| Meetings and Institutes
AAC&U’s Annual Meeting: Preparing Students for Twenty-First-Century Success
AAC&U’s Annual Meeting will open Wednesday evening, January 26, 2011, with “Globalizing Education,” an address presented by Mark Taylor of Columbia University, author of Crisis on Campus: A Bold Plan for Reforming Our Colleges and Universities,” with respondent President Michael S. Roth of Wesleyan University. A series of sessions on preparing students for twenty-first century success will feature Hilary Pennington of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation on “Why Post-Secondary Completion Matters”; Eduardo Ochoa, US assistant secretary for postsecondary education, on “Global Positioning: Developing a Strategic Vision for US Higher Education”; members of AAC&U’s LEAP National Leadership Council on “How Should We Prepare Today’s Students for a Daunting Global Environment?”; and Walter Fluker of the Boston University School of Theology, on “Preparing Students for Ethical Complexity.” Information about the plenary session, conference highlights and the full preliminary program is online.
AAC&U’s Annual Meeting: Saturday E-Portfolio Forum Program Now Online
The program is now online for the Saturday e-portfolio forum, “Deepening High-Impact Learning,” at AAC&U’s 2011 Annual Meeting. The e-portfolio forum will be highly interactive and will feature keynotes from e-portfolio leaders addressing today’s most challenging e-portfolio issues and providing new solutions for old problems. For those who cannot attend the full Annual Meeting, the e-portfolio forum is available as a stand-alone event. More information is available online.
Apply to Send a Team to AAC&U’s Summer Institutes on General Education, High-Impact Practices, or Engaging Departments
Applications are now being accepted for campus teams to attend AAC&U’s 2011 summer institutes. These institutes offer campus teams a time and place for sustained collaborative work to develop campus action plans tailored to individual campus needs. The Institute on General Education and Assessment, June 4-8 at San José State University in California, will help campus teams refine and advance projects on general education and its assessment. The application deadline is February 18, 2011.
The Institute on High-Impact Practices and Student Success, June 14-18 at the University of Vermont in Burlington, Vermont, is for campus teams working to develop high-impact educational practices that engage students and improve persistence, graduation, and achievement of essential learning outcomes. Applications are due March 1, 2011.
The Engaging Departments Institute, July 13-17 at the Hotel at Turf Valley in Ellicott City, Maryland, will help campus teams work to advance integrative and engaged learning in and across disciplines, and to assess student learning outcomes across the curriculum. The application deadline is March 18, 2011.
More details about each institute are available online.
Register Now for Spring Conferences on General Education and STEM Learning
AAC&U’s Network for Academic Renewal conference “General Education and Assessment 3.0: Next-Level Practices Now,” March 3-5, 2011, in Chicago, Illinois, will focus on how campus leaders can—even in challenging financial times—help students develop the kind of innovative, “big-picture” thinking and creative problem-solving skills that excellent general education programs foster. The conference will focus on innovative and purposeful approaches to designing and investing in general education and assessment.
“Engaged STEM Learning: From Promising to Pervasive Practices,” March 24-26, 2011, in Miami, Florida, will provide interactive, hands-on activities designed to help campuses adapt, scale up, and sustain effective practices in STEM teaching and learning. The conference, presented by Project Kaleidoscope and AAC&U, is designed for participants who wish to develop faculty and institutional leadership in STEM reform, broaden student participation and success in STEM fields, better assess engaged STEM learning in both the majors and general education, and connect with ongoing campus work in Liberal Education and America’s Promise (LEAP).
Registration for both meetings is now available online.
LEAP News
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North Dakota Joins LEAP States Initiative |
AAC&U recently announced that North Dakota has become the sixth LEAP state. As part of their involvement in the LEAP States Initiative, leaders in North Dakota are organizing a series of campus action and advocacy efforts that champion the value of a liberal education for all college students. Involving participants from North Dakota public, private, and tribal colleges and universities, LEAP North Dakota is sponsoring a series of statewide summits, including one held in fall 2010 at which participants approved a constitution formally establishing a statewide General Education Council based on the LEAP Essential Learning Outcomes. The constitution has been sent to campuses for ratification this year. Participants also held talks on how to address common concerns in general education assessment and transfer.
PKAL News and Meetings
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PKAL Sessions at Annual Meeting to Focus on Integrating Sciences and Humanities |
Project Kaleidoscope (PKAL) will host sessions on interdisciplinary learning in STEM at AAC&U's Annual Meeting, and is cosponsoring a pre-conference symposium, “Integrating the Sciences, Arts, and Humanities: Global Challenges and the Intentional Curriculum.” The symposium will include a welcome by PKAL Executive Director Susan Elrod and small-group discussions on topics such as how colleges and universities can create integrative learning experiences for all students—no matter their major field of study—that promote the essential knowledge and scientific literacy required to successfully navigate life in the twenty-first century. See the entire list of PKAL-affiliated Annual Meeting events online.
Project Highlights
New Coordinating Committee to Lead Broad-Based Effort Advancing Civic Learning and Democratic Engagement
The Global Perspective Institute (GPI) recently announced the names of twelve national leaders appointed to a new coordinating committee that will lead a national effort on civic learning and democratic engagement in higher education, of which AAC&U is an organizing partner. The coordinating committee met for the first time November 17, 2010, and will work during the next eleven months to craft a national action plan to be submitted to the Department of Education with recommendations for action by a variety of national and local stakeholders. To hear advice from a variety of stakeholders, the civic initiative will host on December 13 in Washington, DC, the first of five national roundtable gatherings. This first gathering will focus on organizations, foundations, and groups whose mission promotes differing dimensions of civic learning and democratic practices across a variety of communities. For additional information about the initiative and the full list of coordinating committee members, see www.civiclearning.org.
AAC&U Announces Members of New Global Learning Leadership Council
AAC&U recently announced the members of a new Global Learning Leadership Council (GLLC) formed as part of its ongoing Shared Futures initiative. Members of the GLLC met for the first time during the week of November 15 , and will work together with the thirty-two colleges and universities participating in the latest Shared Futures project, General Education for a Global Century, funded by the Henry Luce Foundation. Read the press release online to learn more about the Global Learning Leadership Council.
Give Students a Compass Project Hosts Meetings in Oregon and Wisconsin
In October and November, AAC&U’s project, Give Students a Compass: A Multi-State Partnership for College Learning, General Education, and Underserved Student Success, hosted two meetings for program participants in Oregon and Wisconsin. The Oregon meeting, “Teaching TALKS: Today’s Academics Linking Knowledge and Skills,” focused on faculty engagement in assessment. Attendees from all seven Oregon University System institutions attended, along with Oregon community college faculty and guests. The Wisconsin meeting, called a UW System Compass Institute, also attracted attendees from all UW system campuses, involved teams working with faculty consultants on campus-specific plans for general education. Both meetings received funding from the Carnegie Corporation of New York and the Lumina Foundation for Education.
Preparing Critical Faculty for the Future Project to Support Emerging Female STEM Faculty
AAC&U recently received a grant from the National Science Foundation's Historically Black Colleges and Universities-Undergraduate Program (HBCU-UP) to support a new project, Preparing Critical Faculty for the Future. The PCFF project will provide professional and leadership development for women of color faculty in science, technology, engineering, mathematics (STEM) and in NSF natural and behavioral science disciplines, and will help improve undergraduate STEM education at HBCUs and beyond. The PCFF project will support women of color faculty in becoming strong academic and administrative leaders, both on campus and within their respective STEM fields. The project will provide these women with the opportunity and the financial support to engage in and influence the national dialogue on improving undergraduate STEM education, and project participants will both contribute to and gain from national efforts to develop and implement innovative strategies and effective practices.
Other AAC&U News
Podcasts Now Available from Undergraduate Research; Diversity and Learning Conferences
AAC&U is pleased to offer audio podcasts of selected sessions from our Network for Academic Renewal conference, "Creativity, Inquiry, and Discovery: Undergraduate Research In and Across the Disciplines," which was held November 11-13, 2010, in Durham, North Carolina, and our "Facing the Divides: Diversity, Learning, and Pathways to Inclusive Excellence" conference, held October 21-23, 2010, in Houston, Texas. For help getting started with podcasting, visit the AAC&U podcast page.
Humanities Advocacy Day Scheduled for March 7–8
The National Humanities Alliance will sponsor its annual Humanities Advocacy Day in conjunction with its 2011 annual meeting. Scheduled for March 7 and 8 in Washington, DC, this event provides supporters of the humanities an opportunity to meet with their elected representatives in the new Congress and work together to communicate the public value of the humanities to policy makers. The event is vital to increasing public support for, and understanding of, the humanities. Online registration is now available for Humanities Advocacy Day. AAC&U is a founding member of the alliance and a cosponsor of the event.
Earn One Free Month by Joining the Associates Program in December
Join AAC&U’s Member Associates Program now, and pay $60 to get thirteen months for the price of twelve. Associates receive all the benefits enjoyed by their official AAC&U member campus representatives, including subscriptions to all AAC&U’s print and online periodicals, notice of calls for proposals for institutes and meetings, and invitations to apply for grant-funded projects and to participate in special AAC&U events. Associates now receive an additional 20 percent discount on the purchase of one to ten copies of a single publication purchased via AAC&U’s online shopping cart. Learn more about this discount online. For more information, please contact Renee Gamache, membership coordinator, at (202) 884-0809 or memberservices@aacu.org.
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Annual Meeting
Global Positioning
Essential Learning, Student Success, and the Currency of U.S. Degrees
January 26-29, 2011
San Francisco, California
Network for Academic
Renewal Conferences:
General Education and Assessment 3.0: Next-Level Practices Now
March 3-5, 2011
Chicago, Illinois
Engaged STEM Learning: From Promising to Pervasive Practices
March 24-26, 2011
Miami, Florida
2011 Summer Institutes
Institute on General Education and Assessment
June 4-8, 2011
San Jose State University, California
Institute on High-Impact Practices and Student Success
June 14-18, 2011
The University of Vermont
Engaging Departments Institute
July 13-17, 2011
The Hotel at Turf Valley,
Ellicott City, Maryland
For more
information on meetings, visit www.aacu.org/meetings/index.cfm
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