Development Opportunities

AAC&U Summer Institute: Greater Expectations Institute: Leadership to Make Education Inclusive

Sponsored by: AAC&U
Date: Tuesday, June 15, 2010 - Saturday, June 19, 2010
Registration Deadline: March 12, 2010
Location: Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN

The 2010 Greater Expectations Institute is designed to help campuses improve the quality of undergraduate education to prepare more Americans for success in a globally interdependent society. This Institute will mark the tenth anniversary of AAC&U’s intensive five-day program specifically designed for campuses working to build their institutional capacity and leadership to increase the inclusion, engagement, and high achievement of all their students. The 2010 Institute will help campus teams align institutional purposes, structures, and practices as well as advance and assess learning outcomes that are essential for success in today’s world. These outcomes include such things as critical inquiry, communication skills, social responsibility, intercultural competence, and integrative learning. These outcomes were featured in AAC&U’s signature report, Greater Expectations: A New Vision for Learning as a Nation Goes to College, and have been discussed in greater detail in the more recent Liberal Education and America's Promise (LEAP) initiative report, College Learning for the New Global Century.

Much progress has been made in expanding college access to historically underserved students—including racial/ethnic minority students, students from low-income backgrounds, and first-generation college students. Far more work is needed, however, if we are to succeed in further expanding access and improving student learning. More intentional efforts are needed to ensure that more students obtain a college education that prepares them well for this more intellectually and technologically demanding world.

We know that college students will continue to come from a wide array of backgrounds and from populations currently not well served by our nation’s schools. In many parts of the country, the most dramatic growth in college attendance will come from these groups of students, and our campuses will reflect these dramatic demographic shifts among both traditional-aged and older student populations. These changes require us to think and act with greater creativity and resolve; to do this we must make excellence inclusive.

Substantial changes are needed to ensure that all students get the learning necessary to fulfill their educational goals and meet the nation’s educational needs. Responding to these challenges requires multilevel campus leadership to establish educational practices that foster a culture of high expectations for all students—especially for those historically underserved by the academy. Current realities require holistic thinking about effective teaching practices, using evidence to guide change, and creating supportive environments that tap the intellectual and social capital of every student. The Institute will focus on establishing high-impact practices and making them more pervasive throughout the undergraduate experience.

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