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Saturday,
October 15
8:00
AM Registration and breakfast
9:00
AM Plenary 1: What does the future hold?
Liberal arts colleges are among the oldest institutions of higher
education in the U.S., rooted in traditions much older than that.
Throughout their history their mission and form have changed in
response to intellectual currents and cultural shifts. We have asked
three former or current ACM college presidents to reflect on these
developments, and what they might tell us for the future of the
liberal arts college. Panelists: Richard Warch
(former president, Lawrence University) and James Phifer (president,
Coe College)--addressing these questions:
- What
is the historic mission of liberal arts colleges and how have
liberal arts colleges been adapting to social change?
- What
is the current status of liberal education?
- What
are the future challenges to liberal education?
10:30
AM Break
11:00
AM Breakout Liberal arts colleges will face a variety of
challenges in coming years. These breakout groups discussed a variety
of issues that confront our colleges today, or will confront them
soon
- The
impact of technology
- The
future of disciplines and interdisciplinary studies
- Changing
student demographics
- Balancing
teaching and scholarship
- The
opportunities and challenges of globalization
- Marketing
the liberal arts
12:30
PM Lunch
2:00 PM Plenary 2: An analysis of the liberal arts
At the first Engagement Conference, Carol
Trosset (former Director of Institutional Research, Grinnell; now
Director of Institutional Research, Hampshire College) presented
some data about the characteristics of ACM students. Since then
she has been doing some research into student and faculty perceptions
of the liberal arts mission. She presented the results of that research.
2:45
PM Concurrent sessions: What have we learned from the projects
supported by the Engagement grant?
In summer 2003 the Engagement Project awarded grants to support
college efforts in student academic engagement. Several of the projects
brought people from more than one campus together or shared the
experiences of one campus with another. In these sessions the leaders
of the projects will share what they have learned about liberal
education and the mission of a liberal arts college. The final reports
of these projects are linked below.
What
is a liberal arts education?
How can liberal arts colleges structure and support student academic
development?
What are new learning strategies?
4:00
PM Break
4:15
PM Campus teams The Engagement Project has connected with
and supported related efforts on many of the consortial campuses.
This was a chance for college teams to discuss what they have learned
from the Engagement Project and identify future goals for their
institution.
6:30
PM Reception
7:00
PM Dinner
Sunday,
October 16
8:00
AM Breakfast
Create
the future liberal arts college
All day Saturday participants heard people talk about liberal arts
colleges, their missions, and the challenges they face. This was
their chance to here to be creative and design a liberal arts college
for the twenty-first century.
9:00
AM Step 1: New models for new times: Liberal learning out of
the box
The three deans who have been leading the Engagement Project offered
some provocative models of the future for the liberal arts.
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David Burrows (Provost and Dean of the Faculty, Lawrence)
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Dennis Moore
(former Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of the College,
Cornell)
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Marc Roy (Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of the
Faculty, Coe)
9:45
AM Step 2: Drafting mission statements
Each participant was assigned to a breakout group. The groups worked
together to draft the mission statement for a new liberal arts college.
They were charged to describe the best small college you can imagine.
The statements did not have to be approved by trustees or a faculty
committee, money was no object, and they didn't have to worry about
turf battles, so they could think big.
10:45
AM Break
11:00
AM Step 3: Reporting out
Each group had five minutes to present their mission
statement, describing the ideas and values at the heart of their
new college
11:30
AM Conclusions
The consortial president concluded the conference by reflecting
on the future of the liberal arts college and consortium's role
in strengthening the member colleges.
- Elizabeth
R. Hayford, President, Associated Colleges of the Midwest
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