The Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) has announced the first cohort of Faculty Fellows in five states: Utah, California, Indiana, Texas, and Wisconsin. In Utah, Faculty Fellows will collaborate with colleagues across the Utah System of Higher Education (USHE) to share best practices for general education and lead faculty development activities. The goal is to advance student achievement of key proficiencies important for post-graduation success and well-being.
The Fellows will work with both their state team and in networked communities across the states. Through the project, AAC&U will develop a library of materials and related activities, creating and fueling one-stop online centers for faculty leadership and learning.
In Utah, the project will develop curricula to improve teaching and learning in general education and hold workshops for faculty who teach in general education throughout the eight USHE institutions. It will introduce faculty to curriculum models that advance high-impact practices, and effective teaching, learning, and assessment strategies. These include those practices in AAC&U’s Liberal Education and America’s Promise (LEAP) initiative and in the Degree Qualifications Profile developed by Lumina Foundation and formally released in its first edition in 2014.
The Utah Faculty Fellows are:
- Marianne McKnight, Associate Professor of History, and Associate Dean over History, Anthropology, and Political Science, Salt Lake Community College
- Matt Morin, Assistant Professor, Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences; Chair, General Education Committee, Dixie State University
- Jennifer Peeples, Associate Professor of Communication Studies, Utah State University
- John Taylor, Provost Faculty Fellow for Academic Affairs, Associate Professor of Biology, Southern Utah University
Each state involved in the project is led by a team that includes a state liaison, a hub director, a set of Faculty Fellows, and local advisory boards. The teams are working to build innovation hubs to serve as leadership and learning centers for all faculty and all educators, whatever their position, type of contract, or institutional type, in the state or collaborative.
The Faculty Fellows were chosen through a selection process designed by each state team. The Faculty Fellows will engage in a variety of initiatives, including the Lumina-supported Tuning and Degree Qualifications Profile projects, the AAC&U General Education Maps and Markers project, and the VALUE/Multi-State Collaborative to Advance Student Learning Outcomes initiatives (cosponsored by AAC&U and SHEEO, the State Higher Education Executive Officers Association).
Supported by a grant from Lumina Foundation, the first phase of the Faculty Collaboratives project (2014-2017) will teach faculty to use large-scale initiatives to improve curriculum design for learning outcomes and assessment for general education, and for more widespread use of aligned high-impact teaching and learning practices.
More information on Faculty Collaboratives.
AAC&U is the leading national association concerned with the quality, vitality, and public standing of undergraduate liberal education. Founded in 1915, AAC&U now comprises more than 1,300 member institutions—including accredited public and private colleges, community colleges, research universities, and comprehensive universities of every type and size. Information about AAC&U membership, programs, and publications can be found at www.aacu.org.
Lumina Foundation, an Indianapolis-based private foundation, is committed to enrolling and graduating more students from college—especially 21st-century students: low-income, students of color, first-generation students, and adult learners. Lumina’s goal is to increase the percentage of Americans who hold high-quality degrees and credentials to 60 percent by 2025.
