Literacies for Life and Career has selected one of its longtime faculty collaborators to join its leadership team. Andrew C. Butler, a professor of education and of psychological and brain sciences, has joined Erin McGlothlin, vice dean of undergraduate affairs, as a co-director of the program.

A signature initiative of the Arts & Sciences Strategic Plan, Literacies for Life and Career (LLC) aims to highlight the strengths of an Arts & Sciences undergraduate education, encouraging students to reflect on the core skills, or literacies, at the heart of their classroom instruction.

Butler played a critical role in developing the list of 11 literacies that define the program, which is ramping up to include all first-year Arts & Sciences courses this semester.

“Andrew has been involved with Literacies for Life and Career at different stages of its implementation, and I’ve appreciated his deep understanding of and commitment to the pedagogical rationale of the initiative,” McGlothlin said. “The LLC team is particularly fortunate to be able to benefit from his scholarly expertise in the metacognitive dimensions of learning and his knowledge of assessment methods.”

Butler will replace founding LLC co-director Brian Carpenter, who will be stepping back to focus on his other university leadership roles, including co-director of the Harvey A. Friedman Center for Aging and director of clinical training for the Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences.

“I am extremely grateful to Brian for the hard work and dedication he put into Literacies for Life and Career over the last three years,” McGlothlin said. “Brian is the consummate colleague, and the knowledge, insight, enthusiasm, and collaborative spirit he brought to the initiative have contributed decisively to its successful implementation in the critical first stages.”

Butler discussed what he has seen from LLC so far and how he will contribute to the program’s progression.

How have you seen the initiative grow and develop during the past few years? What most excites you about coming on board as co-director?

I have been involved in the LLC initiative at multiple points in the past. I remember being excited when it was announced, but also a bit skeptical because it is a big project. I have been incredibly impressed with how the LLC team has approached the initiative and the success that they have achieved so far.

In the first phase, the LLC team partnered with faculty to identify candidate literacies based on existing curricula across all our units in Arts & Sciences. The candidate literacies were then honed into a final set of 11 literacies through numerous iterations of feedback and piloting by faculty. This "bottom-up" process allowed us to build the foundation for the initiative using our existing curricular and pedagogical strengths, thereby creating something that every faculty member could resonate with while also capturing what makes our undergraduate education distinctive.

In the second phase, the literacies are being rolled out for use by faculty across Arts & Sciences for courses at every level across all units. The goal for the start of the Fall 2025 semester was to have one or more literacies identified for each 1000- and 2000-level course. Faculty have adopted the literacies enthusiastically and this ambitious goal has been met.

As I come on board as co-director, there are several goals for the next year. One goal is to further extend the literacies to courses at the 3000 level and above. Another goal, which I am particularly excited about, is to partner with faculty to understand how they are teaching the literacies in their courses with an eye towards empowering them to support and learn from each other. One other goal is to further connect the LLC initiative to other aspects of undergraduate education in Arts & Sciences so that it becomes a seamlessly integrated part of our teaching rather than something extra that needs to be done.

What opportunities and challenges lie ahead as the program continues to scale up across first-year Arts & Sciences courses?

One of the biggest challenges is generative artificial intelligence (GenAI). Our faculty have been grappling with this new technology and how we should approach its use in our courses. Although GenAI poses various threats to higher education, it also provides a wealth of opportunities. One of those opportunities involves helping undergraduate students to reconceptualize what they are gaining from an Arts & Sciences education, and we are uniquely positioned to achieve it with the LLC initiative.

Another exciting opportunity is to further develop a common language around teaching and learning that unites faculty across Arts & Sciences. The literacies give us another rich dimension with which to relate to each other and engage in discourse around pedagogy and curricula.

As you see it, what are some of the long-term benefits for students from adopting these literacies in A&S classrooms?

I think that there are numerous benefits for our students. First and foremost, the literacies provide students with a different language for thinking about their professional identity. Students often describe themselves through their majors and minors, but it does not do justice to the complexity and richness of the identities that they are developing. The literacies give students a framework to conceptualize the skills and knowledge that they are gaining from an Arts & Sciences education, and this framework is better aligned with what future employers want to know about them.

I also think that the literacies will make our Arts & Sciences curriculum much more transparent to students, thus enabling them to see connections within and across areas of study. My hope is that this newfound lens for reflection about one's professional identity coupled with curricular transparency will lead to informed decision-making about courses, increased engagement, and deeper learning by students. And maybe, just maybe, they will focus a little less on their grades.