AAC&U is “the leading national association concerned with the quality, vitality, and public standing of undergraduate liberal education.” All of its programs and initiatives are guided by five goals, which are “a guiding vision for liberal education; inclusive excellences intentional and integrative learning; civic, diversity, and global engagement; and authentic evidence.” Assessment is a major part of what the AAC&U offers campuses as it “works with campuses to set clear goals, plan instruction and curricula to achieve the goals, assess student accomplishment, and revise and improve the whole learning/teaching cycle.”
Membership is available to higher education institutions and is universal to all at the institution. Individual memberships are available (the Associates Program) to those who wish to engage themselves more closely with today’s issues facing higher education.
Sponsored
meetings, workshops, and summer institutes are available to campus teams aimed at professional development and disseminating information. There is an annual meeting that provides information on current research, national trends, and innovative approaches to undergraduate reform. AAS&U offers a wide variety of
publications ranging from civic engagement to assessment. Publications are available for purchase at a discount for members.
Assessment
AAC&U has many resources available about
assessment for its members. The organization is currently working on several assessment initiatives and publishes all of its findings in the publications available to its members. How-to guides and publications on developing learning outcomes are provided for members to utilize when assessing programs on campus. Its most recent national assessment was in collaboration with The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and focused on “creating programs for integrative learning that were purposeful and progressively more challenging across the years of a degree program.”
Footnote:
http://www.aacu.org/