International studies class at Pacific Lutheran University.

JoAnn Haysbert (center), provost at Hampton University, visits with colleagues during ANAC Summer Institute 2003.

Susan Traverso, associate professor of history at North Central College, is director of ANAC Academy.

• ANAC Study Abroad Program Inventory for January 21, 2004 Meeting
• ANAC Summer Institute 2004, June 16-19, Hampton University
• Status Report on ANAC Academy Program Development
  
• ANAC Data Exchange Observes Five Years

ANAC Study Abroad Program Inventory for January 21, 2004 Meeting

Under the leadership of Jim Pence, provost at Pacific Lutheran University, ANAC member chief academic officers are conducting a survey/program inventory of member study abroad programs and priorities as a prelude to a meeting in Washington, DC, Wednesday, January 21, to plan collaborative study abroad and other international program activities. The planning meeting, to be held just prior to the AACU annual meeting, will assemble chief academic officers and study abroad and international education directors to translate member priorities into ANAC consortial programs and to explore ways of minimizing unnecessary duplication and costly individual campus program investments. The meeting will also explore ways to implement the ANAC Study Abroad (ANACSA) initiative established in 2000. Results of the member survey/program inventory will be made available to participants in preparation for the meeting.

ANAC Summer Institute 2004, June 16-19, Hampton University

Hampton University will again be the site for the ANAC Summer Institute, to be held June 16-19, 2004. Planning and organizing the Institute will be a major project of ANAC Academy. The 2004 Institute theme, "The First Year Experience: Students, Faculty/Staff, and Programs" will focus on understanding and responding to the needs and experiences of incoming students, new faculty and staff, and first-time chairs and administrators, as well as the early implementation of innovative curricula and student development programs—all viewed through the lens of the ANAC member institutional context. The Institute will engage topics such as freshman year programs, new faculty orientation, early career faculty/staff professional development, department chair training and how tools of disciplined dialogue and group process might strengthen engagement, leadership, and decision-making at comprehensive colleges and universities (More information in the ANAC Academy report below).

Status Report on ANAC Academy Program Development
(Report provided by Susan Traverso, director of ANAC Academy)

The Academy is making steady progress toward realizing its goal of serving as both a consortium resource center and a study group on the pressing issues of higher education. The Academy Blackboard site (blackboard.noctrl.edu) is available to campus coordinators and institutional representatives. It provides a venue to exchange ideas and information.

Planning for an ANAC Academy "Training for Chairs" program began in the late summer. Envisioned as a two-day workshop to be held on one of our campuses, this program would be an opportunity to develop academic leadership in the broader context of ANAC member institutions. Workshop sessions would address challenges that chairs face, including the duel role of mentor and evaluator, the demands of balancing daily responsibilities and strategic planning, and the difficulty of working creatively. Distinctive from the orientations that chairs might receive on their own campuses, the Academy workshop would consider these issues in relation to our campuses' comprehensive structures and missions and enable us to compare experiences and best practices. Keeping with the ANAC tradition of providing programs that foster collaboration between faculty and administrators, the workshop would bring together current chairs and associate or assistant deans who are responsible for training chairs on their campuses. Hamline University has expressed a willingness to host this workshop possibly in the early spring. More information will be provided in the very near future

Many members are contributing to the two ANAC session panels on the AAC&U Annual Meeting program in Washington, D.C. in January. The first, "Linking Civic Engagement Opportunities with Campus Curriculum, Programs and Strategic Planning" will highlight the work being done at Butler and Pacific Lutheran universities to bring civic engagement programs from the edge to the core of campus concerns. It will also highlight an innovative program at PLU that enables students recently returned from study abroad in Trinidad to engage in community service in Tacoma as a way of extending their experience bridging race and class differences. The second panel, "'Greater Expectations' for Liberal Learning at Comprehensive Institutions," will provide an opportunity for leaders from ANAC campus to address head-on the new vision of higher education put forward in the widely publicized AACU report on the future of higher education. Peter Bardaglio from Ithaca College, Nancy Carrick from University of Redlands, and Jerry Greiner from Hamline will highlight how comprehensive institutions have, from their origins, embraced the mission of "liberal education" and are, in many cases, leading the way in showing how the values of liberal education can inform a variety of educational programs.

Looking ahead to Summer Institute 2004, June 16-19, we look forward to returning to Hampton University. The theme, will be "The First-Year Experience: Students, Faculty/Staff, and Programs." ANAC Academy campus coordinators have indicated a strong interest in this topic, as did the evaluative feedback from participants at last June's Institute, Summer Institute 2004 will continue ANAC's efforts to strike a balance between infusing the ideas and presentations of national leaders in higher education and providing an exchange of helpful information about specific "best practices" on our campuses related to first year experiences and how they might be improved.

The Academy Campus Coordinators will meet as a group over breakfast on Friday, Jan. 23th, at the AAC&U Annual meeting in Washington, D.C. This meeting will continue the process of strengthening our vision of the ANAC Academy, reviewing what has been accomplished this fall and planning for the work ahead of us this spring. Smaller working groups will be established to focus on the Summer Institute and the Training of Chairs. We will also use our time together to identify more strategically the academic programs on our campus that have the greatest potential of benefit from inter-campus collaboration and consider higher education issues that we would like to explore as a "study group."

The AAC&U continues to show interest in ANAC Academy. I have been invited to attend their fall conference, "Achieving Greater
Expectations," November 13-15, as a sponsored participant. I plan to use this conference to highlight the work on ANAC campuses, particularly the ANAC commitment to weaving liberal education values with professional studies, as well as our understanding of the liberal arts as practical and productive areas of study.

ANAC Data Exchange Observes Five Years

With submission of member 2002-03 institutional data completed, the ANAC Data Exchange now has collected five years of member data. This time period provides an opportunity not only for annual data comparisons and benchmarking among member institutions that the online data-reporting tool has facilitated, but also for analysis of patterns and trends that the data may reveal longitudinally. Consequently, a report is being prepared to present the five years of data, to suggest data interpretations for member use, and to provide grist for discussion among institutional researchers; presidents; chief academic, finance, and student affairs officers; faculty; and others. Plans are for the report to be prepared and distributed by the end of the year, in time for discussion at affinity group meetings early next year.

Alan Silva (standing), Hamline University, leads working group discussion during 'Action Forum' at 2003 Summer Institute.