UNLV Attends AAC&U Summer 2008 Institutes

As part of the ongoing improvement of the general education curriculum, President David Ashley and Provost Neal Smatresk sent two separate teams to attend American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) Institutes during summer of 2008: the General Education Institute and the Greater Expectations Institute. Founded in 1919, AAC&U promotes undergraduate liberal education and represents more than 1,150 accredited colleges and universities. Recently, AAC&U launched the Liberal Education and America’s Promise (LEAP) initiative, which proposes an updated set of undergraduate learning outcomes consistent with the demands of today’s global economy and society.  

Both AAC&U institutes involved several days of intensive seminars, consultations with leading educational experts, meetings with teams from other universities, and institution-specific workshops. At the conclusion of the institutes, each team produced action plans for applying the lessons learned from the conferences to further developing UNLV. The reports are presented below. 

Space in each institute is limited and invitations are based on competitive proposals submitted by each institution. Admission to the institutes indicates that UNLV is making progress on becoming a leader in undergraduate education reform. Associate Vice Provost for Academic Programs Dave James was the lead author on both UNLV proposals and led the General Education Institute team. Provost Smatresk led the Greater Expectations Institute team.

AAC&U Teams’ Combined Themes Document
Below are an executive summary and longer report that synthesize both teams’ reports into one planning document.

AAC&U Greater Expectations Institute: Campus Leadership for Student Engagement, Inclusion, and Achievement
June 18-22, 2008, Snowbird, Utah
http://www.aacu.org/meetings/gexinstitute/gex2008.cfm

UNLV Team
Bea Babbitt, Director of Assessment; Christine Clark, Vice President for Diversity and Inclusion; Neal Smatresk, Executive Vice President and Provost; Jennifer Fabbi, Head, Curriculum Materials Library; Ann McDonough, Acting Dean, University College; Leora Baron, Director, Teaching and Learning Center

Reports

AAC&U General Education Institute
May 30-June 4, 2008, University of Minnesota
http://www.aacu.org/meetings/institute_gened/index.cfm

UNLV Team
Bea Babbitt, Director of Assessment; Carryn Bellomo, Chair of Faculty Senate General Education Committee; Stacey Hardy-Desmond, Field Placement Director, School of Social Work; Chris Heavey, Associate Dean, Liberal Arts; Jeffrey Jablonski, Assistant Director of General Education; Dave James, Associate Vice Provost for Academic Programs; Tim Gauthier, Director of Interdisciplinary Studies; Carl Reiber, Associate Dean, Sciences

Reports

get adobe acrobat reader