Vol. 7, No. 1
September 2003
(Please note: articles below link to PDF files.
In order to view, you must have Adobe Acrobat which
is available for free from the Adobe
Web site.)
Welcome to another issue of Communications Resources. This is
CIC’s periodic kit of tools and ideas to help you tell your institution’s
story.
COLLEGE TO UNIVERSITY: MERELY AN IMAGE THING?
Jay Mathews, education writer for the Washington Post, describes
in his May 6 article what he sees as a national
trend: colleges are turning into universities for largely image-related
reasons. His Post insights, as well as other items noted below,
are included for your review.
BUILDING STRONGER BOARD LEADERSHIP
President Lee Snyder of Bluffton College (OH) offers excellent advice
for engaging strong board of trustees leadership. She has written an article
for Bulletin on Public Relations and Development, a periodical
produced by Gonser Gerber Tinker Stuhr, a Naperville, IL consulting firm.
Snyder reveals ten judicious habits that foster a strong board-president
relationship.
TAKING PRESIDENTIAL STANDS
Across the nation, CIC presidents are shaping public opinion with their
views and weighing in on debates in their states and in the world.
- In South Carolina, Newberry College President Mick Zais decries in
The Newberry Observer a situation there “where need-based
aid has fallen far behind” the amounts necessary to close the
gap between low-income families’ needs and college costs. His
insightful summary can inform CEOs in other states
as well.
- On the pages of South Dakota’s Pierre Capital Journal,
President Robert Duffett of Dakota Wesleyan University endorses
a state legislative measure that established the Regents Scholarship
Bill.
- Taking his own ideas to the public, President Richard Cook of Allegheny
College (PA) prepared an argument for the Erie
Times-News that the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania will achieve its
ambitious goals through applying a critical natural resource—knowledge.
- President Ed Welch of University of Charleston illustrates
for West Virginia Executive why independent institutions
in the state are valuable.
- Conditions in Iraq provoked President Henry A. Zimon of Albright
College (PA) to clarify in the Reading Eagle
why the process of rebuilding Iraq is enlightening for “students
who stand next in line as the national and international leaders and
workforce.”
- Father Jonathan DeFelice, president of Saint Anselm College (NH),
explains in an April 2003 issue of The Union
Leader that he is concerned that students’ “commitment
to civic engagement could end as soon as the war does.”
In addition, CIC President Richard Ekman in a letter
to the editor of the Christian Science Monitor this month
weighed in on a story about the impact of state budget cuts on colleges
and universities.
FINDING HELP IN MAKING YOUR CASE
Looking to gather ideas on excellent websites? Download WWW&W (Websites
Worth Watching and Why)” by NAICU Vice President Roland King. King’s
informative compendium of college and non-college websites is at www.naicu.edu/PRWebList.htm.
Need guidance on writing op-eds? Take a look at Op-ed Editor John Timpane’s
site at the Philadelphia Inquirer. You can find useful guidelines
and superb op-ed samples at http://inquirer.philly.com/opinion/edweb_writeforus.asp,
and
http://inquirer.philly.com/opinion/edweb_getpub.asp.
(For more information, contact Timpane directly at 215-854-2862 or jtimpane@phillynews.com.)
Starting a national media contacts list? E-mail CIC Senior Advisor Keith
Moore for a CD of the June 2003 list he’s compiled of those who
cover higher education nationwide. He’s got CDs for the first 25
who contact him at kmoore@cic.nche.edu.
As ratings appear again, do you need to explain the process and merits
of them to your supporters? Let us remind you that Priorities,
a periodical of the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and
Colleges (AGB), has given Board members and CEOs excellent advice “to
better understand how the rankings really work so they can agree on how
the institution should consider its placement and conduct its business.”
AGB distributed last year in its Number 20, Fall 2002 issue of Priorities
a one-of-a-kind comprehensive summary. Copies are still available;
contact Matt Stevens at AGB (1-800-356-6317 or matts@agb.org)
to see if your institution qualifies to get a copy. Back editions are
$10 per copy.
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 edition. For more information or to talk
about your materials, contact CIC Vice President for Communications Laura
Wilcox at (202) 466-7230; e-mail: lwilcox@cic.nche.edu.
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Making
the Case
