2008 Greater Expectations Institute: Campus Leadership for Student Engagement, Inclusion, and Achievement
June 18-22, 2008 | Snowbird, Utah
Institute Goals
"I was introduced to new topics about campus
culture
that I would normally not think about."
—2007 Participant
The Greater Expectations Institute helps campus teams develop and strengthen learning environments that foster engagement, inclusion, and high achievement for all students. The Institute offers significant team time, consultation with expert faculty, framing plenary sessions, and topical seminars based on participant needs. These activities are designed to help each team create a comprehensive action plan to implement educational change on campus. Individually, each team works to refine their own project goals and strategies. Collectively, participants build capacity to strengthen and sustain change efforts over time. To accomplish these goals, the 2008 Institute provides in-depth study, analysis, and resources in three areas:
Understanding Campus Cultures
Understanding campus cultures enables teams to more effectively design and implement successful, comprehensive initiatives. Prior to the Institute, teams will be asked to review current institutional goals, programs, and resources and analyze how they contribute to student engagement, inclusion, and high achievement. Once in Snowbird, teams will explore the ways in which their campus cultures may both nurture and impede their work.
Advancing Significant Educational Change
While campus projects will vary, all should broadly relate to raising the quality of learning for all students. The Institute will be particularly helpful for campuses interested in AAC&U’s work related to Greater Expectations, Liberal Education and America’s Promise (LEAP), and Making Excellence Inclusive. Examples of projects from past Institutes include
- reforming a first-year program to deepen the level of academic challenge and support and engage all students with diversity and civic responsibility;
- integrating curricular and co-curricular learning to increase student engagement and achievement;
- structuring reaccreditation efforts around a comprehensive set of student learning outcomes;
- engaging departments in aligning faculty promotion and tenure processes with institutional goals for student learning;
- reframing an institution’s approach to diversity so that it enhances both student and organizational learning;
- developing an e-portfolio assessment system that helps students integrate their learning over time.
Aligning Institutional Vision and Practice
Teams work on ways to connect their projects to institutional mission and practices and to use campus data for organizational learning and decision making. The Institute helps teams leverage existing knowledge, programs, and resources; enhance communication; and identify potential collaborators to create powerful educational environments for all students.
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