More Commentary on Salary Data as a Measure of Value of Higher Education Institutions As the US Department of Education works on a very quick timeline to develop a new system for “rating” colleges and universities that receive federal student aid, education leaders continue to seriously question the inclusion of salary data as part of any ratings system. AAC&U is on record strongly opposing the use of salary data in any rating or ranking system of colleges and universities, noting that, far beyond the data so far proposed for inclusion, “The United States needs a far more searching exploration of ‘value’ than the administration has proposed.” AAC&U has also noted that, “Using salary data in the proposed ratings system is bound to be misleading to students and, because of its complexity, a distraction from more basic questions of whether students are successfully completing college, transferring to other institutions, and managing the net costs of their enrollment. See a useful summary of responses provided by The Chronicle of Higher Education, AAC&U’s statements on the proposed ratings system, and this helpful commentary by member President Thomas Kazee, president, University of Evansville. See also AAC&U’s recent report on How Liberal Arts Majors Fare in Employment.
GEMs Project Launched at Washington, DC Meeting: Working Groups Convene to Map Next Generation General Education Pathways Three working groups and a newly formed Quality Assurance Group began charting a twenty-first century course for general education and its assessment at a meeting in Washington, DC on February 10-11, 2014. The Working and Quality Assurance Groups appointed by AAC&U are collaborating as part of an initiative called GEMs (General Education Maps and Markers) launched with initial funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. GEMs Working Groups include leading researchers and educators who will lay the groundwork for a cornerstone to capstone “remapping” of general education. In addition, a new Quality Assurance Group will provide guidance both to the GEMs initiative and to AAC&U’s ongoing VALUE (Valid Assessment of Learning in Undergraduate Education) family of projects. See the news release about the launch meeting for GEMs.
LEAP Presidents’ Trust Member, Elaine Maimon, Receives ACE Award for Advancing Women in Education Elaine Maimon, president of Governors State University and a member of the LEAP Presidents’ Trust, received the 2014 Donna Shavlik Award at the annual meeting of the American Council on Education (ACE). The award, named for the former director of ACE's Office of Women in Higher Education, honors an individual who demonstrates a sustained commitment to advancing women in higher education, through leadership and career development, campus climate, and mentoring. Maimon has worked with ACE on several different initiatives to promote women’s advancement, and her work has done much to “expand access to higher education overall and advance the cause of women in higher education leadership in particular,” said ACE President Molly Corbett Broad. AAC&U Senior Scholar Caryn McTighe Musil also received this award in 2005.
PKAL Summer Leadership Institute for STEM Faculty, Institute I: Pendle Hill, Wallingford, Pennsylvania, July 18–23, 2014
Institute II: Baca Campus of Colorado College, Crestone, Colorado, July 25–30, 2014
Applications Due March 24, 2014 .
Featured Member News and Resources
The March issue of AAC&U News features guided reflection on work at the University of Iowa, competing defenses of the humanities, and the latest news about AAC&U meetings, projects, and publications. Watch for our next issue of AAC&U News in April.
Students, parents, and policy makers interested in the "return on investment" of college education tend to place unwarranted emphasis on the choice of undergraduate major, often assuming that a major in a liberal arts field has a negative effect on employment prospects and earnings potential. This new report—which includes data on earnings, employment rates, graduate school earnings bumps, and commonly chosen professions—presents clear evidence to the contrary. It shows not only that the college degree remains a sound investment, especially in these difficult economic times, but also that—as compared to students who major in professional, preprofessional, or STEM fields—liberal arts majors fare very well in terms of both earnings and long-term career success. For more information, see: http://www.aacu.org/leap/nchems/index.cfm. To purchase a copy, see: http://secure2.aacu.org/store/detail.aspx?id=LASCIEMPL
This publication provides advice and planning tools to help educational leaders invest in high-impact practices, despite budget constraints. It presents ways to evaluate both the benefits and costs of high-impact practices, and strategies for investing in innovations. Building on research from the Access to Success initiative and the Delta Cost Project, the authors provide examples of campuses that have made wise investments developing or scaling particular practices, with positive results for student learning, graduation rates, and the bottom line.
