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CIC Undertakes New Initiatives for Independent Higher Education Funding From Several Foundations To Support New Initiatives

WASHINGTON, DC – The Council of Independent Colleges (CIC) this fall is undertaking several new initiatives aimed at addressing key issues facing private colleges and universities. The CIC Board of Directors approved plans this summer to launch additional presidential leadership development activities, establish an Information Technology Advisory Service, and create the capacity to collect and analyze data on private higher education, among other activities.

CIC President Richard Ekman, who has headed up the Council since last fall, said the conception and undertaking of these initiatives – made possible by several new grants from a variety of funders – has energized both the Board and CIC members.  “I’m delighted that the Board of Directors wants CIC to address these challenges for small and medium sized private colleges and universities,” Ekman said, adding that, “Our goal is to help independent institutions remain strong as they face new challenges in leadership, finances, and public understanding.”

Board Chair Margaret McKenna, president of Lesley University (MA), during the June 15 Board meeting said, “Each of these activities will help our institutions grapple with ongoing leadership, governance, technological, and other concerns. The database on independent higher education is a much-needed initiative that undoubtedly will help our members make the case more effectively for smaller, teaching-oriented colleges.”

A description of each of the new CIC initiatives follows:

Enhance Presidential Leadership Development. A three-year, $450,000 grant from the Christian A. Johnson Endeavor Foundation, Inc. will allow CIC to augment and strengthen current activities in the areas of leadership capacity and presidential effectiveness. Specifically, the grant will be used to add sessions to CIC’s annual meeting focused on leadership and governance issues (e.g., working with boards of trustees, long-range planning, institutional transformation). In addition, 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. The grant will also help CIC 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).

In addition, a two-year, $200,000 grant from The Henry Luce Foundation will support several new presidential leadership initiatives:

• A roster of consultants comprised mainly of recently retired college and university presidents who will be available to provide short-term assistance to current presidents in targeted areas that require specific expertise, including financial management, president/board relations, and crisis management. Consultants will be available either to give advice by telephone, free of charge to CIC member presidents, or to provide a few days of “live” consulting time on campus, with the cost partially subsidized by CIC.

• Presidential forums for groups of seasoned and new college presidents (from non-competing institutions), who will meet several times over the course of a year in convenient locations to share problems and solutions on a wide range of issues.

• Travel subsidies to presidents and other institutio    nal leaders of the less affluent member institutions to make possible full participation in CIC events.

• Regional conferences of trustees and presidents to improve working relations and help prevent misunderstandings between the two. The day-long meetings may include outside speakers, but will have as their agenda mainly the issues that participants put forward.

Develop Information Technology Advisory Service. CIC will establish an Information Technology Advisory Service to assist presidents and other institutional leaders in their

decisions about purchasing and using information technology to improve student learning and institutional management. Project activities, funded in part by a $100,000 Verizon Foundation grant, will include the establishment of:

• a board of consultants and colleagues who are able to advise institutional leaders in these decisions;

• a small library and bibliography of materials such as “instructional modules” and charts comparing various technology products. These materials will be available on CIC’s website and possibly also in print.

Create Database and Analytic Studies on Private Higher Education. To help colleges “benchmark” their own activities and to give greater precision to the claims for the effectiveness of independent higher education, CIC will develop a new database on small and medium-sized private institutions and establish an ongoing program of research and analysis. With help from a $125,000 grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, data on a range of issues such as retention rates (which appear to be better at small, private institutions at all levels of selectivity) will be collected, analyzed, and made available.            

Strengthen Institute for Chief Academic Officers. A $64,380 grant from the Lumina Foundation for Education will be targeted at securing speakers for and helping chief academic officers from Historically Black Colleges and Universities to attend CIC’s 29th annual Institute for Chief Academic Officers, to be held November 3-6, 2001 in Palm Springs, California. The joint meeting of chief academic officers and chief student affairs officers from independent colleges and universities, entitled “Educating Today’s Students: Strategies for Success,” will assist the two divisions in working together to educate today’s students.

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