American Council on Education President Ted Mitchell Featured in AAC&U’s Next-Gen Assessment Series

Washington, DC—The Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) announced today that Ted Mitchell, president of the American Council on Education, is featured in its multimedia blog series “Next-Gen Assessment,” which provides a platform for discussion of timely topics, best practices, and new approaches to emerging challenges related to the assessment of student learning in undergraduate education. Each blog post in the series is complemented by a moderated video discussion featuring assessment specialists, educators, and other higher education leaders.

In a wide-ranging conversation about institutional effectiveness and accreditation in the “Age of COVID,” Mitchell highlights the changes he has observed in campus practice through his work with college and university presidents and provosts, from the implementation of “big data” solutions to ensure student success to the shifting landscape from regional to national accreditation.

“It was an honor to sit down with Ted Mitchell, who has led groundbreaking education initiatives in the public and private sectors and has served as a top policymaker in the United States,” said Tammie Cumming, associate provost for institutional effectiveness at Brooklyn College and cohost of the Next-Gen Assessment video discussions. “It was exciting to engage in such an important dialogue about our education community, particularly regarding how COVID has sparked a national conversation about inequities in higher education.”

“The American Council on Education is one of the premiere organizations focused on higher education policy and practices, and Ted Mitchell has been an important voice in the higher education community as a former college president and top federal policymaker.” said M. David Miller, professor of research and evaluation methodology at the University of Florida and Next-Gen Assessment cohost. “Our discussion focused on issues in big data and assessment that are shaping the current conditions of higher education.”

“This Next-Gen Assessment conversation, like others in the series, addresses immediate institutional experiences navigating the drastic changes necessitated by COVID-19, while simultaneously pushing all of higher education to contemplate what comes next,” said Kate Drezek McConnell, vice president for curricular and pedagogical innovation and executive director of VALUE at AAC&U. “In other words, what changes in praxis that were implemented as colleges and universities pivoted to respond to COVID-19 should and will persist as we begin to enter a post-pandemic space? These are critical considerations for higher education leaders and practitioners.”

Introduced to support educators transitioning online during COVID-19, the Next-Gen Assessment series continues to explore promising responses to emerging challenges during this extraordinary time. The full set of video discussions is available on AAC&U’s YouTube channel.

About AAC&U

AAC&U is the leading national association dedicated to advancing the vitality and public standing of liberal education by making quality and equity the foundations for excellence in undergraduate education in service to democracy. 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 member institutions—including accredited public and private colleges, community colleges, research universities, and comprehensive universities of every type and size.

AAC&U functions as a catalyst and facilitator, forging links among presidents, administrators, faculty, and staff engaged in institutional and curricular planning. Through a broad range of activities, AAC&U reinforces the collective commitment to liberal education at the national, local, and global levels. Its high-quality programs, publications, research, meetings, institutes, public outreach efforts, and campus-based projects help individual institutions ensure that the quality of student learning is central to their work as they evolve to meet new economic and social challenges.

For more information, visit www.aacu.org.

###