Contact: Debra Humphreys
Fred Winter
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Project Kaleidoscope and the Association of American Colleges and Universities Announce New Partnership To Improve Undergraduate Science Achievement for All Students

Washington, DC—November 6, 2008—Two national organizations announced today that they are joining forces to advance and amplify work on improving undergraduate education in mathematics, technology, and the various fields of science and engineering (STEM) in colleges and universities across the country. The Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) and Project Kaleidoscope (PKAL) share a strong conviction that these fields are essential to liberal learning in the 21st century, and that undergraduates in today’s STEM labs and classrooms should gain both the skills and knowledge important in a wide range of contemporary careers and become responsible citizens in a complex and challenging world.

This partnership between PKAL and AAC&U will strengthen both entities by increasing the opportunities for all those involved in AAC&U and in PKAL to learn from one another and from decades of work in both organizations designed to improve student achievement of important learning outcomes.

“I and other members of AAC&U’s board of directors welcome this opportunity to bring together in partnership two organizations with shared agendas and a powerful vision for learning in the 21st century,” said David Oxtoby, president of Pomona College and member of the executive committee of AAC&U’s board of directors.

While details of the partnership are still being developed, the two organizations are already working together on a number of projects.  Project Kaleidoscope is a partner in AAC&U’s working conference on “Engaging Science, Advancing Learning,” held in Providence, Rhode Island, November 6-8, 2008, one of a series of topical meetings sponsored as part of AAC&U’s Network for Academic Renewal.  AAC&U and PKAL are also working to coordinate PKAL’s work on learning outcomes in STEM disciplines, currently supported by the National Science Foundation, with AAC&U’s work on learning outcomes across the undergraduate curriculum.  The two groups are also working together to develop faculty leadership, including cross-disciplinary leadership at the departmental level in STEM fields.

“This partnership between AAC&U and Project Kaleidoscope could not be more timely,” said Jeanne Narum, PKAL director. “Leaders within the PKAL network are excited about leveraging our resources of people, ideas, and activities with those of AAC&U so that that best practices in transforming the undergraduate learning environment gain traction and become standard practices. James Conant once noted that the ideal product of American higher education is someone who understands the world of scientific discovery.  And to the extent this happens, graduates will make better scientists and better citizens of a free nation. So there is already a seamlessness between the work of AAC&U and PKAL that can only be enhanced by our partnership.”

Working groups from the leadership boards of both PKAL and AAC&U are developing plans for how this partnership will bring together their respective projects and capitalize on the unique strengths of both organizations.  Detailed plans of action for the partnership will be released in 2009.

“PKAL and AAC&U share a commitment to engaged learning for all students that places a strong emphasis on developing students’ intellectual and practical skills, their sense of civic and ethical responsibility, and their capacity to apply learning to real-world problems,” says AAC&U President Carol Geary Schneider.  “We look forward to working together to ensure that STEM graduates are broadly educated with the full set of skills and perspectives they need in a global environment and that all graduates benefit from substantive experiences with the power of inquiry-based science learning.”

About AAC&U

AAC&U is the leading national association concerned with the quality, vitality, and public standing of undergraduate liberal education. Its members are committed to extending the advantages of a liberal education to all students, regardless of academic specialization or intended career. Founded in 1915, AAC&U now comprises more than 1,150 accredited public and private colleges and universities of every type and size.

AAC&U functions as a catalyst and facilitator, forging links among presidents, administrators, and faculty members who are engaged in institutional and curricular planning. Its mission is to reinforce the collective commitment to liberal education at both the national and local levels and to help individual institutions keep the quality of student learning at the core of their work as they evolve to meet new economic and social challenges.

About PKAL

Since its founding in 1989, PKAL has been one of the leading advocates in the United States for building and sustaining strong undergraduate programs in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).  In its nearly two decades of existence and relying on its extensive network of volunteer agents of change among higher education faculty members and administrators, PKAL has developed far-reaching influence within the undergraduate STEM community.  PKAL is organized as an informal alliance working to shape undergraduate STEM learning environments to attract undergraduate students to STEM fields, inspiring them to persist and succeed by giving them the personal experience with the joy of discovery and an awareness of the influence of science and technology in their world.