A 2008 survey conducted by AAC&U revealed that a large number of colleges and universities are reforming their general education programs, revamping old distribution requirements or adding new elements to engage students in more integrative and active learning. The University of Maryland at... Read More
Campus Models and Case Studies
University of Maryland at College Park
State University of New York at Potsdam
All too often college learning occurs in isolated departments that don't communicate with each other, says Gerald Lee Ratliff, associate vice provost of academic affairs at the State University of New York (SUNY) at Potsdam. "Particularly when finances are tight, we tend to retreat into our... Read More
University of South Carolina
Using General Education Review and Accreditation to Drive Change at the University of South Carolina
University of South Carolina Professor of English David Miller knows firsthand how learning can become fragmented in a large research university. "I've often been riding in the elevator and heard other faculty members talking about what they're working on, and I've thought to myself, gee, if I'd... Read More
Lynn University
When Lynn University Vice President for Academic Affairs Cynthia Patterson first launched a committee to extensively redesign the university's general education program, she expected some resistance from the faculty. So did Associate Professor Katrina Carter-Tellison, the university's core... Read More
Hostos Community College
In 2005, Amanda Bernal-Carlo, director of the Center for Teaching and Learning at Hostos Community College in the Bronx, was leading a committee charged with motivating faculty to reenvision their pedagogical practices and improve student learning outcomes. So Bernal-Carlo, who is now acting... Read More
Tidewater Community College
Tidewater Community College mathematics instructor Joseph Joyner knows that many of his students aren't exactly thrilled to be in one of his classes. "A lot of my students come to math without a feeling of security, and they don't want to be here. They've had bad math experiences," he explains.... Read More
Whittier College
In some ways, Whittier College is a typical small liberal arts college—it has around 1,400 students, small class sizes, a focus on teaching, and a mostly residential campus. But Whittier is one of the most diverse private institutions in the country, with a student body that's 42 percent... Read More
United States Military Academy at West Point
Think about the United States Military Academy at West Point and lots of terms probably come to mind; "Army," "Long Gray Line," and "tradition" might be among them. "Liberal education" probably isn't at the top of the list. But it should be, say faculty at the... Read More
University of Southern Maine
Comprehensive general education reform is a long-term process that requires careful planning and consensus building. At the University of Southern Maine (USM), faculty and administrators embarked upon such reform in 2001 at the prompting of the school's provost, Joseph Wood. Six years later,... Read More
San José State University
Over the past decade, San José State University (SJSU) has introduced a series of general education reforms that have placed the campus at the forefront of efforts to design more effective curricula. In the 1990s—a time when general education outcomes assessment was still uncommon—the campus set... Read More