Find the Completion Arch website here: http://completionarch.collegeboard.org/

Follow twitter postings by the hashtag #completionarch

and at a time when “About one sixth of the U.S. adult population lacks a high school diploma. Forty percent of all students starting college are academically underprepared. Only about three of five college students earn a degree within six years. And the quality of many of those degrees is suspect. The combination of rising costs and declining revenues further exacerbate the dire human capital situation, making the prospects bleak for significantly reducing social and economic inequalities,” the author of this short piece, Roger Benjamin of the Council for Aid to Education, says that we must invest resources in assessment. Specifically, he calls for colleges to create strong assessment task forces that bring together assessment experts, faculty, technologists, and cognitive scientists. These measures will help us to “create assessments that faculty will find appropriate to fully integrate into their teaching,” leading to greater student success and targeted improvement. Read more by clicking this link: http://illinois.edu/blog/view/915/44143?count=1&ACTION=DIALOG

Learning for the Common Good:  Using Service Learning to Promote Civic Engagement

 Tuesday, April 24, 2012, 1:30-4:00 PM

Center for Teaching & Learning, Koussevitzky Room 210

Workshop Presenters: Barbara Canyes, Executive Director, MACC; Karen Chisholm, MACC AmeriCorps*VISTA Director and Jeremy Poehnert, Member Relations Specialist

This workshop will explore how we can use service learning to promote civic engagement and critical thinking learning outcomes for students. Open to seasoned service learning faculty to faculty who wish to learn about service learning. There will be a special focus on connecting service learning to the community engagement and critical thinking outcomes targeted in BCC’s Core Competencies and the LEAP (Liberal Education and America’s Promise) learning objectives identified by AAC&U (Association of American Colleges and Universities.) Expect to:

• Engage with and learn from colleagues,
• Gain tools and resources to enhance student learning outcomes
• Explore practical course applications

Massachusetts Campus Compact (MACC) is a nonprofit coalition of college and university presidents committed to developing the civic skills of students, building partnerships with the community, and integrating civic engagement with teaching and research. Massachusetts Campus Compact’s work encompasses a broad range of activities designed to increase the effectiveness of those working to make higher education institutions vital agents of civic renewal.

Civic Engagement, according to the AAC&U, is “working to make a difference in the civic life of our communities and developing the combination of knowledge, skills, values and motivation to make that difference. It means promoting the quality of life in a community, through both political and non-political processes.” (Civic Responsibility and Higher Education, edited by Thomas Ehrlich, Oryx Press, 2000, Preface, page vi.)

For further Information: Email mparkman "at" berkshirecc.edu

March 6—The Massachusetts Board of Higher Education voted today to begin tracking public college and university success in producing the “best-educated citizenry” in the nation, effective 2013, as part of the Vision Project. Specifically, the Board action will require the Department of Higher Education to “develop a plan for incorporating a civic education and engagement key outcome” into the Vision Project, which already includes the key outcomes of national leadership in College Participation, College Completion, Student Learning, Workforce Alignment, Closing Achievement Gaps, and University Research. The new focus on citizenship was suggested by dozens of faculty members attending Vision Project meetings at campuses across the state. 

http://www.mass.edu/currentinit/vpwhatsnew.asp

Peer Review | Fall 2011/Winter 2012 | Using VALUE Rubrics to Evaluate Collaborative Course Design.

Community College Presidents from WGBY on Vimeo.

Minutemen and Patriots
March 7, 2012 – 3:00am
By
Mitch Smith

“Massachusetts will soon track civic engagement at its public colleges, addressing increased concern that Americans aren’t equipped to impact their communities or interact meaningfully with government.

While it hasn’t been decided exactly how citizenship learning will be evaluated, the Board of Higher Education’s Tuesday vote mandates that civic engagement be measured along with more traditional standards such as graduation rates”

Read more: http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2012/03/07/massachusetts-system-track-civic-engagement#ixzz1oXeD5oOO
Inside Higher Ed

By Jill Gambon

With a goal of bringing consistency and transparency to the way student learning is measured at Massachusetts public colleges and universities, some 200 faculty members and administrators from across the state gathered at the UMass Lowell Inn & Conference Center recently to share best practices and advance collaboration across disciplines.

Participants at the Feb. 9 conference, which was presented by the Department of Higher Education (DHE),

http://www.uml.edu/News/stories/2011-12/Amcoa.aspx

http://certificationmap.com/college-bound/

Richard Freeland’s ‘Vision Project’ aims to get 29 Massachusetts public higher-education campuses moving in same direction | masslive.com.