AAC&U in the News

• July 18, 2008 -- An article in Inside Higher Ed describes the "congruence between West Point’s designated learning outcomes and those identified in AAC&U’s Liberal Education and America’s Promise (LEAP) project, which stresses a need to broadly educate students so they can learn and adapt as the world, and career paths, change."
  
  
• May 2008 -- In asking how psychologists can “develop learning outcome measures for liberal education,” an article in the American Psychological Association's journal cites the LEAP Essential Learning Outcomes as one model. The article also quotes Robert Sternberg, dean of the School of Arts and Sciences at Tufts University in Massachusetts and AAC&U board member. When speaking of the LEAP initiative, the author writes, “What Sternberg likes about the model is its comprehensiveness: Instead of focusing merely on test scores and grades, he says, the LEAP approach also includes such outcomes as creativity, ethical behavior and citizenship.”
  
  
• May 11, 2008 -- Concerned that we "force our kids to abandon their dreams and choose a career path before they can even drive,” Alison Lobron from the Boston Globe magazine examines career academies. She paraphrases Debra Humphreys when writing, “Humphreys also worries that low-income teenagers - who are most likely to attend a career academy - will be exposed to just one career field at precisely the age when they should be exposed to many.”
  
  
• February 27, 2008 -- Carol Schneider was paraphrased in a Business Week article about liberal arts colleges adding more finance course options for students. She cited the importance of real-world applications and internship opportunities.
  
  
• January 31, 2008 -- The leadership statement jointly released by AAC&U and CHEA made headlines in higher education. "Calling Out Colleges on Student Learning" in Inside Higher Ed considers the varying sides of the assessment and accountability debate, focusing on the AAC&U and CHEA leadership statement. In addition to quoting from the statement itself, the article acknowledges the history behind the statement in light of the Spellings Commission, references the current state of the accountability debate, and notes the endorsement of Lamar Alexander, the former chairman of the secretary’s Commission on the Future of Higher Education. The release of the statement was also covered by the Chronicle of Higher Education in "After Escaping the Imposition of Standardized Measures in 2007, Colleges Begin Worrying About 2008."
  
  
• January 23, 2008 -- The release of “How Should Colleges Assess and Improve Student Learning? Employers’ Views on the Accountability Challenge” (pdf) -- a poll commissioned by AAC&U -- generated several news stories. USA Today's story, “Employers want new way to judge graduates beyond tests, grades,” featured major findings and quoted Carol Schneider and Roberts Jones. It also generated nearly 200 online comments, prompting reporter Mary Beth Marklein to write a follow-up post on her blog. Inside Higher Ed reported on the  “Mixed Grades for Grads and Assessment," while the Chronicle of Higher Education stated, “Tests Aren't Best Way to Evaluate Graduates' Skills, Business Leaders Say in Survey.” The poll was also covered on many Web sites and blogs -- even the national German Public Radio station.
  
  
• September 27, 2007 -- A story exclusive to Inside Higher Ed reports on the $2.4 million grant from FIPSE awarded to AAC&U, the American Association of State Colleges and Universities, and the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges.  It quotes Carol Geary Schneider and notes that AAC&U is taking the lead on the project. 
  
  
• September 19, 2007 – An article in the Washington Times about the recently established Center for Excellence in Higher Education (the group’s goal is to help donors target their money more effectively to their interests and then monitor the results of the donations) closed with commentary from Terry Rhodes. The reporter stated that Rhodes’ concern was that “CEHE is spreading a faulty message that colleges routinely don't use donor gifts properly,” quoting him as saying such abuse is "’really quite rare.’"
  
  
• September 18, 2007 -- An article in USA Today reported how college students performed on an Intercollegiate Studies Institute civic knowledge/American history test, detailing the nation-wide low scores as well as the low scores from students at perceived top-tier schools. Debra Humphreys was reported as believing that a “civics test may not be the best measure of civic engagement," and she also pointed out that "It would be wrong to conclude from this study that the leadership of these selective schools is not committed to educating their students about these subjects."
  
  
• September 13, 2007 – A segment about high school students choosing a major on Channel One, a station aired in high school classrooms in the mornings, included commentary from Debra Humphreys, stating that it’s “too early in their academic career” to narrow their focus.
  
  
• September 11, 2007 – A letter from Carol Schneider was printed in response to the Wall Street Journal's September 5th editorial page commentary, “Our Compassless Colleges.” In her letter, Schneider wrote, “In fact, the report that is guiding the LEAP initiative, College Learning for the New Global Century, suggests a new set of Principles of Excellence, including the idea that all colleges should “Give Students a Compass” for their educational journey – a compass that will help them obtain the most important outcomes of a good liberal education, regardless of their institution or choice of major.”
  
  

• See Video: AAC&U on To The Contrary

  September 9, 2007 -- PBS news commentary program To the Contrary interviewed Debra Humphreys about the problems inherent in asking high school students to select a major. The diverse group of panelists agreed with Humphreys' endorsement of a liberal education, surprising themselves by finding "something we can all agree on."

• September 4, 2007 -- USA Today invited AAC&U and Debra Humphreys to write the opposing op-ed piece about choosing a major in high school. "Instead of forcing students into narrow vocational tracks," Humphreys wrote, "we should, instead, be providing all students a challenging liberal education so that they can continue to learn throughout their lives."
  
  
• September 2, 2007 -- NBC Nightly News did a feature on high-school students choosing majors and interviewed Debra Humphreys for the segment. "Narrowing students focus too early is not the best way to prepare them for an economy that is changing so rapidly," she said on camera.
  
  
• September 2, 2007 -- An Associated Press reporter interviewed Debra Humphreys for the article, "New question for high school students: What's your major?" Humphreys was quoted in the closing lines of the article, saying that students need "more academic rigor, not specific concentration for jobs whose skill requirements are likely to change."
  
  
• September 1, 2007 -- An article in the Louisville Courier Journal references AAC&U in relation to the University of Louisville's effort to raise the profile of its liberal arts college.
  
  
• August 30, 2007 -- Carol Geary Schneider expressed her opinions on common reading programs in a USA Today article on August 30, 2007. "When students have more active involvement in school, when they have closer relationships with faculty, they're more likely to persist and more likely to graduate,” she noted. "The common readings are a signal to students that this is going to be a very intentional, very engaging first year of college." The article went on to cite a common reading program at New York City’s LaGuardia Community College, an example featured in AAC&U’s quarterly, Peer Review last summer.
  
  
• August 28, 2007 -- A feature article in Hispanic Outlook, "Broader Skill Sets Needed in Global Economy" (pdf, August 27, 2007) reports on the findings and recommendations from AAC&U's report, College Learning for the New Global Century.
  
  
• August 23, 2007-- AAC&U’s Core Commitments initiative was featured in the Christian Science Monitor’s article, “Colleges stress moral leadership,” quoting Caryn McTighe Musil as saying that civic, ethical, and moral development “should be no longer optional” for college students. Additionally, the article mentioned that “Projects like the AAC&U's are also building in attempts to measure whether various efforts on campus are actually leading to the intended outcomes.”
  
  
• August 19, 2007--Debra Humphreys provided expert commentary on the Fox News Channel's Weekend Live on students declaring a major in high school topic, remarking that students need a broad, liberal education. When asked if she thinks students are under increasing pressure to perform, she responded that while that might be the case for students at the most elite high schools going to the most elite colleges, we should be more focused on all students being able to go to college.
  
  
• August 16, 2007--Debra Humphreys, AAC&U vice president for communications and public affairs, was quoted in a front-page New York TImes article about students being asked to choose a major in high school. In the article she was quoted as saying, “A lot of jobs that high school students are likely to have 10 years from now don’t yet exist, so preparing too narrowly will not serve them well.”
  
  
• January 11, 2007--AAC&U's LEAP Report, College Learning for the New Global Century, was covered in daily papers like USA Today and the San Antonio Express, as well as education dailies like InsideHigherEd and the Chronicle of Higher Education (subscription required).
  
  
• March 2006--The University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire, a participant in LEAP pilot state activities, was featured on The West Side, a program of Wisconsin Public Radio.  The session discussed the merits of a liberal education in the UW-Eau Claire system. 
  
  
• February 2006--USA Today covers a report about the dramatic increase in the percentage of college students who do not identify their racial/ethnic background on college admissions forms. The report was published by the James Irvine Foundation Campus Diversity Initiative and coordinated by the Association of American Colleges and Universities. 
  
  
• January 2006--Inside Higher Ed reports on AAC&U's annual meeting and the LEAP campaign in an article, "Promoting Liberal Education."
  
  
• January 2005--AAC&U's Campaign for Liberal Education and America's Promise covered in an article entitled "Redefining Liberal Education" in Inside Higher Education. Also see the February 2005 follow-up Op-Ed "An Urgent Agenda," by AAC&U President Carol Schneider.
  
  
• October 2004--AAC&U's Greater Expectations report quoted in The Atlantic Monthly article on the new integration of liberal and professional education, 'The Third Way,' by Northeastern University President Richard Freeland.
  
  
• October 14, 2003—"Rethinking Thinking" by Mark Clayton. The Christian Science Monitor cites Greater Expectations as part of a movement that has "some educators...asking students to close their textbooks and do a little more reflecting."
  
  
• May 19, 2003—"'Hope is on the Horizon' for Higher Education: AAC&U Report Cites Need for Change and Progress" by Michelle Adams. (PDF, reprinted with permission from The Hispanic Outlook in Higher Education, 5/19/03 issue)
  
  
• May 4, 2003-Newsday.com, "The Cheated Undergraduate," editorial by Stanley N. Katz, director of the Princeton University Center for Arts and Cultural Policy Studies, cites AAC&U's Greater Expectations report.
  
  
• November 17, 2002-The Indianapolis Star, "Great Expectations for College Achievement," Editorial by Bobby Fong, president, Butler University, and Carol Geary Schneider, AAC&U president.
  
  
• Campus-Community Dialogues about liberal education featured in The Hartford Courant
  
  
• News About AAC&U Report—Greater Expectations: A New Vision for Learning as a Nation Goes to College
  
  
• AAC&U advises U.S. News and World Report—2003 rankings include information about academic programs that enhance learning
  
  
• Debra Humphreys, AAC&U vice president for Communications and Public Affairs, is featured in Congressional Quarterly Researcher's special issue on "Grade Inflation." The issue is available online only to subscribers. For subscription information, see http://store.yahoo.com/cq-press/specialoffers.html
  
  
• Member Campus, Florida Gulf Coast University's Involvement in Presidents' CALL Featured in Local Paper
  
  
• Andrea Leskes, AAC&U vice president for Education and Quality Initiatives, discusses AAC&U's Greater Expectations Initiative on Public Interest with Kojo Nnamdi on Friday March 29, 2002.
  
  
• Letter to the Editor of The Chronicle of Higher Education from Carol Geary Schneider, president of AAC&U, commenting on the American Council of Trustees and Alumni Report, "Defending Civilization" (January 11, 2002)