Learning

You are here: American University Finance Annual Report 2018-2019 Learning

At AU, how we learn is as important as what. Our scholar-teachers lead by example, and our students learn through dynamic experiences. We adapt to the shifting landscape and teach our students to do the same. As we prepare for tomorrow’s opportunities, our mission to advance knowledge and foster intellectual curiosity remains our constant guide.

We embrace the highest-quality teaching through experiential programs that transform good managers into extraordinary leaders, summer service trips abroad for our scholar-athletes, and investigative reporting workshops run by award-winning reporters and editors. When students come to AU, they grow not just as global-minded citizens but as changemakers in a changing world.

Creating More, Better Chances for Learning

The game-changing strategy to expand AU’s research enterprise, maximize undergraduate success, and serve the broader community through partnerships and lifelong learning opportunities is taking shape under the leadership of new Provost Dan Myers, a veteran administrator who helped expand the research mission during his 18-year tenure at Notre Dame.

“We have some really great research going on at this university, and a fantastic undergraduate experience, and we want to make sure we do those two things together in a way that’s going to complement each other,” Myers says.

The interdisciplinary emphasis of the university’s new strategic plan is among factors that drew Myers here. Steps to increase the number of endowed chairs, secure more research funding, and open new centers that bring together multiple disciplines reflect much of the excitement in higher education right now, Myers says.

SOE’s new partnership with DC Public Schools is one example of how AU wants to be a “different kind of partner,” he explains.

“We have strong aspirations to become a unique university partner to the public-school system in this city and really change the game in terms of how we recruit potential teachers, support them as they become teachers, get them back into the DC public schools, and then support them and the system while they’re there.”

Where Provost Myers Wants to Take AU Next

Sniffing Out Facts in Today's Media Scene

Students and faculty in the Investigative Reporting Workshop

An SOC-housed nonprofit trains the next generation of investigative journalists and builds partnerships with top media outlets. The Investigative Reporting Workshop (IRW), which celebrated its 10th anniversary in April, has employed 160 student interns and fellows, produced 80 in-depth investigations, won 26 journalism awards, and raised $16 million in funding.

Since 2013, about 40 SOC grad students have worked in the Washington Post newsroom as part of IRW senior editor John Sullivan’s practicum course. Over the last two years, eight students, most of them IRW interns, contributed to the �ʴǲ��’s “Murder with Impunity” series, a Pulitzer Prize finalist. AU students have contributed to 20 other Post investigations and produced 100 of their own bylines.

“I am very proud of what we’ve done for the last decade,” says IRW founder and executive editor Chuck Lewis. “We think it’s worthwhile for the students, for the public, and for democracy.”

Courts Are Slam Dunk for Eagles in Service

Student athletes during inaugual Eagles in Service project

Seventeen student athletes and three staff spent nine days in Tercera Línea, Paraguay, building a multipurpose sports court with members of the rural community.

Funded in part by Board of Trustees member Stephanie Bennett-Smith, Courts for Kids partnered with AU on the inaugural Eagles in Service project.

“Finishing the court was almost as rewarding as watching all of our new friends play basketball on it for the first time,” wrote runner Kaitlyn McTernan, CAS/BS ’20, and field hockey player Caroline Miller, SPA/BA ’20, during the trip. “We will surely miss the friendships we made here but look forward to hearing from them about the court and how they grew up with it.”

Eagles in Service is one of four components of the new AU Eagles Leadership Academy. The curriculum also includes workshops on core values in leadership for new student-athletes, in-depth leadership development seminars, and life-skills programming geared toward seniors.

Making Connections in the Movie World

A two-time Academy Award-winning professor and a student with bilingual cinema career aspirations have forged a mentoring relationship that extends beyond campus.

Frederick Douglass Distinguished Scholars (FDDS) faculty supporter, SOC distinguished artist in residence Russell Williams, SOC/BA ’74, is sharing his considerable knowledge of the art and business of moviemaking with film and media major and FDDS scholar Fernando Rocha, SOC/BA ’21.

Rocha first stopped by Williams’s office to seek career guidance. That led to Rocha’s taking a University of Southern California directing and producing class, networking in Hollywood, and meeting Williams’s cinematographer friend who has film connections in Cuba and Mexico City.

“Professor Williams is a great example of why it’s really important for students to get to know faculty. Especially if it’s not a faculty member you have class with,” Rocha says.

Leaders with Deep Ties Make Significant Gifts

Alan and Amy Metzler and Jack and Denise Cassell

AU has received $10 million in leadership gifts from two couples whose ties to the university run deep.

Jack Cassell and his wife, Denise, committed $3 million towards a new Center for Athletic Performance (CAP), a modern facility to serve AU’s varsity programs and open new recreational opportunities for the entire university community. Cassell, SOC/BA ’77, who has served AU for decades from student-athlete to trustee, is the son of beloved AU coach, athletic director, and vice president Stafford “Pop” Cassell, CAS/BA ’36.

Alan Meltzer and his wife, Amy, pledged $7 million to AU, joining the Cassells with a $5 million gift for CAP and $2 million to create the Alan L. Meltzer and Amy Meltzer Fellowship in the Center for Israel Studies, now celebrating its 20th anniversary. Meltzer, an AU trustee since 2007, was an AU wrestler while a student at SPA, and remains one of the Eagles’ most dedicated fans.

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