AAC&U is pleased to welcome eight new board members, a new slate of officers, and a new board chair, Richard Guarasci, President of Wagner College, to its board of directors.

AAC&U presents the 2018 Frederic W. Ness Book Award to Beyond the Skills Gap: Preparing College Students for Life and Work for its contributions to the understanding and improvement of liberal education. Written by Matthew T. Hora, Ross J. Benbow, and Amanda K. Oleson, Beyond the Skills Gap emphasizes the critical role of educational practice and design in preparing students for the workforce, ensuring future employees develop robust technical expertise, cultivate problem-solving and communication skills, transfer abstract knowledge to real-world situations, and foster a lifelong aptitude for self-directed learning. 

Cross Scholars are recognized for their commitment to academic and civic responsibility and their promise as future leaders of higher education. They will be honored and introduced to the AAC&U community during the Opening Plenary at AAC&U’s 2018 Annual Meeting and will speak in the session, “Faculty of the Future: Voices from the Next Generation.” 

Proposals are due Tuesday, March 6, for AAC&U’s 2018 Network conference, "Global Engagement and Spaces of Practice: Exploring Global Challenges across Disciplinary Boundaries." The conference will be held October 11–13 in Seattle.

AAC&U President Lynn Pasquerella shares a message for our members and colleagues wishing you a happy holiday season. We look forward to our continued work together in fulfilling the enduring promise of American higher education.

We encourage members of our community to join the Truth, Racial Healing & Transformation (TRHT) process with a gift to AAC&U's new TRHT Fund, helping to ensure that the next generation of strategic leaders and critical thinkers is prepared for and focused on dismantling the belief in the hierarchy of human value.

AAC&U and Indiana University’s Center for Postsecondary Research have launched the VALUE Institute, higher education’s most comprehensive resource for student learning assessment that will enable institutions to leverage learning outcomes evidence to improve student success.