Utah
In October 2009, AAC&U announced the launch of a Utah LEAP statewide partnership. Building on years of work throughout the state of Utah, including its annual conference, What is an Educated Person?, public and private colleges and universities throughout the state of Utah have joined forces to ensure that all Utah college students achieve the learning outcomes they will need for success in a competitive global economy and for responsible citizenship and leadership in their communities.
Working in partnership with the Commissioner of Higher Education, William Sederburg, and business leaders in the state through the Salt Lake City Chamber, LEAP Utah also conducts regional and statewide dialogues about how best to educate Utah students for the challenges of the 21st century.
Institutions throughout Utah have already begun educational reform efforts working with the essential learning outcomes recommended in the LEAP national report, College Learning for the New Global Century. The Utah Regents Task Force on General Education endorsed these outcomes as a guiding framework for general education reform throughout the system.
See Salt Lake Chamber video on why "Education is Key to Utah's economic future."
LEAP Utah in the News
When a state senator in Utah took shots at the value of a well-rounded liberal education, Utah institutions of higher learning pushed back with a spirited defense of their role in the state. D. Whitney Smith and Edward C. Pease, both of Utah State University, reported in the Deseret News that surveys actually show that employers are looking for students who can think critically and solve complex problems. (Oct. 25, 2011)
Phyllis Safman, assistant commissioner for academic affairs in the Utah System of Higher Education, and Norm Jones, professor and Chair of History and director of General Education at Utah State University, also defended the value of a liberal education in an op-ed for The Salt Lake Tribune titled, "'Subversive Professors." (August 26, 2011)
D. Whitney Smith, a reporter for the Utah State University Hard News Cafe, reports on the College of Humanities and Social Sciences' new semiannual alumni magazine Liberalis—Latin for "of or pertaining to freedom."
The magazine demonstrates and highlights ways in which liberal education can be useful in the job market and beyond.
Prosperity 2010 Poll Cosponsored by Salt Lake Chamber, Utah Commissioner of Higher Education's Office—Utahns who earn a postsecondary degree or certificate earn more money, live happier lives, and are a bigger benefit to their community, according to a poll released on August 17, 2011.
“Over the course of their work life, students who receive a baccalaureate degree earn about $650,000 more than high school graduates—a significant increase over those who end their education right after high school,” said Commissioner of Higher Education Bill Sederburg.
KSL Newsradio—"Business, educators working to better prepare students" (April 14, 2010)
Public Forum Featuring Governor Herbert and Other Utah Leaders To Address Improving Utah College Learning (April 7, 2010)
Access Utah (Utah Public Radio)—Listen to the program "Preparation for the Twenty-First Century," including interviews with Norm Jones, Utah State University history professor and chair of the Utah Regents' Task Force on General Education, and AAC&U Vice President Debra Humphreys.
Utah Colleges and Universities Join Forces to Accelerate Improvements in Student Learning Outcomes and Meet Needs of Changing Global Economy (October 30, 2009)
LEAP Utah Events
What is an Educated Person? Conference
Theme:
Assessing Essential Learning Outcomes
November 4, 2011,
9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Lodge at Snowbird
Snowbird
, Utah
Keynote Speaker: Holiday Hart McKiernan
Vice President, Operations and General Counsel, Lumina Foundation
“Pulling Back the Curtain on What Matters Most – Learning”
(Sponsored by Utah System of Higher Education)
For information, contact Monica Ingold at monica.ingold@usu.edu
Raising the Bar: Preparing College Students for Life, Work, and Responsible Citizenship
(a LEAP Public Forum)
April 14, 2010—Salt Lake City
Co-sponsored by AAC&U, the Utah System of Higher Education, and the Salt Lake City Chamber Education Initiative
This invitational campus-community public forum engaged academics, business leaders, K-12 educators, policymakers, and community leaders with the kinds of college learning American students will need to meet twenty-first-century challenges—economic, civic, global, personal.
LEAP Utah Campus Activities and Projects
Tuning Initiative
Utah was one of three states funded by Lumina Foundation for Education to pilot a process called Tuning, in which academic disciplines meet to discuss transfer, articulation, learning outcomes, competencies, and assessment. As part of the initial Tuning process, Utah involved physics and history faculty in all institutions in the Utah System of Higher Education, Brigham Young University, and Westminster College (Salt Lake City). These departments clarified their expected learning outcomes for each academic degree, beginning with the associate degree and moving up to the doctorate.
Utah is now expanding its work under a new grant from the Lumina Foundation. The next phase, which began in July 2011, has three major foci: (1) assessing the learning outcomes for history and physics degrees in Utah, (2) tuning elementary education with public and private institutions of higher education in Utah, and (3) tuning general education mathematics throughout the state.
Utah System of Higher Education Majors’ Meetings
In 1998 the Utah System of Higher Education created the Regents’ Task Force on General Education, a group of faculty at two- and four-year institutions that advises the Regents on general education transfer, articulation, and assessment. This faculty-driven effort has now become state policy and a hallmark of transfer and articulation in Utah. In addition to regular task-force meetings, some 32 academic disciplines now meet in annual faculty meetings known as majors’ meetings. In addition to transfer, articulation, and commonly numbered courses, these meetings address competency development, pedagogy, assessment, and the LEAP Essential Learning Outcomes (ELOs). Some academic disciplines have mapped the ELOs to their professional association standards, while others have undertaken a course-by-course review.
Utah Campus Examples of LEAP Activities or High-Impact Practices
University of Utah
General Education Reform: In fall 2008, the University of Utah’s Undergraduate Council endorsed a set of Learning Outcomes for the General Education Program that build on the LEAP Essential Learning Outcomes. In order to assess the impact of these learning outcomes on courses and student learning, the University of Utah has added a step to the general education course certification process. Departments applying for a course to be given general-education designation must select at least three of the learning outcomes that they believe students in the course will achieve. They must also select an assignment from their syllabus that can be used to measure students’ achievement of these learning outcomes. See the Office of Undergraduate Studies for more information.
Utah State University
General Education Pathways for Better Advising: The College of Humanities and Social Sciences is developing an Students will be presented with a number of themed pathways—Arts, Ideas, People, Politics, and World–which will each contain a cluster of courses that satisfy the university's general education requirements.The system will be deployed as an advising tool in spring 2012, and will remain flexible for the various needs of transfer students. It will be implemented in Spring 2012. See the Core Proposal for information about how the new proposed system is developing.
First-Year Experience: Roughly two thirds of the first year class at USU participates in Connections, a first year experience that focuses on developing critical college study skills, time-management techniques, and test-taking strategies, as well as promoting an awareness of the campus and community. At the core of Connections is the Common Literature Experience, in which all freshmen, the university, and the broader community read a book, participate in discussions, and attend a lecture from the author. See University Connections for more information.
Undergraduate Research: More than 26 percent of USU's graduating seniors report on the National Survey of Student Engagement that they engaged in independent research with a faculty mentor. In these projects, research, teaching, and scholarship become parts of one shared process. See the Utah State Research Office for more information about this high-impact educational practice and how it is being implemented at USU.
Salt Lake Community College
E-Portfolios to Track Student Progress: SLCC has passed a college-wide set of learning outcomes that guide program and course development, and has also developed General Education electronic portfolios through which students can archive “signature assignments” and track their progress. The portfolios are designed to provide students a place to reflect on their learning and how each course at the college helped them meet learning goals and grow as a learner.
Utah Valley University
Center for Engaged Learning: UVU recently launched its Center for Engaged Learning to connect the university more directly with the local community and develop a community-based educational model. The CEL helps UVU students become people of integrity (i.e. ethics, leadership and character); stewards of place (i.e. bolstering economic development, service learning, global awareness); and professionally competent (e.g. quality teaching, faculty mentorship, advising, and internships). See the Center for Engaged Learning for more information about activities and programs.
Women and Education Project: UVU hosted and led the Women and Education Project (WEP) for the state of Utah from 2009-2011. The general purpose of the overall project was to collect information and original data that would be beneficial in getting more young women in Utah to enter college, and helping them stay in school long enough to obtain college degrees. While the project has now ended, the recent research and policy brief, “The Value of Higher Education for Women in Utah,” provides more information.
Westminster College
E-portfolio Assessment of Learning Goals: Westminster College has established a set of college-wide learning goals for all students. Faculty and staff in academic and co-curricular programs have mapped where these goals are formally addressed and have developed systems to assess student achievement of each learning goal. In 2009-10, Westminster piloted an e-portfolio program where students collected and display artifacts of their best work relative to each of the college-wide learning goals.
First-Year Learning Communities: Westminster College offers a coordinated first-year experience for students through its First-Year Orientation program, Learning Communities, and Mentoring Program. Interdisciplinary learning communities at Westminster are offered to all first-year students and link two classes together with a common theme, in order to build integration across disciplines and foster deeper understanding of each discipline. These interdisciplinary courses are designed to help first year students adjust to college, improve critical thinking and analytical reasoning skills, practice writing and presentation skills, and establish strong relationships with other students and faculty. Faculty members teaching in learning communities also serve as mentors for first year students.
LEAP Utah Institutions
For more information, please contact Phyllis "Teddi" Safman, Assistant Commissioner for Academic Affairs, Utah System of Higher Education, Board of Regents, at psafman@utahsbr.edu; Norm Jones,
Prof. and Chair of History and Religious Studies; Director of General Education and Curriculum Integration, Utah State University; and Chair of the Utah Regents' General Education Task Force njones@hass.usu.edu; or Susan Albertine, Vice President, AAC&U albertine@aacu.org.
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