Red House Staff Attends 2024 AAC&U Conference
On January 17–19, 2024, the Red House team attended the American Association of Colleges & Universities (AAC&U) Annual Meeting. This year’s conference took place in Washington, D.C. and convened participants from colleges and universities across the country.
Over the course of the three day conference, faculty and administrators came together in conversation around the Meeting theme of Shaping and sharing solutions to the most pressing challenges facing higher education today. Local Red House team members attended and presented on some of our work.
Presenters from the Red House
Director Randy Bass spoke on a panel titled “Start-Up Universities: Stories from the Front Lines,” which focused on the recently released book, The New Global Universities, authored by Noah Pinkus and Bryan Penprase. Panelists shared responses to the new book, personal and organizational experiences, and challenges and successful strategies for sustaining innovation in higher education in their different institutional contexts, which included the recently founded global Minerva University, Olin College of Engineering and Georgetown University. Panelists included Noah Pickus, Associate Provost, Duke University; Bryan Penprase, Vice President, Soka University; Gilda Barabino, President, Olin College of Engineering; and Teri Cannon, Founding President, Minerva University.
Ijeoma Njaka, Senior Learning Designer for Transformational and Inclusive Initiatives, co-led a session with partners from the Paradigm Project. The session, “Speculative Futures, Engaged Learning, and Making Room for New Paradigms in Higher Education,” asked participants to consider the following questions:
- How can we sharpen the focus on the public good of holistic higher education in a polarized political climate?
- What constructs of higher education do we need to let go of or dismantle in order to make more room for something else?
- What do we specifically want to make room for in the future of higher education?
- How can we create and maintain an ethos of innovative practices in our work?
- How do we leverage the resources and knowledge of the university to partner with local communities to increase access to higher education?
Each presenter facilitated a small group discussion with one of these guiding questions. Fellow presenters included Paul Schadewald, Senior Project Manager of the Paradigm Project, Bringing Theory to Practice; Allison Schultz, Director, Center for Academic Community Engagement, Siena College; Marina Barnett, Interim Assistant Provost for Civic Engagement, Widener University; and Patrice Ludwig, Interim Assistant Vice Provost, Research and Innovation, James Madison University.
