Press Release

CONTACT: Debra Humphreys
Vice President for Communications and Public Affairs
Association of American Colleges and Universities
202.387.3760 (ext. 422)

Gay Clyburn
Director of Communications and Information
The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching
650.566.5162

Ten Colleges and Universities Selected to Work with National Organizations to Promote Integrative Learning

Washington, DC—November 17, 2003—Washington, DC, and Stanford, CA—The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching (Carnegie Foundation) and the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) announced today the ten colleges and universities selected to participate in a new national project,

Integrative Learning: Opportunities to Connect

During this three-year project, the two organizations will work with participating campuses to develop and assess advanced models and strategies to help students pursue learning in more intentional, connected ways. Fostering students’ abilities to integrate their learning will nurture the habits of mind that prepare them to make informed personal, professional, and civic decisions throughout their lives.

The following colleges and universities are part of the initiative:

Carleton College (Northfield, MN)
LaGuardia Community College /CUNY (Long Island City, NY)
Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (North Adams, MA)
Michigan State University (East Lansing, MI)
Philadelphia University (Philadelphia, PA)
Portland State University (Portland, OR)
Salve Regina University (Newport, RI)
College of San Mateo (San Mateo, CA)
State University of New York College at Oswego (Oswego, NY)
University of Charleston (Charleston, WV)

These ten institutions, selected from a highly competitive pool of 140 applicants, demonstrate strong commitment to create new resources, networks, models and evidence-based arguments to strengthen integrative work. Each has in place or is developing an array of coordinated campus structures and practices such as a vertical ladder culminating in capstone experiences, portfolio assessments linked to
advising, community-based learning across the curriculum, and curricular and co-curricular partnerships.

“We were thrilled to find so many colleges and universities working comprehensively to improve intentional and integrative learning,” said AAC&U President Carol Geary Schneider. “In our report, Greater Expectations: A New Vision for Learning as a Nation Goes to College, AAC&U stressed intentionality and integration as key to 21st century college-level learning. Each school chosen provides a useful model of today’s more engaged and practical liberal education.” Institutions participating in the project will receive small grants to support campus-based work, participate in workshops and summer institutes across the three-year grant period, and collaborate on developing tools to assess student achievement in integrative learning.

“Integrative learning is not a new concept on our nation’s college and university campuses,” said Carnegie Foundation President Lee S. Shulman, “but committing to an institution-wide strategy to ensure that integrative learning occurs takes leadership and creativity. The campuses selected for this project bring both qualities in abundance. I only wish we could have included more of the truly exemplary programs that applied to participate.”

This project is co-directed by Pat Hutchings at the Carnegie Foundation and Andrea Leskes at AAC&U.

For additional information about the project, including a background paper, “Integrative Learning: Mapping the Terrain,” by Mary Taylor Huber and Pat Hutchings of the Carnegie Foundation, see www.aacu.org/integrative_learning or www.carnegiefoundation.org/LiberalEducation/integrative_learning.htm.

To read AAC&U’s report, Greater Expectations: A New Vision for Learning as a Nation Goes to College, see www.greaterexpectations.org.

AAC&U is the leading national association devoted to advancing and strengthening liberal learning for all students, regardless of academic specialization or intended career. Since its founding in 1915, AAC&U's membership has grown to more than 1000 accredited public and private colleges and universities of every type and size. AAC&U functions as a catalyst and facilitator, forging links among presidents, administrators, and faculty members who are engaged in institutional and curricular planning. Its mission is to reinforce the collective commitment to liberal education at both the national and local levels and to help individual institutions keep the quality of student learning at the core of their work as they evolve to meet new economic and social challenges.

Founded by Andrew Carnegie in 1905 and chartered in 1906 by an act of Congress, The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching is an independent policy and research center with a primary mission "to do and perform all things necessary to encourage, uphold, and dignify the profession of the teacher and the cause of higher education." The Foundation, located in Stanford, Calif., fulfills this mission through its contributions to improvements in education policy and practice.

For information about AAC&U, The Carnegie Foundation, or organizations funding the various initiatives mentioned above, see www.aacu.org or www.carnegiefoundation.org.