Press Release

Contact: Debra Humphreys
202-387-3760 ext. 422
Humphreys@aacu.org

Association of American Colleges and Universities Appoints Terrel (Terry) L. Rhodes New Vice President for Quality, Curriculum, and Assessment

Rhodes Will Lead AAC&U Work on Learning Outcomes and Assessment, School-College Curriculum Alignment and Integration, General Education, and Undergraduate Curricular Reform

Washington, DC—July 11, 2006—The Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) announced today the appointment of Terrel (Terry) L. Rhodes as Vice President of its Office for Quality, Curriculum, and Assessment.  Rhodes currently holds the position of Vice Provost for Curriculum and Dean for Undergraduate Studies at Portland State University (PSU) and will begin his work at AAC&U in September 2006. 

Rhodes succeeds Vice President Andrea Leskes, who, from 2000 through 2006, spear-headed AAC&U’s far-reaching initiative, Greater Expectations:  The Commitment to Quality as a Nation Goes to College.  Leskes, who was recently named President of the Institute for American Universities in Aix, France, remains affiliated with AAC&U as a Senior Fellow. 

“AAC&U is committed to preparing all students for this new era of far greater expectations for student learning in college,” said AAC&U President Carol Geary Schneider.  “Terry Rhodes is ideally suited—by his prior campus experience and by his own core values—to lead this continuing AAC&U priority.  After working with him closely for many years, we are delighted that he will now become a senior leader in AAC&U’s work to help all students reap the full benefits of a 21st century liberal education.”     

In his role as Vice President of one of the three program offices at AAC&U, Rhodes will develop and lead campus-based national initiatives that build on the earlier projects of the Greater Expectations initiative and that focus on undergraduate curricular reform and assessment of key learning outcomes.  Rhodes served as campus liaison to the Greater Expectations initiative for which PSU was a leadership institution.  For three years, Rhodes also served on the resident faculty of AAC&U’s yearly Institute on General Education.  He will become the director of this institute and of AAC&U’s related work on general education.

“I am excited about the prospect of working with the foremost higher education association focused on advancing liberal education for all of our students,” said Rhodes. “My predecessors have laid an impressive foundation of intellectual and practical work on which to build.  In developing new initiatives, I am committed to work that will enhance the ability of our students to be life long learners in this challenging time of global community.”

Rhodes brings to his new position many years of experience leading undergraduate curriculum development efforts, teaching public policy at the graduate and undergraduate levels, developing learning outcomes assessment plans, and forging inter-institutional collaborations with community colleges and high schools.  In addition to his position as Vice Provost at PSU, Rhodes is also Professor of Public Administration at that institution where he has worked since 2000.  Prior to assuming his positions at PSU, Rhodes served in several roles at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, including Associate Vice Chancellor for Academic Programs and Special Assistant to the Provost for Assessment. 

Rhodes holds a B.A. in Political Science from Indiana University and an M.A. and Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.  Over his esteemed career, Rhodes has published extensively on both undergraduate education reform issues and in his academic field of public policy and administration.  His many books and articles cover such issues as integrative learning, e-portfolios, high school-college connections, and public policies affecting urban American Indian communities.

Among his many community service accomplishments and honors, Rhodes currently serves on the Portland Consortium on Higher Education, the Indian Hills Neighborhood Association, and the Oregon University System Student Transfer Committee.  He is chair of the Ethics Section of the American Society for Public Administration.

AAC&U is the leading national association concerned with the quality, vitality, and public standing of undergraduate liberal education. Its members are committed to extending the advantages of a liberal education to all students, regardless of academic specialization or intended career. Founded in 1915, AAC&U now comprises more than 1,000 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.

Information about AAC&U membership, programs, and publications can be found at www.aacu.org.