AAC&U Publications

Exploring Equitable Community–Campus Relationships

Edited by Karla Bird, Suchitra V. Gururaj, Sara B. Moore, Andrea Robles, and Cindy Vincent Claar

This volume offers replicable strategies for centering equity in campus–community partnerships, highlighting how equitable practices are defined and enacted across diverse contexts. Through case studies and reflective analyses, contributors emphasize relationship-building as the foundation of meaningful engagement while addressing successes, challenges, and lessons learned. A valuable resource for scholars, educators, and community partners committed to equity-driven collaboration.

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Teaching with AI: A Practical Guide to a New Era of Human Learning

By José Antonio Bowen and C. Edward Watson

This updated second edition provides a practical roadmap for integrating AI into teaching, covering new tools such as reasoning models, simulations, and customized bots while addressing ethics, academic integrity, and emerging challenges. Blending research with hands-on strategies, it helps educators design interactive assignments, enhance assessment, and use AI to deepen learning. Published in partnership with Johns Hopkins University Press.

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Student Guide to Artificial Intelligence

A collaborative resource from Elon University and AAC&U, this guide equips students to navigate AI academically, professionally, and ethically. It offers responsible-use guidance, practical strategies for leveraging AI in coursework and career preparation, and tools for crafting effective AI prompts—empowering learners to thrive in an AI-driven world.

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Strengthening Campus Communities Through the Truth, Racial Healing, and Transformation Framework

Edited by Tia Brown McNair

This volume highlights the work of AAC&U and TRHT Campus Centers in advancing racial healing and dismantling the belief in a hierarchy of human value. Through case studies and practical strategies, it demonstrates how higher education institutions and community partners can promote narrative change, build equitable relationships, and foster thriving, inclusive communities.

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Mentored Undergraduate Research in Global Contexts: Integrated High-Impact Practices for Student Success

Edited by Dawn Michele Whitehead, Maureen Vandermaas-Peeler, Susan Buck Sutton, Mary F. Price, Kate Patch, and Kris Acheson

This volume examines how integrating mentoring, undergraduate research, and global learning creates powerful high-impact experiences for students and institutions alike. Through models from diverse settings, it shows how MUR-GC broadens access to global learning, fosters interdisciplinary and ethical engagement, and strengthens outcomes for students, faculty, and host communities.

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General Education Essentials: A Guide for College Faculty

By Paul Hanstedt

This second edition provides a timely, insightful overview of current trends in general education reform, offering practical strategies for designing curricula that cultivate intellectual flexibility and meaningful learning across disciplines. Blending theory with actionable implementation ideas, the book guides faculty through the shift from distributive to integrative, high-impact models while highlighting real examples of how reform shapes syllabi, course content, and student work. Essential reading for educators committed to preparing students to think critically and engage productively in a rapidly changing world.

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Exemplars of Assessment in Higher Education, Volume Two: Strategies for a Changing Higher Education Environment

Edited by Jane Marie Souza and Tara A. Rose

Featuring case studies from more than fifteen institutions worldwide, this volume showcases innovative assessment strategies in areas such as career readiness, distance education, DEI, and general education—reflecting shifts in higher education in the post-COVID era. Aligned with AAC&U’s VALUE initiative, it provides practical examples to help educators strengthen and diversify their assessment practices.

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Making the Case for Open Educational Resources

By C. Edward Watson and Rachel Rush-Marlowe

This guide equips OER advocates with evidence, messaging strategies, and ready-to-use graphics to support compelling presentations, publications, and campaigns. It highlights the value of openly licensed, no-cost educational materials—and provides practical tools to promote their adoption and impact.

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Leveraging Open Educational Resources to Advance Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion: A Guide for Campus Change Agents

By C. Edward Watson, Lisa Petrides, Anastasia Karaglani, Selena Burns, and Judith Sebesta

This research-based guide helps higher education leaders strategically connect OER initiatives with DEI goals to promote equity, broaden access, and improve student success. Drawing on insights from sixty-six institutions participating in AAC&U’s Institute on Open Educational Resources, it offers evidence-based strategies, best practices, and models to support sustainable implementation and campus-wide impact.

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Higher Education in a Changing World

Edited by Orlando Taylor, Nicole Retland, and Katherine McGraw

This volume examines the rapidly evolving landscape of twenty-first-century higher education, exploring accreditation pressures, economic challenges, shifting workforce demands, and the pursuit of equity and access. Contributions from nearly fifty scholars and leaders address global leadership challenges, institutional competitiveness, diversity initiatives, the role of HBCUs, STEM reform, and strategies for creating transformative student experiences.

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Practicing Democracy: A Toolkit for Educating Civic Professionals

By Nicholas V. Longo

This practical guide offers hands-on strategies and lesson-based activities to help educators cultivate civic professionalism across all majors, preparing students to engage in collaborative public problem solving. Organized into twelve adaptable lessons with accompanying assessment tools, it supports critical dialogue and democratic engagement among diverse student groups. Co-published by AAC&U and Campus Compact.

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Becoming a Student-Ready College: A New Culture of Leadership for Student Success, 2nd Edition

By Tia Brown McNair, Susan Albertine, Nicole McDonald, Thomas Major, Jr, and Michelle Asha Cooper

This updated edition reframes the notion of “college readiness” by focusing not on students’ limitations but on how institutions can transform their policies, practices, and culture to better support today’s learners. Drawing on current social realities and emerging strategies, it offers practical guidance for fostering equity, strengthening institutional capacity, and designing partnerships and supports that help all students thrive.

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The Community's College: The Pursuit of Democracy, Economic Development, and Success

The Community's College: The Pursuit of Democracy, Economic Development, and Success

By Robert L. Pura and Tara L. Parker

Drawing on firsthand leadership experience and research, this book explores the vital role community colleges play in advancing democracy, economic development, and social mobility while confronting chronic underfunding and complex institutional missions. Through analysis, leadership insights, and case studies from diverse campuses, the authors make a compelling case for greater investment in community colleges and offer guidance for policymakers, educators, and emerging leaders dedicated to strengthening these essential institutions.

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Getting Ready: The Liberal Arts and Sciences in the Post-Pandemic World

Getting Ready: The Liberal Arts and Sciences in the Post-Pandemic World

By William D. Adams

This publication examines lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic—from scientific discovery to systemic inequities—and argues for the renewed relevance of the liberal arts and sciences in preparing students for work, civic life, and personal meaning. Adams offers a forward-looking vision for how higher education can respond to post-pandemic challenges while strengthening democratic and humanistic foundations.

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Rx Racial Healing: A Guide to Embracing Our Humanity

Rx Racial Healing: A Guide to Embracing Our Humanity

By Gail C. Christopher

Grounded in the author’s personal commitment to dismantling the belief in a racial hierarchy, this guide introduces the principles, tools, and practices of the Rx Racial Healing approach. It provides a framework for facilitating transformational change and fostering shared humanity across colleges, organizations, and communities.

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Interfaith Cooperation for Our Times: Educating Citizens for a Diverse Democracy

Interfaith Cooperation for Our Times: Educating Citizens for a Diverse Democracy

Edited by Janett I. Cordovés and Dawn Michele Whitehead

Highlighting the Interfaith Leadership in Higher Education Initiative—a partnership between AAC&U and Interfaith Youth Core—this volume showcases institutional models that advance interfaith teaching, learning, and campus engagement. It demonstrates how higher education can prepare students to navigate religious diversity and contribute to a more inclusive democracy.

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What We Value: Public Health, Social Justice, and Educating for Democracy

What We Value: Public Health, Social Justice, and Educating for Democracy

By Lynn Pasquerella

Drawing on crises from the COVID-19 pandemic to racial injustice and political polarization, this book argues that liberal education is essential to preparing individuals for ethical decision-making, civic responsibility, and public health leadership. Through examples from medical and higher education contexts, Pasquerella examines moral distress, equity, and free speech while making a compelling case for the role of liberal education in advancing the common good.

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Undergraduate Research in Online, Virtual, and Hybrid Courses: Proactive Practices for Distant Students

Undergraduate Research in Online, Virtual, and Hybrid Courses: Proactive Practices for Distant Students

Edited by Jennifer C. Coleman, Nancy H. Hensel, and William E. Campbell

As undergraduate research and online learning both expand, this volume offers the first comprehensive guide to engaging remote students in meaningful research experiences. Featuring foundational context and discipline-spanning case studies, it provides strategies, tools, and examples that help faculty integrate research into virtual, hybrid, and online courses while advancing student learning and participation across fields.

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