Press Release

Contact: Debra Humphreys
Vice President for Communications and Public Affairs
202-387-3760
Humphreys@aacu.org

More Than 1600 College Leaders Gather to Discuss and Develop Ways to Prepare Students for an Unscripted, Interdependent World

Presentations Focus on Global Citizenship, Scientific Literacy, New Data on Business Leaders' Views on Accountability and Assessment, and the Latest Findings on First-Year Student Attitudes

Washington, DC--January 23, 2008--The Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) opened its 94th Annual Meeting, "Intentional Learning, Unscripted Challenges: Knowledge and Imagination for an Interdependent World” at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Washington DC today with more than 1600 college leaders in attendance. Participants explored how colleges and universities can prepare students with global knowledge and real-world capabilities that empower them to apply their knowledge to today's complex challenges.

Featured events at the meeting include a presentation of findings from AAC&U's newest National Survey Report, "How Should Colleges Assess and Improve Student Learning? Employers’ Views on the Accountability Challenge.” Findings presented include the fact that employers see a need for significant improvement in the skills and knowledge of recent college graduates; find college transcripts unhelpful; and reject multiple choice tests and institutional assessments in favor of qualitative evaluations of internships, senior projects, and the results of individual essay tests that measure students’ abilities to write, solve problems, and think analytically. This research was sponsored by AAC&U’s Liberal Education and America’s Promise (LEAP) initiative.

The Higher Education Research Institute at UCLA also will release at the meeting findings from its annual survey of the nation's entering undergraduates, "The American Freshman: National Norms for 2007."

Several awards will also be formally presented at AAC&U’s Annual Meeting. Ten individuals will receive the 2008 K. Patricia Cross Future Leader Award and Derek Bok, president emeritus of Harvard University and member of the AAC&U LEAP National Leadership Council, will receive the Frederic W. Ness Book Award for Our Underachieving Colleges: A Candid Look at How Much Students Learn and Why They Should Be Learning More. The award was established in 1979 to honor AAC&U's president emeritus, Frederic W. Ness and recognizes a book that contributes to the understanding and improvement of liberal education.

Participants will attend presentations from featured national and international leaders including:

• Natalie Angier, Pulitzer Prize-winning science writer for The New York Times
• Derek Bok, President Emeritus of Harvard University
• Sylvia Hurtado, Director of the Higher Educational Research Institute
• George Kuh, Chancellor's Professor and Director, Indiana University Bloomington
• Azar Nafisi, Visiting Fellow and lecturer at Johns Hopkins University's
  School of Advanced International Studies
• Martha Nussbaum, Professor of Law and Ethics at the University of Chicago

Participants at the meeting will explore innovative and imaginative approaches to college learning—purposeful pathways that clearly and intentionally connect wide-ranging knowledge of science, cultures, and society; high-level intellectual and practical skills; active commitment to personal and social responsibility; and demonstrated ability to apply learning to complex problems and
challenges.

This meeting also featured for the first time AAC&U TV, a daily news program including interviews with speakers, news and views from meeting participants, and brief segments highlighting innovative learning practices from LEAP Campus Action Network member campuses. For streaming video of the programs, see www.aacu.org/aacutv.

All details about the meeting, including schedules, listings of speakers, audio podcasts of presentations, and AAC&U-TV streaming video, can be found online at www.aacu.org. Reports on the survey findings released at the meeting can also be found at www.aacu.org/leap. Contact Debra Humphreys (humphreys@aacu.org) or Ursula Gross (gross@aacu.org) for additional information.

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 1,150 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 on the AAC&U Web site.