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HAROLD HARTLEY NAMED
CIC DIRECTOR OF RESEARCH

WASHINGTON, DC—The Council of Independent Colleges (CIC) today announced that Harold V. “Hal” Hartley III has joined the CIC staff as Director of Research. Hartley comes to CIC from Nashville, where since 1995 he had been with the General Board of Higher Education & Ministry of the United Methodist Church, most recently as director of student ministries, vocation and enlistment.

As Director of Research, Hal provides leadership and direction on data initiatives that can both enhance decision-making in private colleges and universities, and “make the case” for the effectiveness of these institutions. Several of the CIC research programs which Hal oversees include CIC’s “Key Indicators Tool,” providing colleges and universities with 16 benchmarks of institutional performance, and a consortium of CIC member institutions administering the Collegiate Learning Assessment to document the “value added” in student learning at independent colleges and universities. He also conducts quantitative and qualitative research for CIC, translating statistical analyses into useable information for college leaders and the general public.

“Hal has demonstrated real enthusiasm for CIC’s cause and its mission. He brings highly relevant professional experience, as well as a comprehensive understanding of the independent sector of higher education, ” said CIC President Richard Ekman. Hartley’s research interests and publications, based in part on his analysis of large datasets, have focused on such topics as the relationship between the undergraduate experience and persistence to degree, and the effects of college on students’ religious faith.

A minister ordained in The United Methodist Church, Hartley earlier served as chaplain at Ohio Northern University and Emory & Henry College (VA) and as pastor of several churches in Maryland. Hartley recently completed his Ed.D. degree in higher education, leadership and policy at the Peabody College of Education at Vanderbilt University in Nashville. Earlier, he did his undergraduate work at Westminster College (PA), and received his M.Div. degree from Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, DC. He and his wife, Donna Parker, have a daughter who is a student at Randolph-Macon College (VA).

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The Council of Independent Colleges is an association of more than 540 independent, liberal arts colleges and universities and 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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