Outreach Activities of the Commission on the Future of Undergraduate Education
The Academy released three videos featuring innovative, successful, and replicable approaches to each of the Commission’s national priorities: Cornell University’s Active Learning Initiative which advances innovative teaching approaches which lead to increased student comprehension; Florida State University’s commitment to retention and completion which has resulted in high graduation rates for students from all backgrounds; and a program at Cincinnati State Technical and Community College that made degrees more affordable for students and more economical for the school.
The Fall 2019 issue of Daedalus, Improving Teaching: Strengthening the College Learning Experience, explores what goes on in the “black box” of teaching and learning experienced by students and advances the Commissions first national priority: improving the student educational experience. The issue was promoted to over 150 undergraduate deans, vice provosts for undergraduate learning, and directors of centers for teaching and learning as well as targeted media contacts. An Academy Stated Meeting in October 2019 featured guest editors Sandy Baum and Michael McPherson at the Academy and other authors facilitated discussions at satellite events: Thomas Bailey and Clive Belfield in New York; Mary Sue Coleman, Emily Miller, and Tobin Smith in Washington; and Harry Brighouse in Madison.
February 20, 2019
College Promise Coalition, Washington Student Achievement Council, and University of Washington
Olympia, WA
Commission member Mike McPherson (formerly, Spencer Foundation) and Sandy Baum (Senior Fellow, Urban Institute) presented on the three key recommendations from the Commission’s report: affordability, completion, and quality. In attendance were leaders from private and public colleges and universities, community colleges, and state policymakers.
January 16, 2019
Texas A&M University
College Station, TX
Commission member Sandy Baum (Senior Fellow, Urban Institute) addressed the Texas A&M Board of Regents during their Committee on Academic and Student Affairs meeting. The presentation focused on the Commission’s recommendations around college affordability, teaching, and completion as well as specific recommendations for higher education leaders.
December 6–7, 2018
American Academy
Cambridge, MA
Guest editors Michael McPherson (formerly, Spencer Foundation) and Sandy Baum (Urban Institute) convened the authors of a forthcoming issue of Dædalus to discuss drafts of their essays. The volume will focus primarily on the undergraduate educational experience across a range of settings. The essays will examine who is teaching undergraduates and whether the actual teaching force is supported adequately for the work they are asked to shoulder. The volume will inquire into what is really known about what students learn in college, as well as about the potentials and limits of modern technologies in strengthening learning and reducing costs.
December 5–6, 2018
American Academy
Cambridge, MA
Michael McPherson (formerly, Spencer Foundation) and Pam Grossman (University of Pennsylvania) chaired a two-day meeting that brought together researchers, practitioners, and institutional leaders to examine the current state of the research on and use of effective teaching practices; highlighted individual and group efforts dedicated to this work to create connections across them; and considered how Academy members and other organizations can advance the widespread adoption of skillful college teaching.
November 27, 2018
Wachtel, Lipton, Rosen and Katz
New York, NY
Academy President Jonathan Fanton and Commission Cochairs Michael McPherson (formerly, Spencer Foundation) and Roger Ferguson, Jr. (tiaa) partnered with Martin Lipton (Chairman Emeritus, New York University Board of Trustees) and Kathryn Wylde (President and ceo, Partnership for New York City) to convene over twenty board chairs and presidents from area colleges and universities. The key themes of the meeting included improving undergraduate teaching; examining the role of part-time faculty; increasing completion rates; addressing affordability; and expanding partnerships with business and industry.
October 31, 2018
Augsburg University
Minneapolis, MN
Commission Cochair Michael McPherson (formerly, Spencer Foundation) and Program Director Francesca Purcell (American Academy of Arts and Sciences) met with the seventeen presidents representing Minnesota’s private colleges at the Minnesota Private College Council’s semi-annual meeting and provided an overview of the key themes in the Commission’s final report. They also engaged the college presidents in a discussion about college affordability.
October 17, 2018
California Institute of Technology
Pasadena, CA
At the annual meeting of the Consortium on Financing Higher Education, Commission Cochair Michael McPherson (formerly, Spencer Foundation) delivered a keynote address on the future of undergraduate education and the implications for colleges and universities making good decisions in a constrained economic environment.
September 6, 2018
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
Washington, DC
Program Director Francesca Purcell (American Academy of Arts and Sciences) participated in a panel discussion as part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine’s Roundtable on System Change in Undergraduate Education. The discussion explored the various forces affecting and shaping higher education and its future and the implications of these changes specifically for undergraduate stem education.
June 15, 2018
University of Wyoming
Jackson Hole, WY
Commission member Joseph Aoun (Northeastern University) spoke at The AI Disruption of Work–Educational Responses Summit about the influence of artificial intelligence both in education and in work and highlighted some of the findings from the Commission’s final report, especially the blend of academic, practical, and civic knowledge and skills students need to be successful in their careers and in their lives.
June 6–8, 2018
Columbus, OH
Commission member Deborah Loewenberg Ball (University of Michigan) delivered a keynote address at the national conference of the Network of stem Education Centers that highlighted the work of the Commission related to improving undergraduate stem teaching and teacher preparation on college campuses.
May 31, 2018
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Madison, WI
Rebecca Blank (University of Wisconsin-Madison) and the Academy hosted a statewide meeting with higher education, government, and business leaders from across Wisconsin that focused on how the higher education community in Wisconsin can best improve college access and completion for students from low-income families and how higher education can best respond to recent criticisms. Michael McPherson (formerly, Spencer Foundation) delivered opening remarks and along with Commission member Sandy Baum (Urban Institute) moderated the event.
May 22, 2018
South Bend, IN
Commission Cochair Michael McPherson (formerly, Spencer Foundation) delivered a keynote address on the future of undergraduate education at the annual meeting of the Enrollment Planning Network.
April 25, 2018
Scottsdale, AZ
The Commission’s final report set the stage for TIAA’s Annual Forum. Commission Cochairs Michael McPherson (formerly, Spencer Foundation) and Roger Ferguson, Jr. (TIAA) opened the three-day event, which celebrated TIAA’s 100-year anniversary, with a panel that provided an overview of the key themes from the report, as well as in-depth discussions focused on the Commission’s recommendations to improve college teaching and increase completion rates. The audience included approximately 450 chief business and human resource officers from colleges and universities around the country. The Forum concluded with an executive roundtable session with college and university presidents that focused on how to work more effectively with state legislators as well as how to regain the public’s trust in higher education.
April 19, 2018
Boston, MA
Lawrence K. Fish (Citizen’s Bank) hosted at the Fish Family Foundation a discussion for Boston-area Members on the future of higher education, public perceptions of colleges and universities in a time of growing skepticism of American institutions, and the intersections between colleges and industry in developing the country’s talent. David Oxtoby (Pomona College) presented opening remarks.
April 18, 2018
San Diego, CA
Commission member J. Michael Locke (formerly, Rasmussen Inc.) moderated a panel at the annual asu + gsv Summit. The panel, entitled “The Future of Undergraduate Education,” featured a debate on the role of postsecondary education and drew on topics highlighted in the Commission’s final report.
April 9–10, 2018
Louisville, KY
Commission Cochair Michael McPherson (formerly, Spencer Foundation) delivered the opening plenary at the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education’s Annual Student Success Summit and provided a comprehensive overview of the final report. Commission member Sandy Baum (Urban Institute) led sessions on the question of “What does college affordability really mean?” The summit, entitled The Future of Undergraduate Education, The Future of Kentucky, was named after the Commission’s final report.
February 21–22, 2018
Alexandria, VA
Commission members Sandy Baum (Urban Institute) and Deborah Loewenberg Ball (University of Michigan) and program director Francesca Purcell (American Academy of Arts and Sciences) presented the Commission’s findings on improving educational quality, increasing completion rates, and making college more affordable at a meeting of the National Science Board.
February 6, 2018
Washington, D.C.
Commission member Sandy Baum (Urban Institute) testified before the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions on “Reauthorizing the Higher Education Act: Improving College Affordability.” She recommended that Congress should help make college more affordable for students and families by simplifying the aid application process, making Pell Grants more predictable and reliable, eliminating institutions with very poor outcomes from federal aid programs and holding institutions accountable for student success, providing better information and guidance for students, and improving the income-driven system for student-loan repayment.
January 25, 2018
Washington, D.C.
At the Annual Meeting of the Association of American Colleges and Universities, Commission Cochair Michael McPherson (formerly, Spencer Foundation) spoke about how colleges and universities can commit to making systematic changes to improve college teaching.
November 28–30, 2017
Washington, D.C.
Official Release and Public Symposium
At a meeting held at the National Press Club, the Commission on the Future of Undergraduate Education released its final report. Commission Cochairs Roger Ferguson, Jr. (tiaa) and Michael McPherson (formerly, Spencer Foundation) and Commission members Jonathan F. Fanton (American Academy of Arts and Sciences), John DeGioia (Georgetown University), Mitchell Daniels (Purdue University), and Deborah Loewenberg Ball (University of Michigan) discussed the main themes and recommendations contained in the report, which focus on the quality of the student educational experience, increasing completion rates, and improving affordability.
Meetings with National Higher Education Organizations
Commission Cochairs Roger Ferguson, Jr. (tiaa) and Michael McPherson (formerly, Spencer Foundation) and Commission members Jonathan F. Fanton (American Academy of Arts and Sciences), Deborah Ball (University of Michigan), Jennifer Jennings (Princeton University), Jeremy Johnson (Andela), Nicholas Lemann (Columbia University), J. Michael Locke (formerly, Rasmussen), Gail Mellow (LaGuardia Community College), Hilary Pennington (Ford Foundation), and Michelle Weise (Strada Education Network) met with leaders from several national higher education organizations and discussed initiatives taking place to strengthen undergraduate education. The Commissioners met with Mary Sue Coleman (Association of American Universities), Peter McPherson (Association of Public and Land-grant Universities), Mary Heiss (American Association of Community Colleges), Tammy Reichelt (American Association of Community Colleges), George Mehaffy (American Association of State Colleges and Universities), Richard Ekman (Council of Independent Colleges), David L. Warren (National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities), Terrell Rhodes (Association of American Colleges and Universities), and Josh Wyner (The Aspen Institute). Celeste Ford (Carnegie Corporation of New York) also joined the group.
Congressional Meetings
Commission members Jonathan F. Fanton (American Academy of Arts and Sciences), Jennifer Jennings (Princeton University), J. Michael Locke (formerly, Rasmussen), Deborah Ball (University of Michigan), Sandy Baum (Urban Institute), Rebecca Blank (University of Wisconsin-Madison), Jeremy Johnson (Andela), Nicholas Lemann (Columbia University), Michelle Weise (Strada Education Network), and Hilary Pennington (Ford Foundation) met with twenty-one members of Congress and/or their key legislative advisors to discuss the report’s recommendations, such as simplifying the fafsa-based student aid application process, refocusing the Pell Grant Program to focus on completion, and designing a single income-driven repayment plan in which students are automatically enrolled.
White House Visit
Commission Cochairs Roger Ferguson, Jr. (tiaa) and Michael McPherson (formerly, Spencer Foundation) and Commission members Jonathan F. Fanton (American Academy of Arts and Sciences) and Sandy Baum (Urban Institute) met with Jim Manning, Acting Under Secretary of Education, to discuss the report and relevant policy recommendations around college affordability, access, and completion.
Washington, D.C. Program Committee Reception and Dinner
The Washington, D.C. Program Committee, led by Steven Knapp (George Washington University), hosted a dinner for Academy Members and guests following the public release of The Future of Undergraduate Education, The Future of America. The dinner featured remarks from Commission members Rebecca Blank (University of Wisconsin-Madison) and Nicholas Lemann (Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism), and the discussion focused on how to realize the promise of undergraduate education for students and the nation.
November 28, 2017
Century Association
New York, NY
The 2063rd Stated Meeting, held in New York, focused on new opportunities for U.S. undergraduate education. The meeting, which served as the Morton L. Mandel Public Lecture, provided an opportunity for Members to hear from several Commissioners, share opinions, and discuss how we can realize the promise of undergraduate education for students and the nation. The featured speakers included Vartan Gregorian (Carnegie Corporation of New York), Michael McPherson (formerly, Spencer Foundation), Nicholas Lemann (Columbia University), and Gail Mellow (LaGuardia Community College). Diana Natalicio (University of Texas at El Paso) offered remarks at the dinner following the meeting.
October 26, 2017
University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, CA
The Academy hosted a Stated Meeting at the University of California, Berkeley on “Priorities for Progress: Advancing Higher Education in America.” The meeting featured remarks about higher education and the Academy’s work on The Lincoln Project: Excellence and Access in Public Higher Education and The Future of Undergraduate Education, The Future of America from Commission Cochair Michael McPherson (formerly, Spencer Foundation), Commission member Monica Lozano (College Futures Foundation), Lincoln Project Cochair Robert J. Birgeneau (University of California, Berkeley), and Bob Jacobsen (University of California, Berkeley).
September 26, 2017
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill, NC
Commission Cochair Michael McPherson (formerly, Spencer Foundation) spoke on the topics of accountability, accessibility, and affordability in higher education at the “Higher Expectations, Higher Education” conference at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. This conference brought together educators from around the country to discuss the status of higher education since the release of the Spellings Commission report in 2006.
September 26, 2017
Duke University
Durham, NC
Chair of the Academy’s Board of Directors Nancy C. Andrews (Duke University) welcomed Academy Members to a reception at Duke University, which featured remarks about the future of undergraduate education from Commission Cochair Michael McPherson (formerly, Spencer Foundation).