This conference, held November 5–7, 2020, will convene STEM faculty, national experts, and thought leaders; share effective STEM teaching and learning strategies; reveal the latest in STEM education research; and deeply engage in topics that are critical to the reform of STEM higher education.

President Lynn Pasquerella will deliver the third annual Malcolm Lester Phi Beta Kappa Lectures on Liberal Arts and Public Life. Focused on the theme “What We Value,” the three lectures will be presented virtually on September 14–15 and made available through a public livestream.

Seven AAC&U member institutions—Miami Dade College, University of Wisconsin–Whitewater, Florida A&M University, Messiah University, University of Florida, University of Texas at Arlington, and Wayne State University—are among the twelve institutions that earned the Excellence in Assessment designation for their commitment to the comprehensive assessment of student learning outcomes as a means to drive internal improvement and advance student success.

AAC&U has joined the American Council of Learned Societies and other higher education associations in releasing a joint statement that calls “on all leaders of institutions of higher education to uphold the central importance of the humanities and the social sciences as you make important decisions that will shape the institutions under your stewardship for years and perhaps generations to come.”

AAC&U and Project Kaleidoscope invite proposals for sessions to the 2020 Transforming STEM Higher Education Virtual Conference. Sessions will examine the entire range of contemporary challenges to—and opportunities for—STEM higher education reform. Proposals for preconference workshops are due by August 19; all other proposals are due by September 15.

As Congress prepares the next COVID-19 supplemental bill, AAC&U joined the American Council on Education and other higher education associations in asking the Senate to include measures to help student loan borrowers by extending and expanding loan relief provisions that were provided in the CARES Act.

AAC&U joined the American Council on Education and other higher education associations in sending a letter to the Department of Homeland Security to follow up on the withdrawn July 6 Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) directive. The associations asked for clarity regarding the status of incoming international students and stressed the need for flexibility for international students and institutions during the global pandemic.