Tbers, The National Conference on Higher Education will be held at the Marriott Marquis in Atlanta, Georgia, from March 17 - 20, 2005. Visit www.aahe.org for more detailed information and to register. Below are some sessions of particular interest to faculty Friday, March 18 1:30 2:45 p.m. Risky Business: The Future of Scholarly Communication The scholarly communication system is broken. It is critical for scholars to share their research, but libraries cannot handle the increasing volume and cost. The academic community can create change by advocating for public policy changes, exploring alternative business models, and rewarding faculty who publish in open access journals or institutional repositories. The presenters highlight scholarly communication issues and innovative strategies for disseminating research widely, quickly, and economically. Presenters: Mary Ellen K. Davis, executive director, Association of College & Research Libraries; Ray English, director of libraries, Oberlin College; and James G. Neal, vice president for information services and university librarian, Columbia University The Academic Department: The Dinosaur Among Us? The American institution of higher education, organized much the same as in medieval times, may no longer be an effective model to provide the appropriate educational support for faculty and students. Is there justification for retaining an almost thousand year-old structure in the face of curriculum and resource issues that confront the 21st century American college or university? Find out in this debate on the question by two senior academic administrators. Presenters: Deborah Leather, associate provost, and Rita Duarte Marinho, dean, Towson University Students as Architects of their Own Learning: Seven Stories from Three Countries Last year's AAHE national conference hosted, with McGraw Hill - Ryerson, the International Forum of Teacher-Scholars. At this event, seven award-winning teachers from the UK, Canada and the U.S. decided to write narratives focusing attention on roles students can play in shaping teaching and learning. The presenter describes the process; share excerpts from narratives; and comment on communalities, differences, experimentation with each other's ideas, and plans for sharing them with wider audiences. Presenters: Elizabeth Barkley. Professor of music and music department chair, Foothill College; Alex Fancy, professor of French and drama, Modern Languages and Literatures Department, Mount Allison University, Sackville, NB, Canada; and Margaret Johnson, lecturer in English, Open University London, UK Saturday, March 19 9:15 10:45 a.m. Balancing Life and Work: Has Higher Education Responded? Sponsored by the Women's Caucus Learn about the latest research on faculty life and work issues and participate in breakout groups to suggest policy changes that need to be considered by academe. The Myra Sadker award is also presented at this session. Moderator: Jeanie K. Allen, chair, AAHE Women's Caucus, and visiting assistant professor of interdisciplinary studies, Drury University Presenters: Lisa E. Wolf-Wendel, associate professor and coordinator of the Master's Program in Higher Education, University of Kansas; Marc Goulden, principal analyst in the Graduate Division, University of California; and Carol L. Colbeck, associate professor and director of the Center for the Study of Higher Education, The Pennsylvania State University Co-facilitators: Susan Bracken, assistant professor of adult and community college education, North Carolina State University; and Diane Dean, assistant professor for higher education administration and policy, Illinois State University Saturday, March 19 11 a.m. 12:15 p.m. Understanding and Promoting Integrative Learning Sponsored by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching Fostering students' ability to integrate learning--across courses, over time, between campus and community lives--is one of higher education's most important goals and challenges. How can undergraduates develop capacities for integrative learning that prepare them to make informed judgments in the conduct of personal, professional, and civic life? Presenters: Mary Taylor Huber, senior scholar, Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching; Jacqulyn Lauer-Glebov, assistant director of institutional research and coordinator of educational assessment, Carleton College; Linda Rae Markert, professor and dean of education, SUNY at Oswego; and Stephen Trainor, dean, Salve Regina University Saturday, March 19 4 5:15 p.m. Becoming Bedfellows: Accreditation and Engagement Accreditation organizations are beginning to consider engagement as part of the 10-year evaluation of higher education institutions. This session features cases under differing accreditation commissions where engagement was a thematic area of their institutional reviews although they were differently focused and presented. Hear dual perspectives--from those responsible for preparing for their institutional review and also those responsible for doing the accreditation evaluation. Presenters: Lorilee Sandmann, associate professor of adult education and co-director of the Clearinghouse and National Review Board for the Scholarship of Engagement, University of Georgia; Edward Jones, associate vice president of academic affairs and dean of extended services, University of Southern Indiana; and Julie Williams, associate vice president for research and outreach scholarship, University of New Hampshire Vote Early, Vote Often: Combining Quantitative Reasoning and Civic Engagement Vote Early, Vote Often: The Mathematics of Democracy invites investigation into mathematical, ethical, and social questions of our electoral process. It addresses issues of voting, electronic privacy and polling. As a SENCER course, it employs rigorous interdisciplinary approaches to teaching basic mathematics and strengthening students' capacities to become engaged citizens. SENCER courses and programs have shown great promise in improving general education for the student who has expressed little interest or inclination to study mathematics. Presenter: Mariah Birgen, associate professor of mathematics, computer science, and physics, Wartburg College Sunday, March 20 9:30 10:45 a.m. Enhancing Faculty Work and Careers as a Strategic Institutional Choice Faculty work, the nature of faculty appointments, and faculty career satisfaction are critical strategic issues for higher education administrators who face the increasingly challenging task of attracting and retaining excellent faculty members. Examine the notion of meaningfulness in faculty work as an issue of strategic concern for colleges and universities. Consider key intrinsic and extrinsic elements that are important to current and potential faculty members. Presenters: Ann Austin, professor of educational administration, Michigan State University; and Judith M. Gappa, professor of educational studies, Purdue University Forums Friday, March 18 9:30 11:30 a.m. The Future of the Academy: International Perspectives Sponsored by Western Cooperative for Educational Telecommunications Moderator: Sally Johnstone, executive director, WCET Panelists: Svava Bjarnason, executive director, The Observatory on Borderless Higher Education, London, UK; Amii Omara Otunnu, UNESCO Professor of Human Rights, University of Connecticut; and Stamenka Uvalic-Trumbic, section chief, Division of Higher Education, UNESCO, Paris Student Success and Institutional Effectiveness: What Students, Parents, Employers, and Policymakers Want to Know Sponsored by the University of Phoenix Moderator: Margaret Daniels Tyler, executive director, Gates Millennium Scholars Program, and member of the AAHE Board of Directors Panelists: Patrick M. Callan, president, National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education; Craig Swenson, provost, University of Phoenix; and Peter Smith, president, California State University, Monterey Bay, and director-designate of education programs, UNESCO Planning for a Common Future: Colleges, Universities, Communities Sponsored by the New England Research Center on Higher Education Moderator: Dwight Giles, executive director, New England Research Center on Higher Education Panelists: Omar Blaik, senior vice president, University of Pennsylvania; Patricia Breivik, dean of the university library, San Jose State University and member of the AAHE Board of Directors; and Gail Mellow, president, LaGuardia Community College The winner of the Ernest A. Lynton Award will be announced and recognized at this session. Saturday, March 19 2:15 3:45 p.m. The Future of the Academy: Coping With Changing Demographics and Privatization Moderator: Judith A. Ramaley, visiting senior scientist, National Science Foundation, and member of the AAHE Board of Directors Speaker: Graham Spanier, president, Pennsylvania State University Special Session Saturday, March 19 7 9:30 p.m. Declining by Degrees John Merrow, the host and executive producer of The Merrow Report and president of Learning Matters will preview clips from his latest documentary, which is scheduled to be shown on PBS this spring. This provocative documentary is an inside look at American higher education from admission to graduation. Merrow will invite the audience to discuss the disparities he found between the public perceptions of higher education and the realities he found.