Accountability the Focus of Thursday’s Education Forum

Accountability the Focus of Thursday’s Education Forum – Mar 24, 2008

UL System to Launch College Portraits

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BATON ROUGE – National leaders will present challenges and best practices in the areas of college access, student progression and higher education cost containment during the University of Louisiana System’s Second Annual Education Forum in Baton Rouge this Thursday.

Campus Presidents are expected to be joined by Legislators and UL System Board Members to discuss these key areas of higher education accountability and to formulate next steps for demonstrating measurable improvements. This year’s forum is a follow-up to last year’s gathering where Louisiana’s public higher education community committed to the National Association of System Heads’ and The Education Trust’s Access to Success Initiative.

WHAT: Second Annual Education Forum
“Student Access and Success: No Longer an Option”

WHEN: 10 a.m.—2 p.m., Mar. 27, 2008

WHERE: Room 136, Claiborne Building
1201 N. Third Street
Baton Rouge, LA 70802

“Enhanced accountability is critical to our System’s success. We look forward to measuring our progress against the best practices highlighted by our national experts. Ultimately this work is all designed to advance student achievement while saving costs,” said UL System Chair Elsie Burkhalter.

The following national leaders are scheduled to present:

David Carter, Chancellor of Connecticut State University System

William Kirwan, Chancellor of the University System of Maryland

Travis Reindl, Program Director for Jobs for the Future

Jane Wellman, Executive Director of the Delta Cost Project

**MEDIA OPPORTUNITY: College Portrait Launch at Noon**

At noon, the UL System will officially launch its online data resource for students and parents called the College Portrait.

The College Portrait is a consumer-oriented, web-based template that is designed to provide easy-to-read comparable undergraduate information such as:

Cost of attendance,

Degree offerings,

Student progression,

Student characteristics,

Student experiences and perceptions, and

Student learning outcomes.

The University of Louisiana System is the first system in the country to launch its College Portraits, which is a product of a joint initiative of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU) and the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges (NASULGC) called the Voluntary System of Accountability.

“Long before the Voluntary System of Accountability was launched, the University of Louisiana System recognized the importance of measuring educational outcomes and demonstrating accountability and stewardship. AASCU is very pleased that ULS was the first system to sign up for the VSA, as ULS continues to pioneer the movement for accountability in public higher education,” said AASCU President Constantine “Deno” Curris.

Each UL System campus—Grambling State University, Louisiana Tech University, McNeese State University, Nicholls State University, Northwestern State University, Southeastern Louisiana University, the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, and the University of Louisiana at Monroe– has posted its College Portrait on the university’s website, and all eight can be accessed together at www.ulsystem.net.

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