There is good news on the student success front at LU as the course proposal was approved by the curriculum committee. That means that University Success Seminar LMAR 1101 will be offered in the Fall semester of 2012. We will be in need of a number of student-centered, empathetic and passionate faculty to teach this very valuable course. The syllabus has a heavy emphasis on both hard (critical thinking, quantitative literacy) and soft (study skills, time management) skills. The text being used for the first round will be On Course: Strategies for Creating Success in College and in Life by Skip Downing who believes that students should accept personal responsibility, discover self-motivation, master self-management, and employ interdependence in order to be successful. Look for more information about this exciting development very soon. The Active Research and the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Faculty Learning Community (FLC) met again recently to continue their discussion on this very topic of student success. As active practitioners, they have identified several challenges to teaching and are developing strategies to address each impediment. Their ultimate goal is to develop new scholarship that can benefit all of us. If you are curious about the latest developments, we encourage you to dialog with current members including: Chiung-Fang Chang, JJ Chen, Jessica Dandona, Debra Greschner, Ashwini Kucknoor, Charlotte Mizener, Randy Smith, Vanessa Villate, or Christine Wilbur. The Midwest Conference on the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning is currently accepting proposals for their annual conference to be held on April 20 in South Bend, Indiana.This year’s theme is “At Home and Abroad: Teaching and Learning Without Borders,” and the submission deadline is set for 11:00 AM Tuesday, January 17, 2012. Acceptance notification for proposals will be sent out Wednesday, February 15, 2012. CT+LE has donated the most recent edition of Diane Halpern's book Thought and Knowledge: An Introduction to Critical Thinking to the Mary and John Gray Library (MJGL). You can find it on the faculty development recommended reading bookshelves on the sixth floor of MJGL just outside the CT+LE suite.