The Center of Inquiry in the Liberal Arts at Wabash College, along with Hampshire College, Allegheny College, Bard College, Hamilton College, Hobart and William Smith Colleges, Hope College, and Vassar College, recently received a grant of $300,000 from the Teagle Foundation.
The collaborative proposes to use the Improving Teaching and Learning in the Liberal Arts grant to develop three assessment projects that have great significance for their institutions and for liberal arts colleges and educators nationally: (1) a comparative and longitudinal assessment of the development of student writing and other foundational skills; (2) the creation of a "common data set" that can be used to inform the improvement of teaching and learning on all campuses; and (3) a series of consultancies and meetings designed to integrate assessment efforts and practices at all levels of an institution (e.g., courses, departments, co-curricular, broader institutional goals, objectives, and outcomes). Through this consortium, the colleges intend to better identify the connections between engagement and learning, and to increase the use of assessment data by both faculty and administrators to improve academic programs and learning outcomes.
The Teagle Foundation was established in 1944 by Walter C. Teagle, then president of Standard Oil. It has supported a wide range of activities, always with special attention to strengthening higher education and expanding access to it. This philanthropic organization currently focuses its higher education grants on two major areas: Outcomes and Assessment, and Forums and Working Groups in Liberal Education.