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Project Partners

“AAC&U is pleased to welcome Massachusetts into full partnership with AAC&U’s LEAP initiative. … I am certain that the entire AAC&U membership will benefit from the models developed through this work.”
—Carol Geary Schneider, President, Association of American College and Universities

Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U)

LEAP Essential Learning Outcomes provides the framework for the suggested model because this national initiative of AAC&U emphasizes the importance of a liberal education for all students in all fields of study—including both general and professional or applied fields and students in community colleges and four-year public colleges and universities, close links to actual curricula, real student work, and faculty instructional activities. LEAP Essential Learning Outcomes and VALUE Rubrics enjoy broad support among faculty members and campuses in Massachusetts and have great potential as a common framework for both campus- and system-level learning outcomes assessment.

“(Massachusetts') vision of building a system-level program of learning outcomes assessment on the foundation of campus-based programs is quite compelling. … I have written to state higher education officers across the country urging them to collaborate with Massachusetts on this work.”
—Paul E. Lingenfelter, President, State Higher Education Executive Officers (SHEEO) Association

State Higher Education Executive Officers’ (SHEEO) Association

SHEEO has lent important support to our work in Massachusetts. SHEEO-gathered information on state-level policies and practices in learning outcomes assessment was shared with the Working Group on Student Learning Outcomes and Assessment. Commissioner Freeland presented the Working Group’s model at the annual SHEEO conference in 2011, asking states with similar interests to consider joining forces to find an alternative to standardized testing as a means to implement learning outcomes assessment at the system level. SHEEO President Paul Lingenfelter encouraged SHEEO members to consider the Massachusetts request in a follow-up letter, and Commissioner Freeland wrote all SHEEOs in September 2011, asking for expressions of interest. More recently, SHEEO has announced a new focus on learning outcomes assessment as part of its Peer Consultation Network . SHEEO will be hosting and helping organize the multi-state conference to which states interested in exploring participation in the Massachusetts initiative are being invited.

Massachusetts Primary Partner Campuses

The following public college and university campuses in Massachusetts have agreed to participate in our LEAP State work as “primary partner campuses”:

Berkshire Community College
Bristol Community College
Bunker Hill Community College
Cape Cod Community College
Fitchburg State University
Framingham State University
Greenfield Community College
Holyoke Community College
Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts
Massasoit Community College
MassBay Community College
Middlesex Community College
Mt. Wachusett Community College
North Shore Community College
Northern Essex Community College
Quinsigamond Community College
Roxbury Community College
Salem State University
Springfield Technical Community College
University of Massachusetts Lowell
Westfield State University
Worcester State University

State Partners

We are currently seeking other states, including but not limited to current LEAP States, to join us in this work. States that have expressed potential interest are being invited to participate in an exploratory conference to be held at SHEEO's offices in Boulder, Colorado, in May 2012. We hope to have a firm list of state partners in late fall 2012.