Information on featured speakers is available below.

The thoughtful perspectives of speakers who will address CIC’s 2009 Presidents Institute promise a valuable experience for participants in the January 4–7, 2009, event at the Hyatt Regency Coconut Point in Bonita Springs, Florida. Featured speakers include Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Alphonse Fletcher University Professor and director of the W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research at Harvard University; Paul H. O’Neill, former Secretary of the U.S. Treasury and chairman and chief executive of Alcoa; Shirley Ann Jackson, president of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute; Molly Corbett Broad, president of the American Council on Education; and George D. Kuh, Chancellor’s Professor of Higher Education and director of the Center for Postsecondary Research at Indiana University.

The theme of the Institute is “Investing in the Future: Students, Institutions, and the Public Good.” Among the issues to be explored during the meeting are the new economic conditions that are challenging the traditional view of American higher education as a wise investment in the future, both for the individual and for society as a whole. Tighter student loan markets, lower returns on endowments, increasingly prescriptive donors, and higher operating costs are stimulating innovative ideas to secure the future of private higher education. A new generation of college students reflects a wide diversity of backgrounds and invites fresh approaches in teaching, educational support, and student services. For college and university presidents, the exercise of leadership calls for new strategies for finding, investing, and deploying scarce resources.

How can presidents make the case to anxious students and parents that an education at an independent college or university is a worthwhile investment? What arguments will persuade cautious donors that investing in independent higher education leads both to greater success by individual students and to a broader public good? What strategies can presidents employ to bolster endowment returns and strengthen facilities? CIC’s 2009 Presidents Institute will examine these and other critical questions by drawing on the practical successes of CIC college and university presidents and by considering the perspectives of other experts who take a broad look at the trajectory of the higher education enterprise.

In addition, the Institute will continue to feature practical presentations and discussions on the range of issues perennially topping the list of presidential responsibilities, from board relations to fundraising to cost and price. The Institute also will include a full Spouses Program and the New Presidents Program held on January 3–4.

More information and registration materials are available here.