UNG Leap Initiative

Renewing Liberal Education through Faculty-Driven Reform and Innovation

In 2005, the Association of American Colleges & Universities (AAC&U) began a national public advocacy and campus action initiative called Liberal Education and America’s Promise (LEAP). Under the leadership of Michael Crafton, the University System of Georgia along with select private institutions applied for and gained LEAP State Status in 2016.

Beginning in spring 2015, LEAP committee members have worked with CTLL to examine ways of promoting High-Impact Educational Practices (HIPs) and of identifying professors and departments already implementing these practices at UNG. Additionally, beginning this term, the committee will be presenting a series of presentations on HIPS. These will be available through Blackboard Collaborative and will feature commentary by LEAP committee members, CTLL faculty, and colleagues who have already involved themselves in one or more HIPs.

The LEAP Champions propose a multifaceted approach to broaden and deepen institutional alignment with LEAP initiative and its Principles of Excellence.

Data Gathering

Conduct survey and other data gathering to identify who uses practices of LEAP.
Hold roundtables, brown bags, or other small events to share programs and courses that align with LEAP.
Identify departments that systematically employ HIPS/LEAP in curriculum.
Identify those essential learning outcomes most relevant to initial stages of LEAP work at UNG.

Development

Create sustained faculty development programs that will disseminate and support the work of high-impact practices.
- High-Impact Faculty Academy.
- Designing courses for high-impact.
- Facilitate with LEAP committee development programs, such as roundtables, wherein faculty share within and across disciplines methods of effective instruction that aligns with LEAP.

Communication and Awareness of LEAP Initiative

Communicate with academic leaders and foundation officers regarding LEAP planning and initiative.
Communicate with UNG community about LEAP, high-impact, and other practices that address essential learning outcomes.
- UNG Faculty Research Day.
- Speaker Series and recorded sessions.
- Website: development of a website to support the expansion and increasing knowledge of LEAP practices.
- Celebration events to showcase teaching and learning LEAP practices.

Emerging Policies

Deepen and broaden LEAP initiative by evaluating UNG current practices and proposing policies and strategies designed to support increased institutional support.
Align our work with current initiatives, such as the QEP focus on academic advising.
Identify and communicate how our work aligns with the strategic plan, especially in the pursuit of Principle Two: Give Student a Compass.
Work toward creating benchmarks.
Work toward requiring students to have LEAP-based educational experience.