2005 Conference Description, Program, and Resources

2:00 - 5:00 p.m.

Pre-conference Workshops

Workshop #1

A Better Way to Design General Education (pdf)
Participants learned about a model of curriculum development based on a "design team." Specific design processes and practices, grounded in theories of organizational change, were examined. From inception to implementation, from "deep dives" to "group think," this model can enable a more efficient design process that results in a better quality general education curriculum.
Diane Pike, Director, Center of Teaching and Learning and Professor of Sociology, Augsburg College

Workshop #2

General Education Essentials: Making Excellence Inclusive
Workshop participants focused on how a general education curriculum can embody and express inclusiveness in its content, through its pedagogical practices, and by its co-curricular connections. The workshop also introduced AAC&U's newest initiative, "Making Excellence Inclusive."
Alma Clayton-Pedersen, Vice President, Office of Education and Institutional Renewal and Co-director, Network for Academic Renewal, Daniel Hiroyuki Teraguchi, Program and Research Associate, AAC&U; and Eric Newhall, Director of CORE and Professor of English and Comparative Literary Studies, Occidental College

Workshop #3

Collaborative Leadership for Curricular Change
Ann S. Ferren, Professor of Education and AAC&U Senior Fellow, Radford University

Workshop #4

Options for Assessing General Education: From Setting Objectives to Engaging Scholarship
Trudy W. Banta, Professor of Higher Education & Vice Chancellor for Planning and Institutional Improvement, and Sharon Hamilton, Chancellor's Professor of English and Founding Director of the Center on Integrating Learning, Indiana University Purdue University-Indianapolis

7:00 - 8:30 p.m.

Keynote Address

Assessment as Catalyst to Deepen Student Learning
Dr. Maki explored assessment principles and practices that promote students' abilities to integrate, apply, transfer, and synthesize learning across their entire undergraduate education and experience.
Peggy L. Maki, Educational Consultant, Assessment Series Editor, Stylus Publishing, LLL, and Assessment Department Editor, About Campus

8:30 - 9:30 p.m.

Poster Sessions and Reception

Information Literacy through Web-based Training and the ACRL Standards
This poster session described an information literacy (IL) web-based training (WBT) program based on the Association of College and Research Libraries information literacy standards and incorporates a strong formative assessment component.
M. Karen Jogan, Professor of Spanish & Director of Planning and Assessment, Rosemary L. Deegan, Library Director, and Sandra L. Stump, Head of Reference & Systems, Library, Albright College

Designing a Quantitative Literacy Course that Satisfies General Education Objectives
Fred Peskoff, Associate Professor of Mathematics, City University of New York - Borough of Manhattan Community College

A Values and Skills Approach to General Education
Catherine Rainwater, Associate Professor of Biology, Our Lady of the Lake University

General Education: Prescription for Student Success
Debra Gonsher, Professor of Communication, and Kathleen Williams, Professor of History, Bronx Community College of the City University of New York

9:00 - 10:00 a.m.

Featured Sessions

Writing Across the Curriculum: A Campus-Wide Commitment (ppt)
The presenters in this session explored: a) ways of creating faculty interest in integrating writing in their departments and courses; and b) best practices for fostering and assessing students' cumulative gains in writing, both in different disciplines and in interdisciplinary programs.
Jonathan Monroe, Professor of Comparative Literature, Associate Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, and Director of the John S. Knight Institute for Writing in the Disciplines, Cornell University, and Carolyn A. Haynes, Director of the Honors Program and Professor of Interdisciplinary Studies, Miami University of Ohio
Moderator: Carol Schneider, President, AAC&U

Quantitative Literacy: Everybody's Orphan, Everybody's Business (pdf)
This session explored the concept of QL, argued for its importance for all students no matter their areas of concentration, and discussed ways of teaching and assessing QL.
Lloyd Bond, Senior Scholar, Carnegie Foundation for the Advance of Teaching, and Judith Moran, Associate Professor of Quantitative Studies and Director of the Aetna Life and Casualty Foundation Mathematics Center, Trinity College
Moderator: Andrea Leskes, Vice President, Office of Education and Quality Initiatives, AAC&U

10:30 a.m. - Noon

Concurrent Sessions

Pathway 1

What Does It Mean To Be An Educated Person? Essential Dialogue for General Education Reform (ppt)
What is an educated person? What are key activities colleges and universities should undertake to help us do a better job of helping our students become educated persons? How do first-year initiatives and general education fit with these questions? This session was framed by experiences at SJSU.
Gail G. Evans, Associate Dean of Undergraduate Studies, Emily Wughalter, MUSE (Metropolitan University Scholar's Experience) Director, and Annette Nellen, Chair, Academic Senate, San Jose State University

Pathway 1

Incorporating Math Across the Curriculum (ppt)
This seminar (pdf) examined the merits of a "Math Across the Curriculum" program, discussed its history and rationale, and engaged participants in a discussion of the role and extent of mathematics in the general education curriculum
Donald Read, Assistant Professor of Business and Information Systems, City University of New York Bronx Community College

Pathway 1

Creating Empowered College Readers and Writers: A Core Text in the Linked Curriculum (pdf)
Panelists discussed engaging and challenging students who lack strong connections to academia or fully formed economic views through reading, writing and outside research assignments based on Ehrenreich's book, in order to foster "intentional learners" and a developmental learning community.
Edward (Ned) McGuire, Learning Specialist for Reading and Writing, Academic Achievement Center, Laurel Santini, Learning Specialist for Reading and Writing, and Melanie Morgon, Assistant Professor of Developmental Writing, Academic Achievement Center, Massachusetts Bay Community College

Pathway 1

Improving Student Writing and Thinking through Assessment (ppt)
By using the Cognitive Level and Quality of Writing Assessment, interdisciplinary teams from a research extensive institution identified weaknesses in students writing and thinking skills. The findings, revealed from the analytic and thinking scales, directed improvements in general education during review and revision of the curriculum.
Teresa L. Flateby, Director, Testing and Evaluation, University of South Florida

Pathway 2

Valuing Literacy in Science and Math: New Assessment Instruments for General Education (ppt)
Support from the National Science Foundation is enabling the development of inventories that will allow instructors to measure the value students' place on math and science, and in particular, whether those values are affected by instruction. Session facilitators described this project and shared the results of initial administrations.
Bruce Callen, Associate Professor and Chair of Physics, Donald Deeds, Professor of Biology, and Vickie Luttrell, Associate Professor of Psychology, Drury University

Pathway 3

Revision of General Education: Pathways to Success
This seminar explored how campuses can work successfully toward developing core curriculum revision that respects the institution's character while reflecting the best practices and scholarship of general education. Session facilitators reviewed some of the features of curriculum revisions across the country and used Bridgewater State College as one of the case studies.
Rita Miller, Associate Dean of Arts and Sciences, Ronald Pitt, Associate Vice President of Academic Affairs, and Howard London, Dean of Arts and Sciences, Bridgewater State College

Pathway 5

Competing Imperatives: General Education at Research Institutions
James Smith Allen, Director, University Core Curriculum, Ralph Gerald Nelms, Director of the Writing Program, and Yvonne K. Williams, Associate Director, Center for Basic Skills, Southern Illinois University Carbondale

2:00 - 3:00 p.m.

Featured Session

Civic Engagement and Social Responsibility: Renewing Public Consciousness in a Privatized World
This session sought to expand familiar theoretical and practical definitions of civic engagement and social responsibility in light of educating students in today's complex contexts.
Elizabeth K. Minnich, Professor, Union Institute, and Joseph F. Jordan, Associate Professor and Director of the Stone Center for Black Culture and History, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Moderator: Caryn McTighe Musil, Vice President, Office of Diversity, Equity, and Global Initiatives, AAC&U

3:15 - 4:15 p.m.

Concurrent Sessions

Pathway 1

General Education Essentials: Civic Engagement, Diversity, and Global Learning (ppt)
Drawing on AAC&U's work with colleges and universities across the country who are designing a general education program to help students to live responsibly in their multicultural, interdependent world, this session focused on some of the most promising curricular approaches for delivering an effective general education.
Caryn McTighe Musil, Senior Vice President, Office of Diversity, Equity, and Global Initiatives, and Daniel Hiroyuki Teraguchi, Program and Research Associate, AAC&U

Pathway 2

Improving General Education through Assessment and Electronic Portfolios
Oral Roberts University's new student learning outcomes (pdf) and ePortfolio are helping improve ORU's general education program.
David R. Connor, Associate Dean of Arts & Sciences, and Mark R. Hall, Chair of School of LifeLong Education, Oral Roberts University

Pathway 3

A Principle-Based Approach to Implementing and Assessing General Education
Sharon Jean Hamilton, Associate Dean of the Faculties, Center on Integrating Learning, Trudy Banta, Vice Chancellor of Planning and Institutional Improvement, and Scott Evenbeck, Dean of University College, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis

Pathway 3

General Education in an International Context (pdf)
The American University of Rome has developed an innovative general education program which focuses on its role as an American institution in Rome. Session facilitators demonstrated how to design a program that reflects the environment and gives the university a distinctive identity.
Valerie Ann Higgins, Coordinator of General Education, and Robert A. Marino, Provost, American University of Rome

Pathway 4

Faculty and Administrators Working Together to Achieve Significant Curricular Reform (ppt)
This seminar explored how faculty and administrators can collaborate effectively to achieve significant curricular reform. The discussion focused on a case study in general education reform at Iowa State University called ISUComm.
View handouts. (pdf)
Howard N. Shapiro, Professor of Mechanical Engineering, and Michael T. Mendelson, Professor of English, Iowa State University

Pathway 5

Intentional Collaborations Among Academic and Student Affairs for First-Year Experience Program Assessment
The session facilitators discussed the process and results of an 18-month self-study of the FYE at their institution. They emphasized the intentional collaborations between academic affairs and student affairs personnel to conduct the assessment and the resulting benefits.
Leon C. Book, Director, First Year Experience, School of Graduate and University Studies, Fred T. Janzow, Vice Provost, and David Starrett, Interim Dean of University Studies and Director, Center for Scholarship on Teaching and Learning, Southeast Missouri State University

Pathway 5

Raising Student Expectations: What Students Know About Liberal and General Education and What We Can Do About It
This session featured findings from recent focus groups with students and prospective students commissioned by AAC&U as part of its new initiative, Liberal Education and America's Promise. Focus group findings reveal a wide gap between what students know about the aims of liberal and general education and what AAC&U members' highest aspirations are in these areas.
Debra Humphreys, Vice President, Office of Communication and Public Affairs, AAC&U

4:45 - 5:45 p.m.

Concurrent Sessions

Pathway 1

Eliminating Artificial Distinctions Between Liberal Arts and Professional Education (ppt)
The session addressed a broad-based student survey about the knowledge and competencies students identify as critical and valuable for their life as effective and productive citizens of modern society. The list of knowledge and competencies includes knowledge of financial markets, savings, and investment traditionally excluded from general education.
Otto Hsifeng Chang, Associate Dean, College of Business and Public Administration, and J. Milton Clark, Dean of Undergraduate Studies, California State University San Bernardino

Pathway 2

Engaging Faculty in the Purposes of General Education and the Assessment of Student Learning Outcomes (ppt)
This session addressed how institutions can embed assessment throughout the general education curriculum. Facilitators also addressed how implementation of assessment can engage faculty in more thoughtful consideration of goals and purposes of general education and how this new awareness can make student learning outcomes important in campus-wide discussions of reorganization of undergraduate education.
View the Assessing Student Learning Outcomes in Integrative Studies Web site.
Duncan Sibley, Director of the Center for Integrative Studies - Science, Mark Sullivan, Associate Professor of Music, and Suzanne Wilson, Professor of Teacher Education, Michigan State University

Pathway 2

Conducting an Assessment Audit of General Education Courses to Identify Embedded Assignments
This session focused on the challenges encountered by the faculty committee assessing general education at Northern Arizona University.
Blase S. Scarnati, Chair, Liberal Studies Committee, Cynthia A. Conn, Associate Director, Office of Academic Assessment, and Bruce E. Fox, Director, Honors Program, Northern Arizona University,

Pathway 2

Measuring Qualitative Attributes: Using Rubrics To Assess University Learning Goals
Martha Alcock, Interim Director of Faculty Development, Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching, and Julia To Dutka, Associate Provost, Capital University

Pathway 3

A General Education Residency for Sophomores: Integrating Knowledge Across Disciplines
The Tutorial College is an intensive year-long residential program for sophomores that affirms the value and goals of general education. The panel elaborated on the vision and objectives of the Tutorial College, the challenges and rewards of participation in the program (for faculty and students, respectively), logistical issues (including the institutional challenges of mounting the program annually), and the means for critically assessing the program's educational merit and effectiveness over time.
Margo V. Perkins, Associate Professor of English & American Studies, Dan Lloyd, Professor of Philosophy, and Paul Renaud, Visting Assistant Professor of Marine Sciences, Trinity College

Pathway 4

Creating Coherence through Collaboration: A Statewide Initiative for General Education
Laci L. Talley, Instructor of English, Baton Rouge Community College, Kevin Gaither, Chair of Language Studies, South Louisiana Community College, Lyn Koppel, Dean of Arts and Sciences, Nunez Community College, Fran Moss, Instructor of Mathematics, L.E. Fletcher Technical Community College, Jerry Pinsel, Louisiana Community and Technical College System Vice President for Community College Services, and Mary Spicer, Coordinator of Developmental and General Education, Louisiana Delta Community College

Pathway 5

A Case For Incremental General Education Reform
John M. Hauth, General Education Coordinator, and Kenneth W. Borland, Interim Provost and VIce President for Academic Affairs, East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania

8:00 - 9:00 a.m.

Continental Breakfast and Roundtable Discussions

The Role of Service-Learning in Increasing Student Engagement (pdf)
This roundtable discussion considered the pros and cons of embedding service learning opportunities in general education as a way of increasing student engagement, and student learning.
View more about service-learning at the University of Georgia.
Patricia L. Kalivoda, Associate Vice President for Public Service and Outreach, Art N. Dunning, Vice President for Public Service and Outreach, and Laura Moyer, Graduate Student, University of Georgia

Toward an Integrative Assessment Process for Improved Faculty Participation in General Education
Josef M. Broder, Assistant Dean for Academic Affairs, College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, and Ann R. Crowther, Associate Vice President for Instruction, University of Georgia

Embedding General Education Assessment
Rollins College has been developing a system of goal oriented and course embedded assessments for its undergraduate general education program. This discussion included a brief look at this history, the construction of goals and embedded assessments, and the benefits and difficulties of developing and instituting such a system. The database Rollins has developed for tracking the current assessment measures was also discussed.
General Education at Rollins College
Carol J. Lauer, Professor of Anthropology and Former Coordinator of General Education, Rollins College

Assessing the Impact of a Freshman General Education Program: From Student Self-Reports to Direct Assessment (pdf)
As governmental and accrediting bodies continue to emphasize educational effectiveness and quality, we must consider new ways of evaluating student learning outcomes. This roundtable explored how one institution is moving from student self-reports to direct assessment of student learning in a freshman general education program.
Paula Zeszotarski, Postdoctoral Scholar, Office of Undergraduate Evaluation and Research, University of California Los Angeles

The Challenges of General Education Area-based Assessment (pdf)
Participants discussed models of area-based and/or integrated general education assessment, with a particular focus on Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne (IPFW), where students can select courses from core areas.
Erin Frew, Director of Assessment, and Steven T. Sarratore, Associate Vice Chancellor for Academic Programs, Indiana University Purdue University Fort Wayne

Integrating Online Library Instruction Throughout the Curriculum
Beth Jensen, Professor of English, Georgia Perimeter College, and Claudia Shorr, Reference Librarian, Gwinnett University Center

Connecting Assessment, Teaching Practices, and Student Learning
Kathleen Warner, Director of Science and Associate Collegiate Professor, Christina M. Sax, Collegiate Professor and Assistant Dean, Social, Behavioral, Natural, and Mathematical Sciences, and Patricia Martner-Hewes, Collegiate Faculty in Biology, University of Maryland University College

Developing a Culture of Engagement in the Assessment of Liberal Education (ppt)
Participants discussed best practices to encourage active and sustained participation of faculty in academic assessment.
View executive summary. (pdf)
View Liberal Studies Content Analysis Instrument. (pdf)
Bruce E. Fox, Director, Honors Program, Cynthia Conn, Coordinator, Academic Assessment, and Blase S. Scarnati, Chair, Liberal Studies Committee, Northern Arizona University

An Enrollment Management Model for Campus-wide Investment in Signature Programs
William J. Fritz, Associate Provost, and Nannette Evans Commander, Director of Undergraduate Studies, Georgia State University

Sharing Responsibility for Learning with Integrated Skills Reinforcement
Phyllis Read, Associate Professor of English, City University of New York, Bronx Community College

Facing the Challenge of External Constituencies to General Education Reform
Bud Warner, Dean of Academic Programs, Presbyterian College

9:00 - 10:15 a.m.

Plenary Session

Assuring the Quality of Education: Accreditors and Institutions Working Together
Jerry Gaff, Senior Fellow, AAC&U , Kathryn Aberle, Associate Executive Director, Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET), John O. Dwyer, Associate Executive Director, Southern Association of Colleges and Universities, and John P. Nichols, NEH Distinguished Teaching Professor, Saint Joseph's College

10:45 a.m. - Noon

Concurrent Sessions

Pathway 1

The Aims of General Education: One System's Effort to Facilitate Student Learning Throughout the System (ppt)
This presentation explored the ways in which the University System of Georgia, a system of two-year colleges, four-year universities and research institutions, committed to strengthening general education across the system. Participants considered how a system of 34 very diverse institutions has managed to implement some of the principles of Greater Expectations system-wide.
Dorothy D. Zinsmeister, Senior Associate for Academic Affairs, University of Georgia System, James Burran, President, Dalton State College; Robert Haney, Chair, Regents' Administrative Committee on Institutional Effective (RACIE) and Executive Assistant to the President, Georgia College & State University; Cathy Hudson, Associate Vice Chancellor, Strategic Research and Analysis, and Tonya Lam, Associate Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs, University System of Georgia

Pathway 1

A Meaningful and Coherent Experience: Publicizing the Goals of Student Learning to Achieve Faculty and Student Ownership
Allen P. Dupont, Director of General Education Assessment, North Carolina State University, and Marilee Bresciani, Assistant Vice President of Institutional Assessment, Texas A&M University

Pathway 2

Using Assessment Data for Continuous Improvement in General Education (ppt)
This session addressed the collection, analysis, and use of assessment data from the perspectives of individual departments and the institution as a whole. The relationship of data to critical issues in general education, including student mastery of basic skills, and ways to surmount obstacles encountered in utilizing data were also discussed.
Linda Pomerantz-Zhang, Director, Enhancing Critical Literacy Project, Sue Schaar, Associate Professor of Teacher Education, and Cyril Edward Zoerner III, Professor of English, California State University, Dominguez Hills

Pathway 2

Assessing Critical Thinking Across the Curriculum (ppt)
Drawing upon research into good practices, Dr. Ratcliff described options in assessing critical thinking as students first engage and enter into general education, as they progress, and as they complete their program. Curricular options will be illustrated by cases and by results from the AAC&U National Study of General Education.
James L. Ratcliff, Consultant, Performance Associates Postsecondary Consulting

Pathway 4

Online Internal Grant Process: An Effective Means to Infuse and Sustain General Education Goals (ppt)
This session outlined the criteria and features of the University of Delaware's online internal grant process. It was designed to infuse the university's general education goals into the departmental curricula, to ensure their sustainability, and to have faculty take ownership of the general education curriculum.
Gabriele Bauer, Teaching Consultant, Center for Teaching Effectiveness, Martha Carothers, Faculty Director, General Education Initiative and Center for Teaching Effectiveness, and Catherine Davies, Assistant Professor, Animal and Food Sciences, University of Delaware

Pathway 5

General Education Change: Shared Perspectives from Regional Comprehensive Universities
This seminar brought together change agents from RCUs to exchange experiences, commiserations, and inspirations related to general education reform.
Steven D. Verhey, Assistant Professor of Biology and Chair of the Faculty Senate General Education Committee, Central Washington University, John Sollinger, Assistant Professor of Biology/General Education, Southern Oregon University, and Linda Beath, Associate Vice President for Undergraduate Studies, Central Washington University

Pathway 5

Administrative Problem-solving for New General Education Administrators
William Badley, Past President of CAGLS, Director of General Education, Middle Tennessee State University, Bill Jenkins, Interim Executive Director of CAGLS, Coordinator of General Education, Youngstown State University, Fred Janzow, CAGLS Board Member, Dean, School of University Studies, Southeast Missouri State University, and Emily J. Johnson, President of CAGLS, Director of General Education, University of Wisconsin - La Crosse
Sponsored by CAGLS

1:30 - 2:30 p.m.

Concurrent Sessions

Pathway 1

Developing Assurance of Learning Objectives in General Education
This panel discussion focused on the challenges/opportunities encountered during the process of developing learning outcomes and designing an assessment plan (pdf) for KSU's General Education Program in association with the Assurance of Learning process.
View General Education at Kennesaw State University.
Marlene R. Sims, Associate Professor of Mathematics, Mary Lou Frank, Dean of Undergraduate and University Studies & Professor of Psychology, Valerie Whittlesey, Assistant Vice President for Academic Affairs, Amy Howton, Instructor of Health, Physical Education and Sport Science, Jan R. Phillips, Instructor of Communication and General Education Coordinator, and Tom Doleys, Assistant Professor of Political Science, Kennesaw State University

Pathway 1

Creating Coherent Baccalaureate Programs Across Institutions: Assuring Quality for Transfer Students
Nancy Shapiro, Associate Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, University System of Maryland, and Robert Shoenberg, Senior Fellow, AAC&U

Pathway 2

Assessing Connections Between Institutional Values and Student Learning (ppt)
This session explored making and assessing connections between student learning and core institutional values, using SIUE's Mexica Project as an exemplar for understanding how general values and objectives such as openness and valuing diversity can be assessed.
David J. Sill, Associate Provost, and Laura Strand, Associate Professor of Art and Design, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville

Pathway 3

Critical Inquiry and Cross-disciplinary Literacies as Instruments for Knowledge Construction
Rebecca S. Blair, Coordinator of Inquiry Studies and Senior Lecturer in English, and Gillian S. Gremmels, College Librarian, Wartburg College

Pathway 5

Assessing the Shared Learning Goals of Student and Academic Affairs (ppt)
Examples of shared goals by general education and student affairs include citizenship, diversity, service, and leadership. This session will outline strategies to identify and assess these common goals in a way that validates the assessment process.
Sonia V. Gonsalves, Professor of Psychology, Jennifer Lyke, Assistant Professor of Psychology, and Joseph Marchetti, Vice President for Student Affairs, Richard Stockton College of New Jersey

Pathway 5

Faculty Ownership at a Two-Year College: General Education and Grassroots Assessment
Virginia M. Carson, Vice President for Academic Affairs, and Laura Musselwhite, Associate Professor of History, Floyd College

2:45 - 3:45 p.m.

Closing Plenary

Our Students' Best Work: Innovation, Commitment, and Accountability for Student Achievement
Alma R. Clayton-Pedersen, Vice President, Office of Education and Institutional Renewal, AAC&U