A Message from our President

I love general education.  I really do.  I spend my days supporting those who teach it, communicating its value to those who doubt it, and finding ways to constantly improve it.  It is my happy place!  But it was not always that way…

In 2016, Virginia Tech was on the tail end of a gen ed reform effort on our campus and frankly, I was pretty over it.  At times I felt alone (‘does no one care about gen ed as much as I do?’), frustrated (‘what do you mean you haven’t heard of the new program, you voted for it two weeks ago!’), and couldn’t see the forest for the trees (‘if we don’t fix that typo on page 3 of the form, we may as well throw out the entire program and start over!’).

On the cusp of burnout (I wonder if baristas get dental coverage?), I attended my first AGLS Constitute in Salt Lake City that year.  I proposed and facilitated a roundtable discussion called ‘Meeting of the Gen Ed Reformers Anonymous Support Group.’ I figured if someone showed up, I could chat for an hour before heading home.  And if no one showed up, I would know for sure I was on a gen ed island.

As luck would have it, I found a full table (and a full hotel!) of colleagues willing to connect, commiserate, and collaborate, willing to share best practices and lessons learned, and more than happy to get way down in the weeds of all things gen ed.  Every session was useful and timely.  I left inspired and reinvigorated.  There were actually others out there like me!  I had officially found my gen ed peeps, my #geeps (™ Bridget Trogden, Clemson University) and gen ed super awesome weirdos, #gesupawedos (patent pending).

AGLS offers opportunities to connect through virtual Live Chats and the Gen Ed Anonymous Support Group (yep, still going!), as well as the annual Constitute.  You will find practical tools like the Playbook and the Guide.  There are awards and ways to recognize your work.  And most importantly, our members are some of the most helpful, supportive, and knowledgeable folks I’ve ever had the pleasure of working with.

AGLS is a community of liberal and general education scholar-practitioners.  It is a non-profit organization by gen ed leaders, for gen ed leaders.  Because when you’re here, you’re family… ok, you get the idea.  Join us!

Stephen Biscotte, Assistant Provost for Undergraduate Education
Virginia Tech
AGLS President  (2023-2025)