Higher education leaders from across Kansas and Missouri convened in Kansas City last week for the launch of a new collaboration between ACUE and Kansas City Scholars that will promote student success through effective instruction. As part of the program initiative, ACUE has been engaged to prepare and credential over 300 faculty at KC Scholars network institutions for the upcoming academic year.
The kickoff meeting took place at the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation headquarters and brought together provosts, deans, and other senior administrators committed to student success on their respective campuses. KC Scholars Executive Director Beth Tankersley-Bankhead helped facilitate a discussion about the role that effective college teaching must play in improving postsecondary attainment, and presented details about how KC Scholar members can participate.
KC Scholars has invited institutions to submit proposals that demonstrate how a partnership with ACUE will strengthen instruction and support institutional student success strategies. Selected institutions will prepare and credential faculty through ACUE’s Course in Effective Teaching Practices, with financial support from the Kauffman Foundation.
“We are delighted to collaborate with KC Scholars and the Kauffman Foundation to strengthen instructional quality and provide unprecedented support to faculty at colleges and universities across Kansas and Missouri,” said ACUE Senior Advisor Benno Schmidt, who also presented at the meeting. “This initiative is a national model of collaboration among higher education, philanthropy, and ACUE, and we believe this sets the stage for a renaissance in great college teaching that will promote student success throughout the region.”
The Kauffman Foundation launched KC Scholars last year in collaboration with more than 70 community partners to expand its impact by further improving the educational attainment, economic independence, and quality of the workforce. In May, KC Scholars named its first scholarship recipients, which will grow to include than 600 students and adult learners. At scale, the program will support 2,000 college students every year.
ACUE’s online Course is aligned with the latest research in cognition and adult learning, and exceeds online learning standards as recognized by Quality Matters. Educators who satisfy Course requirements earn a credential endorsed by the American Council on Education (ACE).
Colleges and universities in Kansas and Missouri played a critical role in helping ACUE build a program that was scalable, research-based, comprehensive, and of the highest quality. Faculty at the University of Missouri–Kansas City were among 500 educators from colleges and universities across the country to pilot ACUE’s Course. At Kansas State University, award-winning instructors welcomed ACUE’s film cameras into their classroom to capture exemplary instruction that is now featured throughout the Course.
