Burlington, Vt.-Champlain College has earned national recognition for its efforts to assess student outcomes in information literacy using "e-portfolios" that measure skills attained through the college's four-year Core curriculum.

At its 50^th annual meeting next  week in Austin, Texas, the Association for General and Liberal Studies (AGLS) will recognize Champlain with its Exemplary Program Award for Improvement  in General Education.

AGLS cited Champlain's information literacy assessment program for its collaborative relationship between faculty and librarians, which grew out of an effort to define information literacy outcomes and find assessment methods that faculty would support.

AGLS officials said they were impressed with the student e-portfolios, electronic records of their academic achievements, and how the program was made possible by administrative support, professional development, and the commitment of both teaching librarians and faculty.  

Elizabeth Beaulieu, dean of Champlain's Core Division, said, "we are indeed proud to be recognized for the hard work our faculty and library staff have done to improve and assess our students' information literacy skills. We now have outcomes assessment embedded in every semester of the Core curriculum. We're grateful to AGLS for this recognition, as it demonstrates to the public that higher education institutions can be accountable for providing learning outcomes that are valued in life and careers."

The AGLS Awards Program, initiated in  2006, serves to recognize creative program accomplishments produced by general education faculty and administrators committed to ongoing improvement, and to showcase effective ideas and models, especially as institutions prepare for accreditation visits. Judging is performed by nationally recognized general education leaders, accreditors, and AGLS Executive Council members.

The 2010 Award  recognizes institutions that improve learning through collaborative efforts to gather results, use the results to develop systematic learning improvement projects, and then verify those improvements. 

Champlain will receive its award at AGLS's 50th Anniversary Conference in Austin October 7-9.