FROM THE PRESIDENT   

New Perspectives and New Beginnings 

The list of current grants displays our recent priorities, including support of academic programs and course sequences that feature a concern for moral and civic education. You will also find materials from a recent mid-April Teagle Convening on "Faculty Work and Student Learning," including an excellent summary by Peg Miller and a stimulating keynote presentation by Larry Bacow. Other features include recent articles and essays by members of the Teagle staff on related topics. More information on the recent grants and other features of the current work of the Foundation can be found on the Teagle website. 

Taken together these materials offer a compelling glimpse into the inner connections of the economic, technological and educational forces that are driving change in contemporary higher learning both in the United States and around the globe. It is both noteworthy and confirming to see how the Teagle Foundation's central commitment to improving the quality of student learning serves as a touchstone both to understand and to chart the future of higher learning. "Learning" in the arts and sciences is an encompassing concept that includes the "what" of knowledge and skills, the "how" of student engagement through effective teaching and course design, and the "why" of enduring consequences in the development of students' cognitive powers and personal competencies. The linkage of several of these issues was suggested in the Introduction to the April 2013 Convening: "Before we can really make sense of what online technologies can contribute to higher learning . . . , we need a fuller sense of the nature, variety, and inner workings of student learning that are most consequential, and which in turn set the agenda for faculty expectations about teaching that define much of their professional identity." Without clearer distinctions in the different forms of learning, we cannot begin to produce the evidence about "what works," in online and face to face learning, and, among other things, the implications for costs. Seeing things through the prism of learning helps us to make sense of the clashing forces of change and sketches a large part of the agenda for education in the 21st century. I expect that it will continue to be the responsibility of foundations like Teagle to try to disseminate the best ideas and replicate the most promising practices that our grantees develop. 

It has been my special privilege to have worked collaboratively with members of the staff and the board of directors in providing leadership for the Teagle Foundation for the past five years, first as board chair for 18 months and then as President. Among the many satisfactions that have come with the responsibilities, none is greater than being able to welcome Judith Shapiro as my successor as president. Judith joined the Teagle Board in 2009 and has been a close colleague and invaluable board member since that time. Her distinguished career in higher education leadership both at Bryn Mawr College as Provost, and then as President at Barnard College for 14 years suggest the wide range of abilities and commitments that she will bring to the Teagle presidency. She has a deep belief in liberal education, as evidenced most recently in her teaching a course in Barnard's celebrated "Reacting to the Past" program. Judith has a talent for innovative thinking, problem solving and good humor that make her an inspiring and productive colleague and a delightful person. Since she comes to the presidency from the board and has worked closely with all of us on the staff, we have pledged that the transition will be as seamless as possible.   

Sincerely,
Richard Morrill