Celebrating Achievements
Wagner College (NY) received the 2005 TIAA-CREF Theodore M. Hesburgh Award, one of the nation’s most prestigious awards to recognize innovative undergraduate faculty development programs. The award was given for Wagner’s First Year Program, which integrates freshman classroom work with civic learning through service experiences in the community.
      Six staff and faculty members from CIC institutions have been selected for participation in the 2005 Frye Leadership Institute, an intensive, two-week residential program to be held at Emory University (GA), and co-sponsored by Educause and the Council on Library and Information Resources. Participants will have the opportunity to explore and analyze leadership challenges within higher education and interact with some of the field’s finest colleagues. Selected CIC participants include: Debra Bruxvoort of Central College (IA), Sylvia Contreras of Edgewood College (WI), Richard Holmgren of Allegheny College (PA), Medaline Philbert of Pace University (NY), Faye Priestly of Johnson C. Smith University (NC), and Michael Reder of Connecticut College.
      In other award news, four of the ten educators chosen this year as “2005 Outstanding First-Year Student Advocates” were from CIC member institutions. Congratulations to Phyllis Cremer of Woodbury University (CA), Lois Fennelly of Bethune-Cookman College (FL), Carole L. Isaak of Elizabethtown College (PA), and Philip Shahbaz of Azusa Pacific University (CA). The award was given to these four faculty members by the National Resource Center for the First-Year Experience & Students in Transition and Houghton Mifflin for improving the educational experience of first-year college students.
      Individual students from the University of Richmond (VA) and three other CIC colleges—Juniata College (PA), Rhodes College (TN), and William Jewell College (MO)—recently made USA Today’s 16th annual All-USA College Academic Team. Each student was selected for the 60-person, three-tiered Team based on intellectual achievement and leadership on and off campus. USA Today along with a panel of representatives from higher education organizations comprised the selection committee. The four CIC students selected include Scott Erwin (University of Richmond), Emily Abdoler (William Jewell College), Sunita Arora (Rhodes College), and Jeremy Weber (Juniata College).
      Mount Holyoke College (MA) received a 2005 Excellence in Academic Libraries Award from the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL). Mount Holyoke was the winner in the college category of the award, and the honor recognizes the institution’s library for providing exemplary services and resources to further the school’s mission of academic excellence. Achievements by Mount Holyoke’s library considered by ACRL include continually evolving and technologically advanced learning resources, expanding multimedia databases, and being one of the first undergraduate institutions to combine its library, computing, media resources, and electronic services into a single facility.

Cutting-Edge Science
Benedictine University (IL) will join an international team of 32 universities and national laboratories in participating in the MINOS experiment, a cutting-edge particle physics project. The MINOS experiment will be conducted in the U.S. at Fermilab—one of the world’s top particle physics research facilities—and aims to unlock the mysteries of the neutrino, one of life’s most fundamental and least understood subatomic particles. The study involves beaming a high-powered stream of neutrinos through a 450-mile underground detection tunnel, which allows scientists to analyze the inner characteristics of the neutrinos. Such studies may lead to breakthroughs in modern physics that could revolutionize the current scientific understanding the universe.

Innovative Learning
Two CIC institutions are raising the bar for innovative learning. Regis University (CO) has adopted the Responsive Model, a new custom-built, business-training software platform for MBA students. The Responsive Model allows students to run a fictional business using parameters that permit almost infinite variables and are controlled by true market forces. Teams access the Model via a web portal that includes links to competitors’ stock prices, international exchange rates, and the American Stock Exchange; and in a continually re-adjusting real-world-oriented matrix, they can immediately see the results of their decisions. As stated by the school’s MBA faculty chair: “It’s the difference between writing an analysis on why Nike is a successful company, and actually running Nike.”
      Hendrix College (AR) will launch a new engaged learning curriculum known as “Your Hendrix Odyssey: Engaging in Active Learning,” which may become a new model for undergraduate learning in America. The curriculum combines traditional liberal arts education with pragmatic, engaged learning experiences, and will guarantee every student at least three hands-on projects as well as a transcript that features both academic and experiential components. Hendrix refers to the initiative as “learning beyond the book,” and expects the new curriculum to produce flexible, innovative, and responsive students equipped to deal with “the new post 9/11 world.” Hendrix’s academic efforts to date have already been awarded the prestigious Arthur Vining Davis Foundation 2005 Award for Excellence.

	Chapman University (CA) officially opened the Leatherby Libraries. The four-story, $25 million facility houses ten individual libraries in 100,000 square feet; and features computer workstations, television screening rooms, live performance space, and a 24-hour study commons with café. Photo courtesy of Chapman University.

Community Involvement
Three CIC schools—Elon University (NC), Spelman College (GA), and Tusculum College (TN)—are among 13 institutions selected by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching to participate in a pilot project to develop one of the new Carnegie Classifications of Institutions of Higher Education. The pilot project will focus on developing a community engagement classification (the exchange of knowledge and resources between higher education institutions and their larger communities for mutual benefit), and is part of an overall revision of the Foundation’s widely used classification system. The new classification system will be introduced in the second half of 2005 to coincide with the Foundation’s centennial.

Creating Partnerships
Several CIC campuses have enhanced their academic effectiveness by creating new partnerships with other colleges or organizations both at home or abroad. Roger Williams University (RI) has created a partnership with Basra University in Iraq. The partnership— believed to be the first formal partnership between an American and Iraqi University—establishes a scholarship for a Basra University student; involves sending $10,000 worth of laptops, microscopes, books, and other materials to the Iraqi school; and will likely bring a student and marine biology professor to the Roger Williams campus in fall 2006.
      California Lutheran University has created partnerships with two foreign universities: the Lutheran University of India and Tumaini University in Tanzania. The agreement with the Lutheran University of India provides for academic cooperation, faculty and curriculum development, and student exchange programs. The agreement with Tumaini University provides for a study abroad program that will complement an already active and global CLU exchange program.
      Four CIC colleges in Indiana—Ancilla College, Bethel College, Goshen College, and Saint Mary’s College—have partnered with six other colleges and universities in the state to form the Indiana Careers Consortium (INCC). The Consortium was formed with the goal of cultivating professional development and career opportunities in Indiana in order to increase the number of graduates who remain in the state after graduation.
      Brenau University (GA) signed a three-year, renewable cooperative agreement with Kaxil Liuic, a Yucatan-based ecology group. The agreement should create research and intercultural study opportunities for Brenau students and faculty in the Yucatan region, specifically the 4,500-acre, Yucatan-based Helen Moyers Biocultural Reserve that is managed by the group. Tiffin University (OH) has signed an agreement with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department (LACSD) to offer LACSD personnel the opportunity to enroll in Tiffin’s master of science in criminal justice degree program, with a concentration in homeland security administration. St. Bonaventure University (NY) has partnered with George Washington University Medical Center (GWUMC) to jointly establish an undergraduate/graduate program allowing SBU students to begin their medical education at GWUMC’s School of Medicine after their senior year at SBU.
      In addition, John Cabot University (Rome, Italy) has partnered with Roma Tre, the Italian State University, as well as Bocconi, the prestigious private Milan university. The accord with Roma Tre calls for cooperation in courses and joint seminars, and the agreement with Bocconi involves hosting a Bocconi course of study on the JCU campus.

Announcing New Programs
Numerous CIC schools have expanded their academic offerings with new degree programs. Chatham College (PA) has added a new bachelor’s degree in interior architecture; Villa Julie College (MD) has added a bachelor of science degree in medical technology; Mount Vernon Nazarene University (OH) will launch a new intercultural studies major; Champlain College (VT) will offer a new bachelor’s degree and seven-course professional certificate in information security; and Alverno College (WI) will add a master of science in nursing degree program to begin in fall 2005.
     Bennington College (VT) has launched a new educational initiative, the Democracy Project, which expands its undergraduate curriculum to include an in-depth exploration of democracy. In addition to the multi-faceted academic perspectives—historical, philosophical, political, economic, and cultural—the project enlists the involvement of activists—journalists, lawyers, politicians, public intellectuals, and artists—whose insights emerge from the world of action. Students who elect to concentrate in the Democracy Project will integrate an intensive off-campus component (called the Field Work Term, a seven-week winter internship term) with their on-campus curriculum.
     And William Woods University (MO) has revised its current criminal justice program to provide a homeland security emphasis. The new program will provide a unique approach to national security issues by focusing on an understanding of the historical, sociological, and psychological aspects of terrorism, combined with the practical legal and forensic framework of criminal justice.

Campaign Completions
Several CIC schools successfully reached the financial goals of their current campaigns: Austin College (TX) recently completed its $120 million capital campaign, the largest fundraising effort in the College’s history. The campaign resulted in the construction and renovation of numerous campus facilities, as well as the creation of 271 new scholarships. Wesley College (DE) completed its $62 million campaign, using the funds so far for nearly $33 million in campus improvements. Saint Anselm College (NH) will close its $55 million fundraising campaign six months ahead of schedule, well surpassing the original goal of $30 million. Funds have been used to build a campus arena, to establish the College’s unique “Portraits of Human Greatness” humanities program, and to increase the College’s endowment.

Twenty-two Dordt College (IA) students recently traveled to Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic to serve as mission workers with AMOR (A Mission OutReach). While there, the students aided in the construction of a new school building by helping dig a 26,000-gallon reservoir to be used for water reserves and indoor plumbing. Photo courtesy of Dordt College.

Announcing Grants and Gifts
Three CIC schools have announced record-breaking gifts. Converse College (SC) received a gift of $15 million, the largest outright gift in the College’s history, from alumnus Susan Phifer and George Dean Johnson. The gift will be partially allocated to fund a faculty evaluation and compensation plan in support of academic excellence, and the remainder will be allocated to other areas within the College’s endowment, including scholarships. St. Norbert College (WI) received a $7 million gift, the largest in its 106-year history. The gift came from alumnus Miriam B. and James J. Mulva and will help fund a new library at St. Norbert. And Columbia College (MO) received its largest-ever gift—$3.1 million—from late alumnus Carol Vinkemulder Frobish. Half of the gift is designated to fund a scholarship established in Frobish’s name and the other half will be used to help advance the College.
      Other CIC schools have received impressive grants and gifts. Austin College (TX) received a $3 million gift from the Morris Foundation of Fort Worth to endow two faculty positions in the Department of Economics and Business; Morris College (SC) received a $2.5 million, five-year grant from the National Science Foundation under the Historically Black Colleges and Universities Undergraduate Program to upgrade its science, mathematics, and pre-engineering programs; Doane College (NE) has been awarded $2 million from the Lied Foundation Trust for the college’s Teacher Education/Art Building; Warner Southern College (FL) has received $1 million from an anonymous donor to fund the initial construction phase of new on-campus student housing; and Kentucky Wesleyan College received $1 million from the James Graham Brown Foundation in Louisville to enhance the James Graham Brown Scholarship Endowment Fund at the College.
      In addition, Georgetown College (KY) received a grant of $765,000 from the U.S. Department of Education for its Underground Railroad Research Institute; Naropa University (CO) was awarded a $213,482 grant from the Colorado Historical Society to launch phase-one preservation of a 102-year-old building that serves as the campus’ centerpiece facility; and Blackburn College (IL) received two notable grants—a $180,000 educational grant as part of the 2005 Illinois Mathematics and Science Partnerships (IMSP) Program to increase the academic achievement of students in mathematics and science by improving teacher quality; and a $90,000 grant from the George I. Alden Trust to be used in the construction of a new science facility.

	Newberry College (SC) recently established a criminal forensic science concentration within the chemistry major. The program allows students to gain hands-on experience at the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division lab in Columbia. Photo courtesy of Newberry College.

Building New Facilities
CIC member institutions continue to build facilities at a rapid pace. Gannon University (PA) recently opened the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning. The Center will have two main components—a model classroom with eight workstations and new state-of-the-art technology, and a large meeting area for discussion and exchange of teaching and learning ideas—as well as a small conference room, other individual spaces, and a library. The Center will host workshops, seminars, guest speakers, and Gannon faculty-training programs on using technology as a classroom tool.
      Prescott College (AZ) has opened the Crossroads Center, a 22,000-square-foot multi-purpose facility that will serve as the central gathering point for the campus. The facility features numerous student service areas—a two-story library with open mezzanine level, six classrooms with multimedia capabilities, a café, and community meeting rooms—and incorporates the latest in “green” technology. Many of the areas are built with natural elements such as rammed-earth walls and ponderosa pine columns.
      Champlain College (VT) unveiled the S.D. Ireland Family Center for Global Business and Technology. The Center features three levels packed with technology such as 40-inch flat screen computers, plasma screens, video conferencing, multimedia suites with the latest audio/visual equipment, and more. It contains classrooms, meeting rooms, faculty offices, and student project spaces; and applies environmentally friendly features such as a central chilling plant using off-peak energy, and unique storm-management and site-reclamation techniques.

Landmark Exhibit
Xavier University (OH) will debut A Blessing to One Another: Pope John Paul II and the Jewish People, a landmark exhibit on the late Pope John Paul II and his longstanding relationship with the Jewish people. The one-of-a-kind exhibit will feature a 1,500-square-foot exhibition space including artifacts, photographs, and videos documenting the Pope’s life; as well as an interactive area where visitors can write prayers to be taken to the Western Wall in Jerusalem. Efforts to launch the exhibit have been enormous and have included the collaboration of the University with national organizations such as Hillel, the Shtetl Foundation, the John Paul II Cultural Center, as well as a project advisory board that includes former President Jimmy Carter.

Changing Identities
Several CIC schools have undergone changes: Saint Martin’s University (WA) and Huston-Tillotson University (TX) have recently changed their status from college to university; Cumberland College (KY) will become the University of the Cumberlands; and for the first time in more than 30 years, Holy Family University (PA) will offer on-campus student housing.

International Activities
Students from 11 CIC institutions are among a nationwide coalition of college and university students that are launching a human rights campaign to help stop the genocide occurring in Darfur, Sudan. The campaign, 100 Days of Action, aims to raise $1 million to help the Sudanese people and produce 100,000 letters to Congress urging lawmakers to help end the genocide. The campaign is the latest effort of the Genocide Intervention Fund (GIF), an organization created by the same student coalition that combines fundraising and advocacy efforts to improve security and civilian protection and end the genocide in Darfur. The CIC institutions with students involved in both GIF and 100 Days of Action include: Bluffton University (OH), Eastern University (PA), Hillsdale College (MI), Ithaca College (NY), Mount St. Mary’s College (CA), Ottawa University (KS), Rosemont College (PA), Swarthmore College (PA), University of Richmond (VA), Wagner College (NY), and Wesleyan College (GA).
      Franciscan University of Steubenville (OH) sent a group of 30 students to the United Nations headquarters in New York this spring to participate in the 49th session of the Commission on the Status of Women. The conference’s purpose was to prepare recommendations and reports on promoting women’s rights in political, economic, civil, social, and educational fields around the world. During the conference, Franciscan University’s students engaged delegates and NGOs on women’s issues and made recommendations on specific proposals being discussed. To prepare for the conference, the students took a class and practicum on UN operations and women’s rights that included examining documents from the two previous Beijing Conferences.
      In other international news, Georgetown College (KY) has launched a United Nations-funded, Guatemalan hunger relief program. The program, Project Compassion, is a student-run effort to feed more than 1,300 schoolchildren in Guatemala. The program is being supported through the United Nations’ World Food Programme, and Georgetown is believed to be the first college to receive such direct funding through the Programme.

Austin College (TX) students traveled to Southeast Asia in January to deliver medical supplies and relief packages to tsunami-struck areas. Photo courtesy of Austin College.

CIC Schools Rise to the Challenge to Help Tsunami-Devastated Regions When one of the world’s worst natural disasters struck this past December, CIC institutions around the nation rose to the challenge with an outpouring of relief and support for tsunami-devastated regions in South Asia and Indonesia.       Many schools held fundraisers and charity events. Northland College’s (WI) students association launched a “Million Dollar Challenge” for tsunami victims—an initiative by the students to raise $1 million to match a $1 million donation by the College’s campus food service. Xavier University (OH) teamed with two Ohio universities to raise more than $81,000 for tsunami relief efforts. Barry University (FL), Ferrum College (VA), Goshen College (IN), Houghton College (NY), and Millsaps College (MS) all held campaigns to raise tsunami funds.       In addition, for an entire month, East Texas Baptist University took offerings after each chapel service as well as during the serving of the noon meal in its main student center. Lynchburg College (VA) sponsored a tsunami-aid raffle and raised money to pay for shipping fees for supply kits being sent by an outside organization. Malone College (OH) held an “Art for Aid” auction in which all proceeds went toward tsunami victim relief. Carroll College (MT) held a tsunami aid concert to raise aid money through music.       Some campuses such as Davis & Elkins College (WV) sent disaster relief kits, while others sent faculty or students to the region. Austin College (TX) had a class of 30 students and two faculty members travel throughout Southeast Asia delivering medical supplies and other relief packages. George Fox University (OR) sent two professors, Karin Jordan and Deborah Pack-Patton, to Sri Lanka as mental health aid workers. The trip was part of a “Critical Incidence Stress Management” mission with Northwest Medical Teams responsible for assessing the mental and emotional needs of tsunami victims, with a primary focus on children. The trip received coverage by regional and national press such as the Portland Tribune and MSNBC. And the library at Merrimack College (MA) organized an online resources page listing links to relief aid and donation agencies, as well as links to informative articles on the tsunami event.

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Last updated: April 2005
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