Calendar of ACM events

ACM conferences & workshops

Visiting faculty positions on off-campus study programs

Faculty development opportunities

Faculty Career Enhancement Project (FaCE)

Committee on Minority Concerns

Committee on the Status of Women

National Institute for Technology and Liberal Education (NITLE)

Liberal Education and Study Abroad

Linking study abroad to the liberal arts curriculum at home

How can a study abroad program promote the goals of a liberal arts education? How can a college assess that a program is, indeed, achieving those goals?

Those questions are central to a joint project of ACM, the Great Lakes Colleges Association, Inc. (GLCA) and the Associated Colleges of the South (ACS). Liberal Education and Study Abroad: Assessing Learning Outcomes to Improve Program Quality is funded by a two-year $300,000 grant from the Teagle Foundation.

Each consortium has established a working group and a lead college for the project. Beloit College is taking the lead for ACM, with Elizabeth Brewer (Director of International Education) heading the campus effort. Centre College and DePauw University are the lead colleges for ACS and GLCA, respectively.

During the research phase of the project this fall:

• Beloit/ACM will develop ten student-focused questions to be used in assessing learning outcomes from study abroad programs;
• DePauw/GLCA will focus on program characteristics (e.g. length of time, location, residential nature, etc.) that promote the liberal arts; and
• Centre/ACS will develop measurements of learning outcomes.

For additional information, contact John Ottenhoff at ACM (312-263-5000).