WASHINGTON, D.C.Dr. Cynthia Tweedell, associate dean for Institutional Effectiveness at Indiana Wesleyan University, has been named executive director of the CCCU Center for Research in Adult Learning, the CCCU and IWU announced recently. She will begin in her new capacity November 1.
The CCCU is very pleased with the selection of Dr. Tweedell as executive director of the Center for Research in Adult Learning. She brings a rich history of experience and leadership in adult learning that will equip her to champion this important initiative. We look forward to working with her to increase the knowledge base and understanding of adult learning, said Dr. Mimi Barnard, vice president for Professional Development and Research for the CCCU.
In her new role, Dr. Tweedell will lead the efforts to increase the knowledge base in adult education by establishing a research agenda that engages the academic community in scholarly research. Topics the Center hope to study include:
- Development of norms for adult student learning outcomes
- Studies of best practices for onsite higher education for adults
- Studies for best practices for online education with adults
- Warehousing data from CCCU adult programs
- Developing and conducting national surveys and other research projects regarding adult education.
Adult learning is a major component of CCCU institutions, as well as higher education. More than half of CCCU institutions have programs catering to adult learning, including programs on satellite campuses and online learning. For more information about what some of the Council membership is doing and more about Christian Higher Education Month please go to
www.cccu.org/chem.
Dr. Tweedell is uniquely qualified for her new role as Executive Director, said Mike Bonner, vice president of Adult and Graduate Operations at IWU.Her passion for adult education is evidenced by her personal research agenda and her demonstrated success in bringing together researchers from other institutions involved in adult learning to explore topics of mutual interest. I am excited about the potential of the CCCU Center for Research in Adult Learning under Dr. Tweedells leadership.
Dr. Tweedell has conducted research and taught online and on site classes for over 28 years. Since 1998, she has directed assessment for the College of Adult and Professional Studies at Indiana Wesleyan and has done extensive research comparing student outcomes between online and on site students.Dr. Tweedell is a frequent presenter on issues of retention and innovative modes of delivery.She co-chaired the 2007 CCCU Consultation on Adult Education and chaired the 2008 Adult Education Conference.She is also on the Leadership Council for the Christian Adult Higher Education Association.Dr. Tweedell is a co-author of two sociology textbooks and Systems of Excellence in Adult Education (Triangle Publishing). Dr. Tweedell holds masters degrees from University of North Carolina-Greensboro and University of Chicago.She holds the Ph.D. from Walden University.
Im very excited about this new initiative. This Center will be filling in a gap in the research literature. Theres plenty of literature on student learning outcomes for traditional settings, but there are no standardized measures for adult students, said Dr. Tweedell. We need to document student learning outcomes for adult programs, and so we hope to develop new benchmarks. Im very pleased that the CCCU expressed interest in adult higher education and I look forward to partnership and collaboration with other adult learning programs.
The Council for Christian Colleges & Universities is a higher education association of 180 intentionally Christ-centered institutions around the world. There are now 110 member campuses in North America and all are fully-accredited, comprehensive colleges and universities with curricula rooted in the arts and sciences. In addition, 70 affiliate campuses from 24 countries are part of the CCCU. The Councils mission is to advance the cause of Christ-centered higher education and to help its institutions transform lives by faithfully relating scholarship and service to biblical truth.