The Association of American Colleges & Universities

The process of furthering these strategic goals is grounded in efforts spanning three cross-cutting areas. The first is evidence building aimed at the development of best practices within the higher education community, promoting faculty-led assessment of student learning, and demonstrating the value of AAC&U’s work. The second entails expanding capacity by enhancing faculty and leadership development, identifying and bringing effective practices to scale, and implementing educational reforms that fulfill the individual and collective objectives of AAC&U’s members. The third area involves accelerating advocacy and outreach by providing tools and resources that help faculty, academic and student affairs leaders, provosts, and presidents promote AAC&U’s mission and communicate effectively regarding the value of an equitable, high-quality liberal education. AAC&U is at the forefront of efforts to identify, frame, and address key issues in the academy, serving as the leading resource for expertise, best practices, strategies, and models that foster liberal learning, quality, and equity in higher education. Through its programs, publications, events, and public advocacy, AAC&U reinforces a commitment to liberal education at the national, local, and global levels and helps colleges and universities ensure that the quality of student learning is central to their work as they evolve to meet new economic and social challenges. Last April, at a time of unparalleled transformation in the academy, AAC&U released a new vision for future of liberal education entitled “What Liberal Education Looks Like.” It is a vision that details the ongoing dynamism and enduring relevance of liberal education as essential for positioning students for success in a world none of us can fully predict. When this vision was first unveiled last January at AAC&U’s 2020 annual meeting in Washington, DC, no one could have anticipated that the world as we knew it would be upended. In response to the monumental financial challenges precipitated by a global pandemic, colleges and universities across the country have implemented tactics that include faculty and staff furloughs, travel bans, and hiring freezes. Increasingly, these measures are accompanied by the excising of arts THE ASSOC I AT ION OF AMER I CAN COLLEGES & UNI VERS I T I ES Opening plenary at the 2020 AAC&U Annual Meeting. Photo courtesy of AAC&U. AAC&U staff answer member questions at the 2020 AAC&U Annual Meeting. Photo courtesy of AAC&U.