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Dr. Mehaffy is responsible for a number of special programs and projects for AASCU presidents and chief academic officers in the areas of leadership and organizational change in higher education, focusing on issues such as technology, teacher education, international education, and civic engagement. In 2003, he launched the American Democracy Project (ADP), in partnership with The New York Times, involving 214 AASCU institutions which represent 1.8 million students. |
Dr. George Mehaffy, Vice President of Academic Leadership and Change for the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU), promises to elaborate upon innovative solutions that can ensure the success of collegiate institutions like SUNY Fredonia amidst mounting economic, technological and achievement pressures.
His lecture, titled “Reimagining Undergraduate Education: AASCU’s Red Balloon Project,” will take place on Wednesday, March 2 from noon to 1:30 p.m. in Room S104 of the Williams Center. The program is part of the College of Arts and Humanities’ Brown Bag Lecture Series; it is free and open to the public.
Dr. Mehaffy’s talk represents the first Brown Bag lecture focusing upon national trends affecting the Fredonia campus and emphasizing its participation in national initiatives.
The SUNY Fredonia “Red Balloon Book Dialogues,” recently launched by Vice President for Academic Affairs Virginia Horvath, is part of the national AASCU Red Balloon Project.
The initiative, a series of informal book dialogues modeling a new collective approach to learning, has the goal of facilitating conversations among faculty and staff in order to address some of the difficult issues facing higher education, especially with regard to increased enrollments, fewer resources and the impact of technology.
Dr. Horvath is on the Provost Steering Committee for this project, and Dr. Richard Reddy of the department of Sociology and Anthropology is on the Faculty Steering Committee.
Dr. Mehaffy’s visit is made possible by the collaborative efforts of the Office of the Vice President for Academic Affairs and the Fredonia College Foundation’s Carnahan-Jackson Humanities Fund. A brief question-and-answer session will follow his talk, and refreshments will be served.
The Arts and Humanities Brown Bag Lectures, sponsored by the Carnahan-Jackson Humanities Fund and the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, feature new, creative, scholarly work by Fredonia faculty.
To learn more, contact series co-director Natalie Gerber at gerber@fredonia.edu or 716-673-3125.
American Democracy
Project is 9 a.m.
discussion topic
Learn about and discuss opportunities to more directly engage in our democracy during a special event Wednesday, March 2 at 9 a.m. in Fenton Hall Room 105. George Mehaffy, president of the American Democracy Project (ADP), will join SUNY Fredonia faculty, students and staff to discuss related initiatives across our campus community, the nation and the world.
Fredonia Academic Community Engagement (FACE) Director David Rankin and FACE Coordinator of Community Projects Christina Jarvis will discuss how the American Democracy Project has inspired related civic engagement and sustainability initiatives at SUNY Fredonia. SUNY Fredonia student leaders’ Alex Staunch and Kelly Tichacek will be discussing how students can more directly engage in our democracy on and off campus. Mehaffy will discuss how SUNY Fredonia can continue to integrate and partner with ADP initiatives.
The ADP involves over 220 participating colleges and universities and is focused on higher education’s role in preparing the next generation of informed and engaged citizens for active roles in their communities and for our democracy.
All campus and community members are invited to this discussion which ends at 9:50 am.
For further information on the American Democracy Project at SUNY Fredonia, contact David Rankin at rankin@fredonia.edu
