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Vol. 7, No. 2
December 2006
Please note: Articles below link to PDF files.
(To view, you must
have Adobe Acrobat which is available for free from the Adobe
Web site.)
Welcome to another issue of Communications Resources, CIC’s periodic
kit of tools and ideas to help you tell your institution’s story.
PRESIDENTS MAKE THE CASE FOR PRIVATE HIGHER ED
Several presidents from across the country make compelling arguments
on behalf of private colleges and universities in these articles.
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A fascinating historical comparison by Ursinus College
(PA) President John Strassburger of the academic work of students
today with work done 60 years ago makes the case that higher education
today is preparing students “to compete in the new, flat world
of the 21st century.” He finds that students today are far more
sophisticated intellectually than their peers of the past (Philadelphia
Inquirer, August 2006). And two presidents of women’s colleges
in Virginia, Elisabeth Muhlenfeld of Sweet Briar College
and Nancy Gray of Hollins University, argue in The
Roanoake Times (September 14, 2006) that women’s colleges
provide an educational experience for women that is “superior
to coeducational institutions on many levels.”
College
Research Is On Course (Strassburger) 
Women's Colleges Ensure
Diversity... (Muhlenfeld, Gray)
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Tackling the issue of college costs in separate articles are Manchester
College (IN) President Jo Young Switzer and College
Misericordia (PA) President Michael MacDowell. Switzer stresses
that the education offered by diverse higher education institutions
is not the same, and that students should choose a college based on
factors besides cost (Fort Wayne Journal Gazette, August
2006), while MacDowell explains that students can lower the cost of
their college education by developing well-organized skills and the
ability to focus in order to graduate on time (Wilkes-Barre Citizen
Voice, June 2006).
School Not a
Commodity (Switzer)
Cost Is the Third Most Important
Thing... (MacDowell)
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We’ve also included an opinion piece by Pace University
(NY) President David Caputo that appeared in the New York Times
this month entitled “The World’s Best Education: Remade
in America.” Pace purchased ad space in the newspaper to run
the piece as part of the university’s 100th anniversary celebration.
Pace received a discount for the ad in part as a result of the institution’s
participation in the CIC/NYT Partnership.
The World's Best
Education: Remade in America
THOUGHT-PROVOKING PIECES
Several messages from the presidential platform focus on the need for
leaders of higher education to pay attention to broad societal contributions
of the institution, the presidents themselves, and their students. Other
articles tackle the controversial subjects of publishing library holdings
online and scandal-ridden intercollegiate athletics.
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Doane College (NE) President Jonathan Brand questions
the societal contributions of an institution when it starts with the
best students and graduates the best students in “Colleges Seek
More than High Test Scores, Class Rank” (Journal-Star,
April 2006). Another piece, “The Silencing of College Presidents,”
by Lesley University (MA) President Margaret McKenna,
urges presidents to exercise moral leadership and speak out on the
important issues of the day (Boston Globe, January 2006).
Leadership, or lack of it, also concerns Bethune-Cookman College
(FL) President Trudie Kibbe Reed. She calls for colleges to transform
students into leaders in “Engaging with Students” (ACE’s
The Presidency, Spring 2006).
Colleges Seek More
Than High Test Scores, Class Rank (Brand)
The Silencing of College Presidents
(McKenna)
Engaging with Students
(Kibbe Reed)
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CIC President Richard Ekman urges colleges and universities to support
Google’s controversial project to digitize major library collections
and offer books online in “The Books Google Could Open,”
(Washington Post, August 2006). And Augustana College
(IL) President Steven Bahls encourages higher education leaders to
address the myriad problems that are wracking intercollegiate athletics
(Inside HigherEd, August 2006).
The Books Google
Could Open (Ekman)
Remove the Worm From the Apple
(Bahls)
PRESIDENTS SEEK A BETTER WAY
Presidents share their views on the changes in higher education that
they have already undertaken, or would like to see implemented, or are
dead-set against:
NATIONAL MEDIA CONTACTS
Campus PR directors will find useful the enclosed “2006 Higher
Education Media Contacts List” to update their mailing lists for
national higher education reporters. The list was prepared by CIC Senior
Advisor Keith Moore for his annual media conference in June 2006. If you
would like a copy of the media contact list via email, please request
it from kmoore@cic.nche.edu.
2006 Higher
Education Media Contacts List
WANT TO SHARE SOME OF YOUR WRITING?
If you have a short speech, op-ed, report, or other article that you
think would be of interest to your colleague presidents in CIC, send them
to us for inclusion in the next issue. For more information or to talk
about your materials, contact CIC Vice President for Communications Laura
Wilcox at (202) 466-7230; email: lwilcox@cic.nche.edu.
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