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CIC PRESIDENTS PRESENT TOP 2006 ANNUAL AWARDS DURING 50TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION

NAPLES, FL – The Council of Independent Colleges (CIC) today announced the four award recipients of its top 2006 annual awards. Ken Yamada, retired associate general secretary of the Division of Higher Education, General Board of Higher Education and the Ministry of the United Methodist Church, was selected to receive the Allen P. Splete Award for Outstanding Service, while philanthropists Maynard and Carolyn Sauder, the Davis Educational Foundation, and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation were selected for CIC’s Awards for Philanthropy. The awards were presented at CIC’s 50th Anniversary Awards Banquet during the annual Presidents Institute, held at the Naples Grande Resort, Naples, FL, on Friday, January 6.

The Allen P. Splete Award for Outstanding Service is given to an individual, publication, or organization for significant contributions to independent higher education. The award recognizes national leadership, through ideas and commitment, on behalf of private colleges and universities. The award is named in honor of CIC’s president emeritus who served from 1986 to 2000.

Ken Yamada recently retired after serving for 17 years as associate general secretary of the Division of Higher Education, General Board of Higher Education and Ministry of The United Methodist Church. In that role he provided insightful and concerned guidance to 124 academic institutions and 700 campus ministries.

As Executive Secretary of the denomination’s University Senate, the nation’s oldest accrediting agency, he was responsible for a ten-year cycle of institutional peer review. In addition, since 1991, Yamada worked extensively in developing the International Association of Methodist Schools, Colleges, and Universities, which now has a membership of 696 academic institutions in 67 nations.

Many observers claim that Yamada has been the most valuable resource for United Methodist colleges and universities. His work has increased the involvement of Methodists in higher education projects, especially in Africa, where he oversaw the development of the first private university in Zimbabwe.

The 2006 Award for Philanthropy (Individual), presented to Maynard and Carolyn Sauder, celebrates individuals who contribute volunteer service or financial support to independent colleges and universities. It honors those individuals who, by their example, provide a beacon for others to follow.

The Sauders are philanthropists from Archbold, Ohio. They are known for their support of liberal arts colleges and their firm belief in the value of faith-based institutions. Mr. Sauder is chairman of Sauder Woodworking Co., the sixth largest furniture manufacturer in the United States, and serves as chairman of Sauder Village, a nonprofit living history museum. Maynard’s wife, Carolyn, serves as the executive director emeritus at Sauder Village.

The Sauders have given of their time and talent generously, as well as their financial gifts. The Sauder family and companies have given more than $10 million to private higher education institutions, making a substantial difference in the abilities of private institutions to foster educational excellence. They have provided leadership and support to Messiah College and Mennonite colleges including CIC members Goshen and Bluffton, and Hesston, a two-year institution and CIC Associate Member.

In addition, the Sauders are lead givers in a campaign to build a new library at the Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary in Elkhart, Indiana. The family also has generously supported Taylor University in Indiana, Defiance College and Capital University in Ohio, and Eastern Mennonite University in Virginia.

The winners of the Award for Philanthropy (Foundation and Corporate), which celebrates a foundation or corporation that has demonstrated leadership and vision in improving higher education, are the Davis Educational Foundation and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. The Davis Educational Foundation was established in 1985 in Falmouth, Maine, by Stanton and Elisabeth Davis after his retirement as chairman of Shaw’s Supermarkets, Inc. The Foundation has demonstrated deep and sustained commitment to independent colleges throughout New England and has supported a broad range of programs, from creative use of instructional technology to faculty development to course redesign.

In 2004, the Davis Educational Foundation contributed more than $3.3 million in substantial grants to Bennington College for a democracy project; Champlain College for a project to assess and integrate core competencies; Franklin Pierce College for enhancement of student and program assessments using e-portfolios; Hampshire College for an assessment of its Advance Studies program; Lesley University for an assessment of its liberal arts core; and Western New England College for curriculum and faculty development.

In working with potential grantees, the Davis Foundation encourages college presidents to think in new and innovative ways as they strive to improve their institutions. The Foundation’s ambitions for its grantees are exemplary. It is an organization that demonstrates a real depth and breadth of commitment to higher education.

The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation is one of the largest philanthropic foundations in the world and the largest funder of colleges and universities in the United States. The Foundation has provided substantial funding and leadership on issues facing the nation’s independent, liberal arts colleges and universities.

Recently, the Mellon Foundation has supported initiatives that increase educational effectiveness, promote faculty career development, enhance opportunities for minority students, strengthen historically black colleges and universities, encourage cost-effectiveness through inter-institutional cooperation, and advance new forms of library collaboration, especially through new uses of digital technology. The foundation has generously funded program improvements at scores of CIC colleges and universities and also has supported several important CIC initiatives.

In 2004, the Foundation awarded more than $84 million to institutions of higher education, including 32 CIC members. The Foundation has provided sizeable funding for CIC’s “Transformation of the College Library” and “Learning Spaces and Technology” workshops.

The Council honors the Mellon Foundation as one of the nation’s most effective and far-sighted supporters of liberal arts colleges and universities.

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The Council of Independent Colleges is an association of 550 independent colleges and universities, including liberal arts, comprehensive, and international institutions as well as higher education affiliates and organizations that work together to strengthen college and university leadership, sustain high-quality education, and enhance private higher education’s contributions to society. To fulfill this mission, CIC provides its members with skills, tools, and knowledge that address aspects of leadership, financial management and performance, academic quality, and institutional visibility. The Council is headquartered at One Dupont Circle in Washington, DC.

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