LEAP Challenge New England Institutions Initiative

UMass Lowell is one of eight New England Colleges and Universities, public and private, working on ways to make “signature work” a goal for all students.  

Our extensive previous work with LEAP (Liberal Education and America’s Promise), a national public advocacy and campus initiative of the AAC&U led to UMass Lowell’s being invited to take part in this three-year initiative funded by the Davis Educational Foundation.  

UMass Lowell’s Biological Sciences and Psychology departments are engaged in a three-year investigation of the opportunities for and barriers to student learning in signature work, a concept which aligns closely with our Core Curriculum Essential Learning Outcome (ELO) for Applied and Integrative Learning (AIL).  To share the work underway on our campus, a UMass Lowell team attended the 2016 AAC&U Institute on Integrative Learning and the Departments in Chicago.