ITLE Update

January 23, 2006

In Everyone a Learner, Everyone a Teacher the Transition Task Force recommended that all entering students have access to a course that provides them with a rich initial academic experience, challenges them intellectually, and introduces them to the discourse and methodologies of the discipline(s). Seeking funding to develop such a course is just one of many possibilities for Program Innovation grant proposal projects under the Initiative for Teaching & Learning Excellence (ITLE) (for specific information about the idea for core courses, refer to pages 12-15 of the report and APPENDIX A: Intended Learning Outcomes of a First-Year Core Course, available at http://www.unl.edu/ous/faculty_resources/reports/tutf.pdf.

Another possibility for an ITLE proposal--this under the Advising for Success category--is to find ways to pull potential employers and recent graduates into the advising process. As Carol Geary Schneider made clear in her campus presentation last Thursday--and some of our own students have made clear on our general education discussion board--most students entering our universities do not see communication skills, civic responsibility, ethics, global awareness, and cultural diversity as important outcomes of their undergraduate degree programs. We also know that many employers do see these as essential outcomes, as do many students once they have completed their studies and spent two or more years in the workforce. We might be wise to develop strategies to enlist the aid of potential employers and recent graduates. Proposals to develop those strategies--and carry them out--would be welcome.

For information on the ITLE grant program, please attend the workshop scheduled for Tuesday, October 11 at 3:30 in the city union--or consult http://www.unl.edu/svcaa/calendar/. ITLE proposals are due October 28th.

Best wishes,

Barbara Couture
Senior Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs.