Peter Wood
President, National Association of Scholars

Here They Come:
Assessment and Accountability
In Higher Education

May 5, 2010 at 4:30 P.M.
3 Rockefeller Hall, Dartmouth College

The assessment movement is a reflex of contemporary doubts about the value of the college curriculum.  Does a college degree denote practical mastery of anything important?  Colleges and universities are under increasing pressure to demonstrate the utility and efficiency of their educational programs.  Even though the tools proposed for this task are ill-suited for the liberal arts, many colleges embrace them—a step that testifies to an institution that is losing confidence in itself and is now willing to be judged by standards at odds with its deeper purposes.  Is there a better way to hold colleges accountable?

Co-sponsored by the Dartmouth’s Office, the Dartmouth Government Department,
the Nelson A. Rockefeller Center

Questions email: daniel.webster.project@gmail.com