Through clandestine means, often in defiance of law and custom, even under threat of violence, African Americans developed what Givens calls a tradition of “fugitive pedagogy”—a theory and practice of Black education in America. There is perhaps no better exemplar of this tradition than Carter G. Woodson—groundbreaking historian, founder of Black History Month, and legendary educator under Jim Crow. Fugitive Pedagogy chronicles Woodson’s efforts to fight against the “mis-education of the Negro” by helping teachers and students see themselves and their mission as set apart from an anti-Black world. Teachers, students, families, and communities worked together, using Woodson’s materials and methods as they fought for power in schools and continued the work of fugitive pedagogy. Forged in slavery and embodied by Woodson, this tradition of escape remains essential for teachers and students today.

Established in 1979 to honor AAC&U’s ninth president, the Frederic W. Ness Book Award recognizes outstanding contributions to the understanding and improvement of liberal education. Recent award winners include The Campus Color Line: College Presidents and the Struggle for Black Freedom by Eddie R. Cole; Jim Crow Campus: Higher Education and the Struggle for a New Southern Social Order by Joy Ann Williamson-Lott; The New Education: How to Revolutionize the University to Prepare Students for a World in Flux by Cathy N. Davidson; Beyond the Skills Gap: Preparing College Students for Life and Work by Matthew T. Hora with Ross J. Benbow and Amanda K. Oleson; and The Aims of Higher Education: Problems of Morality and Justice, edited by Harry Brighouse and Michael McPherson.

The American Association of Colleges & Universities (AAC&U) 2023 Conference on Diversity, Equity, and Student Success, “Can We Handle Truth?” seeks to critically examine existing narratives and lived experiences from our diverse student and educator populations, community partners, and policymakers that may challenge our commonly held beliefs and practices as well as the truth that our institutional structures may hinder efforts for achieving our diversity, equity, and student success goals. We can no longer assume that our intentions to create educational environments where all students and educators can succeed are enough to support higher levels of success. We must explore and embrace the truth that what we have designed may not be working as intended.

We seek both in-person and virtual presenters for this hybrid conference that takes place March 9 – 11, 2023. Help shape conference programming by submitting a proposal for the DESS conference today! Submissions close on November 14 at 11:59 p.m. ET.

The in-person component will be held at the Green Valley Ranch Resort in Henderson, NV (just outside of Las Vegas).

Click here for more information about developing and submitting a proposal, suggested session topics, session formats, and the proposal review criteria.

If you have any questions, please contact conferences@aacu.org.

Submit a proposal.

Join the American Association of Colleges & Universities (AAC&U) for a free webinar on October 25, 2022, 2:00–3:00 PM to learn more about the opportunities presented by the Digital Equity Act as well as concrete ideas and strategies institutions and faculty can employ in service to digital equity and their students.

This webinar will include:

• Data regarding broadband inequities faced by students;
• Opportunities presented by the Digital Equity Act for higher education institutions; and
• Digital practices that faculty and campuses can employ to ensure equitable outcomes for students.

Register.

Some of the article included are:

• Earth Day, Every Day – How campuses are reducing waste, cutting carbon, and maybe even saving the planet, by Ken Budd
• (Green) Actions Speak Louder than Words – A rally call for higher ed to step up environmental efforts by Rachel Perez-Udell
• Divested – The campus movement to shun fossil fuels by Mike De Socio

Read this special issue.

The American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) has released The Effects of Community-Based and Civic Engagement in Higher Education: What We Know and Questions that Remain. This new report synthesizes existing research on a range of widespread teaching and learning practices whose effects on college student outcomes have been extensively examined and documented. Several of these practices, known collectively as “high-impact practices,” or HIPs, engage students in community-based experiences intended to develop their civic capacities. The report focuses primarily on the effects of various forms of community-based and civic engagement in higher education and identifies positive outcomes across six broad areas:

• increased personal and social responsibility
• development of positive mindsets and dispositions
• improved graduation and retention rates
• learning gains
• improved intellectual and practical skills
• increased career-related skills

Funded by a grant from Lumina Foundation, the report highlights empirical trends across studies that met a defined set of criteria for methodological scope and scale intended to speak to greater generalizability of findings. Though hundreds of studies exist with regard to outcomes related to community-based and civic engagement, relatively few studies (53) met the criteria for generalizability. Fewer still (11) specifically address findings for students from demographic groups historically underserved by higher education, and those that do are focused almost exclusively on retention and graduation rates.

Much of the existing research on community-based and civic engagement examines a single community-based practice, most commonly service learning. Far less is known about the effects of global learning and study away, internships, field experiences, and community-based research. Moreover, nearly all measures of outcomes associated with community and civically engaged high-impact practices rely on students’ self-reporting of outcomes.

“Despite the decades-long movement within higher education to develop students’ civic capacities through engagement in community-based experiences, polarization in the United States is worsening and the social fabric of democracy is weakening,” said AAC&U President Lynn Pasquerella. “If we’re to renew and reinvigorate our commitment to the civic and democratic purposes of higher education, we must begin by asking what we know—and don’t know—about our effectiveness in helping students develop the civic capacities needed to sustain our democracy. This new report does just that.”

“A healthy democracy depends on those it governs to be educated, engaged, and able to navigate new, unexpected challenges. The country needs colleges and universities to do this consistently and creatively, yet we have ruled our agendas with anecdotes and single-institution strategies,” said Terri Taylor, strategy director for innovation and discovery at Lumina Foundation. “This report provides essential insights into the national state of play and reveals a clearer path forward for broader and more equitable impact.”

The research synthesis was conducted by Jessica R. Chittum, director of assessment and pedagogical innovation; Kathryn A. E. Enke, secretary to the board and strategist for presidential initiatives; and Ashley P. Finley, vice president for research and senior advisor to the president—all at AAC&U.

The full report is available for download here.

Institutions don’t innovate; individuals working with and for them do. Cutting-edge curricular models emerge when creative educators collaborate to change existing practices and structures. Active and engaging pedagogies are implemented when faculty take risks, one course at a time. Assessment leads to actual change when empowered professionals use their critical thinking skills and methodological chops to identify and act on evidence from the overwhelming amount of datapoints generated on any given campus. Yet, in the era of “Quiet Quitting” and the “Great Resignation,” colleges and universities risk losing the very individuals on whom future institutional success, if not outright survival, depends.

The 2023 Conference on General Education, Pedagogy, and Assessment provides an opportunity to empower and celebrate the work of the myriad change agents who work every day to ensure the continued vitality of the undergraduate educational experience. The conference will highlight innovations from a range of institutions and educational providers designed to meet the needs of students in 2023 and beyond. Whether upending the traditional sixteen-week semester calendar, mixing in hybrid or hyflex teaching, leveraging competency-based approaches and micro-credentialing, or reimagining learning within more traditional contexts, educators from across the global higher education landscape are encouraged not only to showcase their work, but also to share their theories of change and lessons learned.

Throughout the program, there will be opportunities to identify barriers to innovation and to develop concrete strategies for dismantling them—including multiple opportunities to engage with faculty and “alumnae” from the AAC&U Institute on General Education and Assessment. This hybrid event will take place throughout the month of February, kickstarting with the in-person event in New Orleans, followed by virtual events on three successive Wednesdays.

The deadline to submit a proposal is October 24, 2022. Decisions regarding proposals will be sent in late November.

Learn more and submit a proposal.

Designed for those seeking to instantiate ePortfolios beyond a single course or major, this institute will help teams of faculty, staff, and administrators design and implement ePortfolio processes and technologies in large scale adoptions. Campuses and/or systems considering ePortfolios for general education or program-wide purposes, or to capture the full range of the undergraduate student experience, would be among those ideally suited for this institute. This institute also represents an opportunity for a campus to develop formal collaborations between academic and student affairs in the service of student learning and success.

Participating teams will design their own implementation plan for bridging curricular and/or co-curricular learning with ePortfolios. Institute faculty will serve as partners for campus plan development. Campus teams can expect consultative opportunities to interact with Institute faculty virtually throughout the Spring and Fall terms as their plan progresses and is implemented. In July 2023, AAEEBL’s Annual Meeting will provide an opportunity for ePortfolio Institute teams to reconvene face-to-face with select Institute faculty to examine implementation progress and challenges. AAC&U’s 2024 Forum on Open Learning and ePortfolios in January of that year will host closing activities and events for the Institute.

The deadline for applying to the 2023 Institute on ePortfolios is Monday, October 17, 2022.

Learn more and apply.

We are pleased to announce Chrystal A. George Mwangi as our opening plenary speaker. She is a scholar who has been recognized by multiple organizations in higher education and international education for her scholarship and thought leadership, and she is poised to guide a conversation on moving global learning practice from words to action.

We welcome participation from educators from institutions of all types and sizes to share how you have been working to find ways of making your global learning curriculum more inclusive, more diverse, more equitable, and more meaningful to students. At this conference, we will explore ways to put plans into practice.

Register by September 21 to take advantage of early bird savings.

Register now! Early bird savings through November 21, 2022.

Learn more and register.

Becoming a Student-Ready College by Tia Brown McNair, Susan Albertine, Nicole McDonald, and Thomas Major, Jr, and Michelle Asha Cooper explores leaders’ shared responsibilities in advancing student success and provides practical recommendations for educators at all levels.

Learn more.

Nominations are now being accepted.

Eligibility: All doctoral-seeking graduate students who are planning a career in higher education are eligible to be nominated, regardless of academic discipline. Graduate students in fields where the master’s degree is the terminal degree (such as the MFA in art) are also eligible. Students must be nominated by a faculty member or administrator and must hold student status in January 2023.

All nomination materials must be submitted electronically no later than 11:59 pm ET on September 30, 2022.

Learn more.

The public commentary period will close on October 15.

Learn more and take the survey.

The meeting will take place in person, January 18–21, 2023, in San Francisco, California.

Annual Meeting Tracks:

• Advancing Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion
• Demonstrating the Value of Liberal Education
• Engaging in Authentic Assessment
• Fostering Community-Based and Global Engagement
• Involving Non-STEM Disciplines in Undergraduate STEM Reform
• Supporting Curricular Transformation and Innovation in Teaching and Learning
• Educating for Democracy
• Meeting the Holistic Needs of Students, Staff, and Faculty

How to Submit a Proposal

See the Call for Proposals page for additional format and meeting information.

Click here for direct access to the Submission Site.

The Call for Proposals will be open through Monday, August 15, 2022. Decisions regarding proposals will be communicated the 1st week of October.

If you have any questions about the Annual Meeting, please contact conferences@aacu.org.

“The Commission is grateful to HHMI and extremely proud to be positioned to present these podcasts to the undergraduate STEM reform community. We stand with all of the institutions of the HHMI Inclusive Excellence Initiative, and the many others, who are purposeful in their commitments to achieving the full expression of excellence in undergraduate science education,” said Kelly Mack, chair of the Inclusive Excellence Commission and AAC&U vice president for undergraduate STEM education.

Structured to illuminate the processes of organizational learning and institutional change—in real time, as they are happening—each 30- to 60-minute episode of The Excellence Experiment offers a peek into the “lab notebooks” of faculty and institutional leaders actively engaged in the Inclusive Excellence Initiative. Their stories supplement existing knowledge and discourse in the field by showcasing existing organizational change strategies within the context of the practical experiences of institutional change agents. The podcasts capture the compelling and dynamic nature of this work through engaging conversations that explore the experiences, successes, failures, and lessons learned—and yet-to-be-learned.

“There is so much to the work of institutional capacity building that conventional evaluative reports and the research papers don’t capture. These podcasts illuminate the dynamic, ongoing, iterative nature of the work of institutional transformation. Not just the outcomes and impacts of project activities but the processes, practices, transitions, and interruptions that project leaders experience and learn from as they work to identify and eradicate barriers to inclusion in science education,” said Tykeia Robinson, host of The Excellence Experiment podcast, member of the AAC&U Inclusive Excellence Commission, and associate director of research and policy in the AAC&U Office of Undergraduate STEM Education.

The first episode engages all six members of the AAC&U Inclusive Excellence Commission in a grounding conversation about inclusive excellence and the key characteristics of transformative change.

New episodes will be released twice weekly through the month of July. The Excellence Experiment podcasts will be available on iTunes, Spotify, Google Play, and the AAC&U website.

Articles:

• Safe Haven, The rescue of science and learning amid global threats, by Allan E. Goodman, James Robin King, and Martha J. Kanter
• It’s Not a Zero-Sum Game,Ways to promote both freedom of expression and inclusion, by Michelle Deutchman and Elisabeth Yap
• Research Corner: Get Out the Student Vote: Data from the 2020 elections to help campuses get students to the polls in November
• In the Wake of Multiple Pandemics, Community engagement lessons from George Floyd Square, by Tania D. Mitchell
• And more…

Also in this issue: how to embody anti-racist learning methods, the importance of student votes in 2020, what “liberal education” means to our readers, and other stories. And be sure to check out our recent web-exclusive articles.

This informational webinar is designed to help campus leaders ensure that employees at their institutions are aware of their eligibility. Join us for a discussion of the PSLF program and the steps borrowers need to take to benefit from it.

Date and Time: June 28, 2022, 2:00 – 3:00 PM

Learn more and register.

The American Association of Colleges and Universities, a membership organization representing over one thousand higher education institutions in the United States, and PEN America, a hundred-year-old free expression organization, view these developments with alarm. Legislative restrictions on freedom of inquiry and expression violate the institutional autonomy on which the quality and integrity of our system of higher education depends. In the United States, the content of what is taught and discussed in higher education classrooms is shielded from direct governmental control. Colleges and universities are self-governed and self-regulated according to widely accepted principles that are safeguarded by a well-established network of seven regional accreditation agencies.

These agencies play an essential role in upholding the quality, academic integrity, and independence of American universities, and are a linchpin of the United States’ global leadership role in higher education. The accreditors monitor institutions’ adherence to a series of self-governance principles, including freedom from undue political influence. Colleges and universities forced to comply with political edicts governing curricula and classroom discussions may forfeit their eligibility for accreditation, a drastic result that could compromise students’ eligibility for federal financial aid and place the institutions themselves in jeopardy.

Among the principles that guide higher education is that of shared governance, which ensures the appropriate inclusion in institutional decision-making of members of the governing board, administration, faculty, staff, and student body. This principle assigns to the faculty primary responsibility for the academic program for matters related to curricula, instruction, scholarship, and research. The imposition of political restrictions on college and university curricula usurps and unduly constrains this faculty prerogative, substituting ideologically motivated government dictates for subject matter expertise and undermining the integrity of the academic enterprise.

The principle of academic freedom also undergirds all higher education academic environments dedicated to the advancement of knowledge and pursuit of truth. In teaching and learning, as in scholarship and research, the freedom to engage in intellectual debate, and to share ideas and raise questions without fear of retribution or censorship, expands the boundaries of knowledge and drives innovation.

A liberal education extends this freedom to students and invites them into the scholarly community, exposing them to competing ideas, training them in the evaluation of evidence, and empowering them to form independent judgments. This approach to undergraduate education prepares students to become informed and responsible contributors to economic, civic, and community life. Any legislative effort to circumscribe freedom of inquiry and expression in order to hew to political directives and agendas denies students essential opportunities for intellectual growth and development. In doing so, such an effort undermines our society’s democratic future.

This statement is also available online.

Program tracks include:

• Whole-Person Development and Campus Well-Being
• Addressing Racialized Practices
• Curricular and Pedagogical Innovation
• Liberal Education and Democracy
• Global and Civic Learning
• Undergraduate STEM Reform
• Equity and Student Success

Click here for a preview of what our closing plenary speaker, Heather McGhee, had to say about the notion of a “zero sum game” when it comes to racism and inequality during her session “The Sum of Us.” Heather’s is just one of many thought-provoking presentations now available to watch at your convenience.

Within many areas of undergraduate STEM reform, the COVID-19 pandemic has seemingly been declared over, or over enough. And a return to the next, or some new, normal has sparked deep relief. However, for others, the pandemic’s “end” has brought little in the way of relief because the same institutional systems, structures, traditions, and beliefs that privileged some, while disadvantaging others, still exist. The resistance to accept, or even grapple with, this uncomfortable truth has made the need for a different kind of approach to STEM reform that much more urgent.

The American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) and its Project Kaleidoscope (PKAL) invite you to submit a proposal for the annual Transforming STEM Higher Education Conference, which examines the entire range of contemporary challenges to—and opportunities for—STEM higher education reform. All sessions will be delivered in-person, and session presenters will be supported by an onsite AV team and staff to co-create the most engaging attendee experience possible. Click here for more information about the conference.

The deadline for proposal submissions is Monday, July 11, 2022 at 11:59 PM your local time.

Submit a proposal.

At this webinar, campus leaders from four different institutional contexts will discuss practices that have worked to reduce equity gaps in higher education, improve inclusion and belonging for minoritized students, and promote diversity in hiring practices. Panelists are past recipients of the AAC&U-Cengage Inclusion Scholarship, who have been recognized for their outstanding leadership to advance equitable liberal education. They will discuss leadership practices that can be employed by higher education leaders with various roles at institutions around the world.

Date and Time: June 1, 2022, 1:00-2:00 PM

Learn more and register.