Co-Sponsored by the National Science Foundation

Day One: Thursday, November 13, 2008

Welcoming Remarks and Introduction

The Distinctive Promise of the American Research University

Plenary Session: General Education at the Research University in the 21st Century: Innovative Alternatives to the Four-Year Liberal Arts College Model
This opening talk highlights key findings from the report of the University of California Commission on General Education in the 21st Century conducted by the Center for Studies in Higher Education in 2007.

Breakout Sessions: General Education

• A1 - Rethinking Foundation Courses in the Sciences and Technology
  Leaders: David Hawthorne, Associate Professor and Director of Graduate Studies, Department of Entomology, University of Maryland; Robert Hudson, Professor, Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, University of Maryland; Steven Rolston, Professor and Associate Chair, Department of Physics, University of Maryland
• A2 - Teaching Students to Explore and Discover Ideas
  Leader: Michael Starbird, Professor of Mathematics and University Distinguished Teaching Professor, University of Texas at Austin
• A3 - Writing in the Disciplines: Issues and Practices
  Leader: Christopher Thaiss, Clark Kerr Presidential Chair, Professor, and Director of the University Writing Program, University of California, Davis
• A4 - Integrating the Arts in General Education
  Leader: Bob Bingham, Professor of Art, Carnegie Mellon University
• A5 - What Should Gen Ed Courses in the Humanities Achieve?
  Leader: Raymond Knapp, Professor and Chair, Department of Musicology, University of California, Los Angeles
• A7 - Dimensions that Professional Schools Can Add to Gen Ed
  Leader: Sanford V. Levinson, W.St. John Garwood and W. St. John Garwood Jr. Centennial Chair Professor of Government, University of Texas at Austin
• A8 - Beyond the Classroom: Using Video to Document the Study Abroad Experience
  Leaders: Laura Kissel, Associate Professor of Media Arts, University of South Carolina and Patricia Willer, Assistant Vice Provost, International Programs, University of South Carolina
• A9 - General Education as a Catalyst for Futher International Study
  Leader: Patricia Beeson, Vice Provost for Graduate and Underbgraduate Studies and Professor of Economics and Public Policy, University of Pittsburgh
• A10 - Student-Driven Approaches to General Education
  Leader: Paula P. Burger, Vice Provost and Dean of Undergraduate Education, Krieger School of Arts and Sciences, John Hopkins University; Ralph Kuncl, Provost and Executive Vice President, University of Rochester; Richard Feldman, Dean of the College of Arts, Science, and Engineering, University of Rochester

Plenary Session: Looking Inward and Outward: Diversity and Internationality as Educational Assets

Breakout Sessions: Diversity and Internationality

• B1 - Increasing Engagement and Retention in STEM
  Leader: Michael Gaines, Professor of Biology and Assistant Provost for Undergraduate Research and Community Outreach, University of Miami
• B2 - Using Student Diversity to Enrich Teaching and Learning
  Leader: Alphonse Keasley, Assistant Vice Chancellor, Office of Diversity, Equity, and Community Engagement and Assitant Professor-Attendant, The Honors Program, University of Colorado, Boulder
• B3 - Coming Late, Catching Up and Catching On: Helping Transfer Students Succeed
  Leader: Sharon Salinger, Dean, Division of Undergraduate Education, and Professor of History, University of California, Irvine
• B4 - Teaching the Dynamics of Race and Gender
  Leader: Paula McClain, Professor of Political Science and Director of the Ralph Bunche Institute, Duke University
• B5 - Teaching Religious Diversity and Conflict
  Leader: Randall G. Styers, Associate Professor of Religion and Culture, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
• B6 - Teaching International Human Rights
  Leader: Daniel Maier-Katkin, Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice, and Fellow of the Center for the Advancement of Human Rights, Florida State University
• B7 - International Service Leadership: A Case Study
  Leaders: Kristia H. Finnigan, Assistant Dean for Administration, College of Arts and Sciences, University of South Carolina
  Carolyn S. Jones, Assistant Dean of the Undergraduate Division, Moore School of Business, University of South Carolina
  
• B8 - Education for Civic Engagement: An Integrated Approach
  Leader: Kathy O'Byrne, Director, UCLA Center for Community Learning, University of California, Los Angeles
• B9 - Strategies for Internationalizing Undergraduate Education
  Leader: Daniel E. Hastings, Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics and Engineering Systems and Dean for Undergraduate Education, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• B10 - Integrating Academic and Community Interests
  Leaders: Jill McKinstry, Director of the Odegaard Undergraduate Library and Special Assistant to the Dean of University Libraries for Undergraduate Education and Programs, University of Washington; Trevor Griffey, Doctoral Candidate in U.S. History, University of Washington
  

Day Two: Friday, November 14, 2008

Plenary Session: Accountability, Assessment and the Public Policy Environment
This session discusses how American post-secondary education can respond to external pressures for accountability and assessment by harnessing institutionally driven efforts to measure and improve performance and enhancing communication and collaboration among institutions with similar missions.

Breakout Sessions: Accountability and Assessment

• C1 - The Pros and Cons of Using the Collegiate Learning Assessment at a University: Two Case Studies
  Leader: Cheryl Beil, Assistant Vice President for Academic Planning, Institutional Research and Assessment and Research Professor of Psychology, George Washington University; Sandra Hurd, Associate Provost, Academic Programs Professor, Law and Public Policy, Director of Learning Communities, Academic Affairs, Syracuse University
• C2 - Assessing Student Participation in Research
  Leader: Laura Damuth, Director of Undergraduate Research and Fellowship Advising, Office of Undergraduate Studies, University of Nebraska, Lincoln
• C3 - Using Assessment to Optimize the Value of the Undergraduate Experience at a Research University
  Leaders: Bobbi Owen, Senior Associate Dean for Undergraduate Education, College of Arts and Sciences, and Professor of Dramatic Art, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Lynn E. Williford, Assistant Provost for Institutional Research and Assessment, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
• C4 - Education Through Research: Finding Ways to Reward Faculty Investment in Undergraduate Education without Changing the Existing Reward Structure
  Leaders: Sarah L. Simmons, Director of the Office for Honors, Research, and International Studies, College of Natural Sciences, University of Texas at Austin; Keith J. Stevenson, Associate Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Texas at Austin;
  David Vanden Bout, Associate Professor of Chemistry, University of Texas at Austin
  
• C5 - Embedding Assessment within Courses in the Sciences
  Leaders: David Hanson, Distinguished Professor of Chemistry, Stony Brook University
• C6 - Assessing Learning in the Humanities: Using "Decoding the Disciplines" to Set Authentic Goals and Measure Achievement in Writing, Speaking and Understanding
  Leaders:Joan Middendorf, Associate Director of Campus Instructional Consulting Center and Adjunct Professor in Higher Education and Student Affairs, Indiana University at Bloomginton; Leah Shopkow, AssociateProfessor of History, Indiana University Bloomington
• C7 - Using Digital Field Assignments to Assess Learning in the Sciences
  Leaders: Rebecca Pearlman, Lecturer, Department of Biology, Krieger School of Arts and Sciences, John Hopkins University; Michael Reese, Assistant Director, Center for Educational Resources, John Hopkins University
• C8 - The Role of Academic Discipline in Assessing Student Learning
  Leaders: Catharine Hoffman Beyer, Research Scientist, Office of Educational Assessment and Director of the UW Study of Undergraduate Learning, University of Washington; Gerald Gillmore, Director Emeritus, and Affiliate Professor, Office of Educational Assessment, University of Washington
• C9 - Translating Principles of Learning into Practice: Creating an Interdisciplinary Curriculum
  Leader: Claudia Neuhauser, HHMI Professor and Head, Distinguished McKnight University Professor, Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior, University of Minnesota at Twin Cities and Rochester
• C10 - Impact of OpenCourseWare on Residential Education and Implications for the Value of Residentially-Based Education
  Leader: Cecilia R. d'Oliveira, Acting Executive Director of OpenCourseWare, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Plenary Session: Fulfilling the Educational Potential of the Research University

Breakout Sessions: Fulfilling the Educational Potential of the Research University

• D1 - Bringing the Cutting Edge into Introductory Science Courses
  Leader: Glenn Starkman, Professor of Physics and Astronomy, Director of the Center for Education and Research in Cosmology and Astrophysics, and Director of the Institute for the Science of Origins, Case Western Reserve University
  
• D2 - Establishing More Equal Relationships between Arts and Sciences and Professional Schools: A Case Study of a Program that Integrates Management and the Health Sciences with Arts and Sciences
  Leader:, Joan Weibel-Orlando, Associate Professor Emeritus of Anthropology, University of Southern California
• D3 - Using "Real World" Problems as Laboratories for Learning
  Leader: Sanjeev Chatterjee, Vice Dean, Associate Professor and Executive Director, Knight Center for International Media, School of Communication, University of Miami
• D4 - Economic Development: A Venue for Undergraduate Education?
  Leader: Kenneth A.Harrington, Managing Director, Skandalaris Center for Enterpreneurial Studies and Senior Lecturer in Entrepreneurship, Olin School of Business, Washington University in St. Louis
• D6 - Strengthening a Weak Link in Current Science Curricula
  Leaders: Yi Lu, Professor of Chemistry, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; Lauren A. Denofrio,Teaching Specialist and Instructor, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
• D7 - Writing and More: Multimedia Communication Skills Across the University's Curriculum
  Leader: Lillian Bridwell Bowles, Director, Communication Across the Curriculum and Professor of English, Lousiana State University
• D9 - Festina Lente: Accelerating Curriculum Responsibly in 3/2 Programs
  Leader: Henry Biggs, Associate Dean, and Director of the Office of Undergraduate Research, Washington University in St. Louis
• D10 - Providing Students with Front Line Research Experience
  Leaders: Dawn Geronimo Terkla, Associate Provost for Institutional Research, Assessment and Evaluation, Tufts University; Stephanie L. Topping, Assistant Director, Office of Institutional Research, Tufts University