodes, vice president for Quality, Curriculum, and Assessment. Albertine and Rhodes facilitated discussions and working groups at “Virginia Assessment Group and Its Future Role in Virginia LEAP State Efforts: A Pre-Conference Conversation with AAC&U.” On November 18, Albertine traveled to Charlotte, NC, for the annual meeting of the Association for the Study of Higher Education (ASHE), where she participated in a panel discussion, “How Impactful Are High-Impact Practices,” organized by the National Center for the First-Year Experience and Students in Transition.

Terrel Rhodes, AAC&U vice president for Quality, Curriculum, and Assessment, gave a plenary talk and met with the president, deans, and faculty at Vincennes University, in Vincennes, IN, on November 1. Rhodes also gave a plenary talk and met with general education and assessment committees at York University in York, PA, on November 3.

Susan Elrod, executive director of Project Kaleidoscope, presented a session titled “Drivers of Change in Undergraduate Biology education” at the Council of Colleges of Arts & Sciences Annual Meeting in Montreal November 2-5. Elrod also attended the FIPSE Project Directors’ Meeting November 7-8 in Washington, DC.

Tia Brown McNair, AAC&U senior director for student success, delivered a presentation on November 4 at Miami Dade College titled “Linking High-Impact Practices for Student Success to Learning Outcomes” as part of the college-wide Advising and Career Services Planning Day.

Ashley Finley, AAC&U senior director of Research and Assessment, led a November 11 workshop at the University of Mary Washington on the assessment of civic outcomes with representatives from fifteen colleges and universities across Virginia as part of the Virginia Engage Network’s fall meeting.

Kevin Hovland, AAC&U senior director of Global Learning and Curricular Change, will join Active Voice, Detroit Public Television, and filmmaker Alicia Sams on Thursday December 8, at WETA in Arlington, VA, for a meeting to discuss an upcoming public television series, “Arab American Stories.” Hosted by NPR’s Neda Ulaby, each half-hour episode of Arab American Stories features three to four short, character-driven documentaries that will profile contemporary Arab Americans making a difference in their community, their profession, their family or the global community.