Press Releases

Home > Publications > Press Releases > Endeavor

CIC Announces Christian A. Johnson Endeavor Foundation Grant to Support Efforts to Strengthen Private Colleges

WASHINGTON, DC – The Council of Independent Colleges (CIC) announces a $450,000 grant from the Christian A. Johnson Endeavor Foundation, Inc. to support a number of new initiatives aimed at improving the quality of independent higher education. The three-year grant will assist CIC in developing ways to help small and medium sized private liberal arts colleges and universities strengthen their educational programs, improve their administrative effectiveness and financial performance, and increase their institutional visibility.

“The challenges facing independent higher education require leaders to anticipate where change will occur and how resources will be mobilized to deal with changing circumstances,” said CIC President Richard Ekman. “This generous grant from the Christian A. Johnson Endeavor Foundation for general operating support will enable CIC to strengthen current programs and to help presidents address these changes and challenges,” he said.

Many of the new initiatives will focus on aspects of presidential leadership and effectiveness, including: expanding and tailoring current program offerings to reach more presidents at more and different types of institutions, and launching programs that will help presidents to share effective practices and compare perspectives on selected topics.

Among the activities CIC will undertake:

• Conference Programs.
  CIC will augment conference programming in two ways—to address key issues in greater depth at its major annual meeting, the Presidents Institute, and to pilot some regional meetings that provide an in-depth focus on particular issues.

• Seminars.
  To encourage broader communication within the independent sector of higher education, CIC will convene seminars to be held in Washington. Seminars might address issues such as the difficulties of reflecting the distinctive spiritual values of church-related colleges in curricular and community outreach activities, or the role of private higher education in exemplifying the principle of diversity among institutions of higher education.  

• Information Dissemination.
  CIC will expand a number of services it offers to help presidents of small or rural campuses with limited budgets for travel, subscriptions, and consultants to stay in touch with the larger professional world. For example, the Council will increase production of “Communications Resources,” a compilation of materials (e.g., articles, speeches, opinion pieces, etc.) for presidents and public affairs officials to help them keep abreast of key issues and tell their institution’s story. CIC also will expand its web-based services specifically for presidents (e.g., creating a members only site for presidents, archiving discussions from the CIC Presidents Listserv for easy retrieval on the website, and developing a highly interactive “best practices” section where college leaders can share experiences, knowledge, and advice).

Julie Johnson Kidd, president of The Christian A. Johnson Endeavor Foundation, said, “The work of the Council of Independent Colleges is a very valuable tool in assisting small liberal arts colleges across the nation in their efforts to deal effectively and creatively with the many challenges they face. The mission of these institutions is more important than ever in this rapidly changing world of ours, and CIC is strategically organized to help support this important mission.”

The Christian A. Johnson Endeavor Foundation was incorporated in 1952 in New York with funds donated by Christian A. Johnson, a Swedish immigrant who became a prominent financier and industrialist. A man of wide-ranging interests, he derived great personal pleasure from nurturing the curiosity and intellectual development of young people as well as providing the financial means to help them achieve their educational goals.

Copyright ©1997-2008 Council of Independent Colleges. All rights reserved.