1. The Higher Learning Commissions 2011 Annual Conference Carol Geary Schneider, President, Association of American Colleges and Universities Chicago, Illinois April 11, 2011 The Quality Challenges are Mounting: Is Higher Education Ready to Lead?

2. Taking the Lead on Quality Vision: Champion a Compelling Framework for Learning: Aims, Outcomes, Practices, Evidence, Inclusion Collaboration: Make Higher Achievement a Shared Priority: For Democracy, the Economy and the Students We Serve Courage: Tackle the Barriers: Practices and Policies That Compromise Quality

3. Vision: A Compelling Framework for Learning

4. A Compelling Framework for Learning… Engages the Wider Society – In All Its Complexity Recognizes that Both the World and the Economy are Demanding More Helps Students Achieve-Not Just a Credential- But the Learning They Need for the Future They – and We – Want to Create

5. A Compelling Framework Prepares Students for… Global and civic challenges Daunting decisions on every front Divisions at home Contestations and freedom movements around the world U.S. role as a global leader for democratic values and voice

6. A Compelling Framework Prepares Students for… The Challenges of a Turbulent Global Economy More college-educated works BUT ALSO Much higher and broader levels of learning so students can navigate and succeed in an economy fueled by innovation, complex challenges and constant change

7. Employers Are Raising the Bar 91% of employers say that they are asking employees to take on more responsibilities and to use a broader set of skills than in the past 90% of employers say that their employees are expected to work harder to coordinate with other departments than in the past. 88% of employers say that the challenges their employees face are more complex than they were in the past. 88% of employers agree that to succeed in their companies, employees need higher levels of learning and knowledge than they did in the past Source: Raising the Bar: Employers Views on College Learning in the Wake of the Economic Downturn (AAC&U and Hart Research Associates, 2010)

8. The Growing Demand for Higher Order Skills Source: Council on Competitiveness, Competitiveness Index

9. Key Capabilities Open the Door for Career Success and Earnings Irrespective of college major or institutional selectivity, what matters to career success is students development of a broad set of cross-cutting capacities… Anthony Carnevale, Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce

10. A Compelling Framework Recognizes the Need for Inclusive Excellence Making college a catalyst for students and communities that long have been underserved Countering and changing our long tragic history of unequal access and unequal expectations

11. Bachelors Degree Attainment by Family Income Source: U.S. Department of Education, The Condition of Education 2006. Postsecondary Education Opportunity, no. 158 (2005) 8.6%

12. The World is Setting Greater Expectations in Every Sphere, AND… The good news is that the higher education community has been hard at work on all these issues

13. The Key Elements for a Compelling Quality Framework Already Are in Hand Consensus Aims and Outcomes Practices that Foster Achievement AND Completion Evidence on What Works for Underserved Students Assessments That Raise – and Reveal – the Level of Learning

14. Aims and Outcomes 80% of colleges, universities and community colleges have identified intended learning outcomes

15. Aims and Outcomes There is broad consensus across all parts of higher education – 2 year, 4 year, public and private – on the learning and skills student need most

16. % of Campuses that Require: Knowledge of Human Cultures and the Physical and Natural World Humanities92% Sciences91% Social Sciences90% Global/World Cultures87% Mathematics87% Diversity in the United States 73% United States History49% Languages Other than English 42% Sustainability24%

17. % of Campuses that Require: Intellectual and Practical Skills Writing Skills99% Critical Thinking95% Quantitative Reasoning91% Oral Communication88% Intercultural Skills79% Information Literacy76% Research Skills65%

18. % of Campuses that Require: Personal and Civic Responsibility Ethical Reasoning75% Civic Engagement68% Integrative and Applied Learning Application of Learning66% Integration of Learning63%

19. This data was generated as part of AAC&Us initiative, Liberal Education and Americas Promise (LEAP). See Learning and Assessment: Trends in Undergraduate EducationA Survey Among Members of the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U and Hart Research Associates, 2009) for more information.Learning and Assessment: Trends in Undergraduate EducationA Survey Among Members of the Association of American Colleges and Universities

20. The Key Elements for a Compelling Quality Framework Already Are in Hand Consensus Aims and Outcomes Practices that Foster Achievement AND Completion Evidence on What Works for Underserved Students Assessments That Raise – and Reveal – the Level of Student Learning

21. Practices that Foster Achievement and Completion First-Year Seminars and Experiences Common Intellectual Experiences Learning Communities Writing-Intensive Courses Collaborative Assignments and Projects Undergraduate Research Diversity/Global Learning Service Learning, Community-Based Learning Internships Capstone Courses and Projects

22. Practices that Put Students Learning at the Center High Engagement (Peers, Mentors, Unscripted Questions) High Effort (by Students) High Reward (for Learning)

23. High-Impact Educational Practices : What They Are, Who Has Access to Them, and Why They Matter, by George D. Kuh (AAC&U, 2008) Five High-Impact Practices : Effects, Impact, and Research Challenges, by Jayne E. Brownell and Lynn E. Swaner (AAC&U, 2010).

24. When Students are Engaged in High Impact Practices, They Are More likely to complete More likely to achieve intended outcomes With particular benefit for underserved students

25. 38% 54% 48% 63% 65% 68% 73% 69% 20.0% 30.0% 40.0% 50.0% 60.0% 70.0% 80.0% Latina/o RespondentsOther Respondents Percentage Graduating "On Time" (i.e., in 2006-07) None1 HIP2 HIPs3 or more HIPs [ V =.109 (.094)] [ V =.255 (.007)] Impact of Participation in High-Impact Practices on Percentage of Senior NSSE Respondents Graduating on Time, by Racial and Ethnic Background Source: Does Participation in Multiple High Impact Practices Affect Student Success at Cal State Northridge? by Bettina Huber (unpublished paper, 2010).

26. Assessments That Raise and Reveal Learning Across higher education, faculty are inventing forms of assessment anchored in the curriculum and focused on students actual work High impact practices are natural sites for examining student gains over time

27. Practices that Enable Achievement, Completion, and Assessment First-Year Seminars and Experiences Common Intellectual Experiences Learning Communities Writing-Intensive Courses Collaborative Assignments and Projects Undergraduate Research Diversity/Global Learning Service Learning, Community-Based Learning Internships Capstone Courses and Projects

28. But What About the Economy?

29. National Surveys of Employers on College Learning and Graduates Work Readiness AAC&U commissioned Hart Research Associates (in 2006, 2007, and in late 2009) to interview employers (C-level suite executives and, in 2009 additional human resource professionals) whose companies report that hiring relatively large numbers of college graduates Findings are summarized in the following reports: How Should Colleges Prepare Students to Succeed in Todays Global Economy? (AAC&U, 2007) How Should Colleges Assess and Improve Student Learning? Employers Views on the Accountability Challenge (AAC&U, 2008) Raising the Bar: Employers Views on College Learning in the Wake of the Economic Downturn (AAC&U, 2010) See: www.aacu.org/leap/public_opinion_researchwww.aacu.org/leap/public_opinion_research

30. Employers Strongly Endorse the Aims and Outcomes Educators Prize - And They Urge New Effort to Help All Students Achieve Them For a summary of the employer research, please see http://www.aacu.org/leap/presidentstrust/docu ments/EconomicCaseNew2010Version.2.ppt http://www.aacu.org/leap/presidentstrust/docu ments/EconomicCaseNew2010Version.2.ppt

31. Balance of Broad Knowledge and Specific Skills Preferred Which is more important for recent college graduates who want to pursue advancement and long-term career success at your company? Broad range of skills and knowledge that apply to a range of fields or positions In-depth knowledge and skills that apply to a specific field or position BOTH in-depth AND broad range of skills and knowledge Raising the Bar: Employers Views on College Learning in the Wake of the Economic Downturn (AAC&U and Hart Research Assoc. 2010)

32. % of Employers Who Want Colleges to Place More Emphasis on Learning Outcomes: Knowledge of Human Cultures and the Physical and Natural World Science and Technology70% Global issues67% The role of the US in the World 57% Cultural diversity in the US and other countries 57% Civic knowledge, participation, and engagement 52% Hart Research (2010).

33. % of Employers Who Want Colleges to Place More Emphasis on Learning Outcomes: Intellectual and Practical Skills Written and oral communication 89% Critical thinking and analytic reasoning 81% Complex problem solving75% Teamwork skills in diverse groups 71% Creativity and innovation70% Information literacy68% Quantitative reasoning63% Hart Research (2010).

34. % of Employers Who Want Colleges to Place More Emphasis on Learning Outcomes: Personal and Social Responsibility Ethical decision making75% Intercultural competence (teamwork in diverse groups) 71% Intercultural knowledge (global issues) 67% Civic knowledge, participation, and engagement 52% Integrative and Applied Learning Applied knowledge in real- world settings 79% Hart Research (2010).

35. Higher Level Liberal Education Skills and Abilities = Higher Wages Data from Georgetown University Center for Education and the Workforce Center on Education and the Workforce

36. The Salary Premium for Liberal Education Outcomes From a federal database analyzing qualifications for 1,100 different jobs, there is consistent evidence that the highest salaries apply to positions that call for intensive use of liberal education capabilities, including (random order): Writing Inductive and Deductive Reasoning Judgment and Decision Making Problem Solving Social/Interpersonal Skills Mathematics Originality Source: Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce

37. In Sum Educators AND Employers Already Have Broad Agreement On the Key Elements in a Compelling Framework for Learning Aims, Outcomes, Practices, and Assessments That Show What Students Can Do With Their Knowledge

38. If This is the Vision, How Do We Help Higher Education – and Our Students – Achieve It?

39. Taking the Lead on Quality Collaboration: Make Higher Achievement a Shared Priority, for: Democracy The Economy The Students We Serve

40. Degree Qualifications Profile Bringing new currency to the meaning of U.S. degrees

42. The Proposed Degree Profile Builds From the Vision that Higher Education Already Has Created – And That Employers Endorse

43. The Degree Profile ALSO Combines Vision with Strategy – A Strategy For: Raising Achievement on Campus AND, for Changing Practices and Policies that Compromise Quality

44. The Lumina Degree Profile – in Brief – Provides a Template of Competencies Required for the Award of Degrees

45. The Need for a Degree Profile Responding to the lack of any consistent public understanding of what degrees mean, the DP describes concretely what is meant by each of the degrees addressed. Neither an attempt to standardize degrees nor an effort to define what should be taught or how, the DP illustrates how students should be expected to perform at progressively more challenging levels.

46. Lumina Degree Profile Three Degree Levels: Associate, Bachelors, and Masters Framed as Successively Inclusive Hierarchies of Action Verbs to Describe Outcomes at Each Degree Level Intended as a Beta Version, for Testing, Experimentation, and Further Development Beginning This Year

47. Organization of the Degree Profile Five areas of learning Specialized knowledge Broad, integrative knowledge Intellectual Skills Applied Learning Civic Learning

48. Lumina Degree Profile 3 Degree Levels 5 Learning Areas

49. The Five Areas are Interrelated, Not Separate For example: Knowledge and intellectual skills are integrated in the context of application – e.g. research, field-based assignments, projects, and civic problem-solving

50. Across All These Areas and Levels Students Actual Work Becomes the Focus of Educational Attention

51. Intellectual Skills Analytic inquiry Use of information resources Engaging diverse perspectives Quantitative fluency Communication fluency

52. An Example: Communication Fluency Associate Level: The student presents substantially error-free prose in both argumentative and narrative forms to general and specialized audiences Bachelors Level: The student constructs sustained, coherent arguments and/or narratives and/or explications of technical issues and processes, in two media, to general and specialized audiences Masters Level: The student creates sustained, coherent arguments or explanations and reflections on his or her work or that of collaborators (if applicable) in two or more media or languages, to both general and specialized audiences

53. Integration and Application Emphasizes the cumulative integration of learning from many sources and the application of learning in a variety of settings… (DP, p. 2)

54. What Kinds of Integrative Learning Are Included? Knowledge, Skills, and Applications: Across General Education Courses General Education with Majors Field-Based Learning with Academic Learning Academic Learning and Civic Contexts Research, Projects, Papers, Performances, Creative Work… Applied Learning!

55. The Degree Profile Engages the Wider Society – in all its Complexity Makes Quality of Learning the Focus Seeks to Put Faculty at the Center Seeks to Put Students Actual Work at the Center Challenges Reductive Metrics with a Strong Call to Assess Students Actual Work

56. Most Significantly, the Degree Profile Builds from the traditions that made U.S. higher education a world leader Expands U.S. World Leadership by Connecting Liberal AND Applied Learning

57. Taking the Lead on Quality: Courage to Tackle the Barriers to Quality Within Higher Education Pervasive Patterns of Underachievement The Divides Within Excellence For Some Limited Learning for Others

58. Underachievement Numerous studies show that too many students are not doing their best and make very limited gains in college. Arum/Roksa study: Academically Adrift Blaich/Wabash Longitudinal Studies Bok, Our Underachieving Colleges (2006) ACT/ETS Studies – 10% of seniors are proficient in key skills Employer Reports Faculty Members Own Reports

59. The Degree Profile Asks Us to Shift from My Work – Each Course is a Silo – to OUR Work – Intentional Practices that Both Develop and Demonstrate Students Competence

60. The Degree Profile Invites Faculty and Staff to Focus on… Intentional Assignments that Develop Competence Integrative Milestone Performances that Provide Evidence of Competence and of Students Ability to Tackle Complex Questions and Problems

61. In Tackling Underachievement, Intentionality is Central and Students Engaged Practice is the Key to Developing and Demonstrating Degree Profile Competencies

62. Taking the Lead on Quality: Courage to Tackle the Barriers to Quality in Policy and Punditry The Credit Production Mindset Inventives for Completion, But… No Questions Asked on Learning

63. Confront the Barriers to Quality in Policy and Punditry Completion through Credit Reduction Students arent prepared and theyre not completing – so lets shrink the curriculum to accelerate degree production

64. Barriers to Quality in Policy and Punditry Job-Specific Preferred Let Labor Market Data Set the Goals Disinvestment in the Humanities and Social Sciences – despite their centrality to civic and global learning

65. The Degree Profile Positions Us to Challenge and Reverse the Soft Bigotry of Policies that Narrow Learning – Especially for Underserved Students

66. Seize the Opportunity that the Lumina Foundation is Providing Through Its Proposed National Experimentation with a Common Degree Qualifications Profile

67. Connect the Degree Profile Vision for World Class Learning – Which Is Your Own Vision – with Educational Practice and Public Policy

68. Every Student Deserves the Benefit of a Horizon-Expanding Education – A Liberal Education in 21 st Century Form

69. Together – We Can Take the Lead – and Make the Quality of Student Learning Our Shared Achievement