6-Campus Update

A Compendium of Recent News from CIC Member Institutions

All three of the 2012 presidential debates between President Barack Obama and Governor Mitt Romney were held on independent college and university campuses, as was the vice presidential debate between Vice President Joe Biden and Congressman Paul Ryan. Two CIC members, Centre College (KY) and Lynn University (FL), hosted debates.

Celebrating Achievements

The Rhodes Trust in November chose 32 American students as winners of Rhodes Scholarships for 2013. Three CIC member institutions produced scholarship winners: Luther College (IA), the College of Idaho, and Wofford College (SC). Created in1902, Rhodes Scholarships provide all expenses for at least two years of study at the University of Oxford in England.

Marking its second time to host a U.S. vice presidential debate, Centre College (KY) hosted the 2012 vice presidential debate on October 11. The debate took place on campus in the Norton Center for the Arts. Earlier that day, Centre College also hosted “Our Voice, Our Future,” a live interactive webcast for high school and postsecondary students and teachers to discuss the presidential race and role of debates. Lynn University (FL) hosted the presidential debate on October 22—the final of four general election debates—at the university’s Keith C. and Elaine Johnson Wold Performing Arts Center. Many other CIC member institutions sponsored election and voter registration events, including Misericordia University (PA), which hosted a two-day voter registration drive on campus, and the University of Richmond (VA), which hosted evening conversations between the university’s president, Ed Ayers, and U.S. Senate candidates George Allen and Tim Kaine before a live audience on October 7.

The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the Council for Advancement and Support of Education recently recognized the national and state winners of the 2012 U.S. Professors of the Year awards, which honor professors for their influence on teaching and commitment to undergraduate students. Six of the state-level winners are faculty members from CIC member colleges: Centre College (KY), DePauw University (IN), Nebraska Wesleyan University, Pacific University (OR), University of Puget Sound (WA), and Wofford College (SC).

In October Messiah College (PA) was recognized as one of 31 organizations from across the nation to be named a Together for Tomorrow Challenge winner for the 2012–2013 academic year. Together for Tomorrow is a joint initiative of the White House Office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships, U.S. Department of Education, and Corporation for National and Community Service that recognizes community-led partnerships to support struggling schools. Messiah was recognized for its ongoing relationship with the Harrisburg School District.

The Institute of International Education recently released its Open Doors 2012 report, which contains data on international exchange during the 2011–2012 academic year. Several CIC member institutions topped the list of colleges with the highest undergraduate participation rates in study abroad. Of master’s-level institutions, CIC members Arcadia University (PA), Lee University (TN), Loyola University Maryland, University of Dubuque (IA), Chatham University (PA), and Whitworth University (WA) reached the top ten. All of the top ten baccalaureate institutions are CIC member institutions: Centre College (KY), Taylor University (IN), Austin College (TX), Wofford College (SC), St. Olaf College (MN), Goucher College (MD), Colorado College, DePauw University (IN), Luther College (IA), and Kalamazoo College (MI).

Ten colleges and universities were chosen to participate in the third cohort of AAC&U’s Preparing Critical Faculty for the Future, a project that supports women of color faculty members in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines to become strong academic and administrative leaders. Funded by the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Historically Black Colleges and Universities–Undergraduate Program, two of the selected institutions are CIC members: Lane College (TN) and Tougaloo College (MS).

The Morton Register of Arboreta recently granted Lewis University (IL) accreditation for its Romeoville campus as an established arboretum. The university is a veritable arboretum with more than 2,400 trees in addition to wooded areas. The 376-acre campus features more than 140 varieties of trees.

Creating Partnerships

In a global partnership, this fall St. Edward’s University (TX) launched a professional science master’s degree in environmental management and sustainability. The two-year program will be conducted in Austin, Texas, and Angers, France, and graduates will receive a joint degree from St. Edward’s and the Université Catholique de l’Ouest. In addition, this fall St. Edward’s established an international exchange partnership with Wu Yee Sun College, one of the constituent colleges of the Chinese University of Hong Kong. The first exchange of students between the two universities will take place in fall 2013. All courses will be taught in English, but students studying in Hong Kong will have the opportunity to learn Mandarin Chinese.

Bethany College (WV) and Carnegie Mellon University’s (CMU) H. John Heinz III College have partnered to create an accelerated master’s degree program in six areas of study: management, public policy and management, health care policy and management, biotechnology and management, information systems management, and information security policy and management. The program allows qualified applicants to graduate with both a bachelor’s degree from Bethany and a master’s degree from CMU in five years. Dominican College (NY) and New York Medical College have established a partnership to help students enter professions in the biomedical sciences. An articulation agreement will allow

Dominican College undergraduate students to take graduate courses at the New York Medical College’s Graduate School of Basic Medical Sciences (GSBMS). New York Medical College course credits will be applied to Dominican College bachelor’s degree requirements and toward graduate degree requirements in the GSBMS. The agreement may reduce the time spent earning a master’s degree by one year. Benedictine University (IL) and the College of DuPage are partnering to offer a new bachelor of science in nursing 3+1 program. The program will be open to DuPage students and alumni who have earned an associate of applied science degree in nursing. Students will take three years of classes at DuPage, with the fourth year taught by Benedictine University faculty on DuPage’s campus.

Marian University (IN) and Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis have established a dual-degree engineering program. Students who complete the program earn degrees from both institutions—a bachelor of science or bachelor of art degree from Marian and a bachelor of science in engineering, biomedical engineering, electrical engineering, or mechanical engineering from Purdue. The program allows residence and enrollment at Marian University for the duration of the program. Rockhurst University (IN) is partnering with the University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC) to offer an engineering, computing, and information technology program. Bachelor of science degrees will be offered in five subjects: civil, electrical, and mechanical engineering, computer science, and information technology. Students will pursue the core curriculum at Rockhurst and complete specialized engineering courses at UMKC.

Mount St. Mary’s College (CA) and MyCollege Foundation are launching the Portmont College at Mount St. Mary’s to offer high-quality, low-cost, transfer-level associate degrees to students with “the will but not the way” to succeed in college. Portmont College will offer four blended associate degree programs in business administration, computer science, liberal arts, and pre-health science. The program will begin in Denver, Colorado, and San Francisco, California, in March 2013.

Westminster College (MO) has signed a transfer student agreement with the Maricopa Community Colleges, making it easier for Maricopa students to continue their higher education at Westminster. According to the agreement, all applicable associate degrees successfully completed at any of the colleges within the Maricopa Community College system will transfer to Westminster, and credits taken at any Maricopa college will transfer to Westminster. Students can attend classes at Westminster’s Fulton, Missouri, campus in spring 2013 or the Mesa, Arizona, campus in fall 2013.

Indiana Wesleyan University together with Fairbanks—a nonprofit drug and alcohol treatment center in Indianapolis—and Hope Academy—a recovery high school at Fairbanks—recently formed the Adolescent Addiction, Learning, and Recovery Project. The five-year project will investigate the impact that substance-use disorders and personal recovery have on student learning and school success.

Central Methodist University (MO) reopened its century-old Classic Hall in August 2012 after a $5 million renovation. Shuttered for 30 years, the rejuvenated facility now houses much of the university’s Swinney Conservatory of Music, its Ashby-Hodge Gallery of American Art, and some general classroom space. The building was formally rededicated October 13.

New, Planned, and Recently Renovated Facilities

Becker College (MA) in September held a dedication and ribbon

cutting ceremony for the George F. and Sybil H. Fuller Campus

Center. The $9.5 million 35,727-square-foot center includes a

254-seat dining hall, a fitness center, game room, study space

with computers, and more. Benedictine University (IL) in

October unveiled its new $2.5 million welcome center, anchored

by the historic Neff Farmhouse built in 1852. The 2,700-squarefoot

center will serve as the new home for the university’s

freshmen enrollment operations. The center displays photographs

and memorabilia of the university’s history and has a lounge area

with an adjacent meeting room as well as event space, offices, and

a conference room.

Mercyhurst University (PA) inaugurated the new $10.5

million Center for Academic Engagement in September. The

31,000-square-foot high-tech center hosts the intelligence studies,

hospitality management, and applied politics departments.

Taylor University (IN) dedicated its $41.4 million Euler Science

Complex in October. At 137,000 square-feet, the complex is

the largest single building project in Taylor’s history—both

in terms of physical size and cost. The complex houses many

sustainability features: a four-story circular atrium hosts a

heliostat that directs natural light throughout the center of the

building, and a geothermal heating and cooling system, wind

turbines, and solar panels run the building. Robert Morris

University (PA) recently celebrated the successful completion

of the largest fundraising campaign in the university’s history

and the opening of the Wheatley Center, the new building for

the School of Communications and Information Systems. The

50,000-square-foot facility includes an art gallery, a 3-D design

room, a screening room, computer labs, a café, and more. It was

named for Phillis Wheatley (1753–1784) a slave, poet, and the

first African-American woman to publish a book.

The newest building at Saint Leo University (FL) is a

residence hall that houses nap pods, an electronic gaming

area with four flat-screen televisions, an arcade room, and a

2,100-gallon saltwater aquarium. The building, which opened

in September, houses 154 students in suite-style rooms, and the

first floor serves as a community gathering space for students and

faculty. A twin residence hall with a multipurpose room that can

be used as a theater or a classroom is scheduled to open next fall.

Major Gifts, Grants, and Campaign Successes

The U.S. Department of Education in September awarded Saint

Augustine’s University (NC) a Strengthening Historically Black

Colleges and Universities grant. The five-year grant totaling

more than $2.4 million focuses on Student Aid and Fiscal

Responsibility Act and Title III activities. Also in September, the

U.S. Department of Education and the International and Foreign

Language Education office announced the award of 23 Fulbright-

Hays Group Projects Abroad (GPA) international education

grants, two of which were awarded to CIC member institutions.

Johnson C. Smith University (NC) received a Fulbright-Hays

GPA Long-Term Foreign Language award of more than $133,000

for its Chinese program. Morehouse College (GA) won a

Fulbright-Hays GPA Short-Term award of more than $83,000

for its program in Brazil.

A few CIC member institutions recently celebrated

successful fundraising campaigns. Utica College (NY) announced

that its three-year “Achieve: A New Era, A New Dream”

campaign—the largest and most successful in the college’s

history—exceeded the $25 million goal and raised $34.1 million

in support of increasing scholarships, enhancing teaching, and

funding state-of-the-art building improvements and construction.

Westminster College (PA) in September launched the public

phase of what is already the most successful fundraising campaign

in the college’s 160-year history with a campus-wide celebration

and announcement that Westminster had already raised $36.4

million toward the “Ever Higher: The Campaign for Westminster

College” $40 million goal. Mount Saint Mary College (NY)

kicked off the public phase of “A Call to Excellence: The

Campaign for the Dominican Center” in September, announcing

that the college is almost two-thirds of the way toward its

$10 million goal.

Champlain College (VT) received a $10 million gift from

Robert P. Stiller, founder of Green Mountain Coffee Roasters,

and Christine Stiller through the Stiller Family Foundation. The

gift will support the newly named Robert P. Stiller School of

Business, including two faculty chairs and capital projects. Lynn

University (FL) received a $6 million gift this fall toward the

construction of the new home for Lynn’s College of Business and

Management—the $12 million International Business Center.

The gift is from an anonymous alumni donor who also will

provide a $3 million challenge grant after the school has raised

an additional $3 million to complete the $12 million needed for

construction.

During a groundbreaking ceremony for the initial phase

of its new Eden Hall Campus, Chatham University (PA)

announced that it received a $7.5 million gift from the Richard

King Mellon Foundation for the new campus. Eden Hall

Campus is designed to serve more than 1,000 students in a

carbon and water resources neutral, zero-net energy integrated

facility, and it will feature high-performance green buildings and

the latest in sustainable land, energy, and water management

techniques.

Transylvania University (KY) recently received a $5 million

restricted endowment matching grant from the William R.

Kenan, Jr. Charitable Trust to establish the William R. Kenan, Jr.

Endowment Fund for Student Scholarships. One of the largest

single gifts the university has ever received, the endowment

grant supports the awarding of Kenan scholarships to incoming

Transylvania students based on merit.

The University of Saint Joseph (CT) recently received a

$3 million gift from E. Clayton (Skip) Gengras, Jr., CEO

of Gengras Motor Cars, Inc. and long-time member of the

university’s board of trustees. One of the largest gifts in the

university’s 80-year history, the donation will help expand and

enhance the Gengras Center, a special education facility that

currently serves 120 special needs children, and the Institute for

Autism and Behavioral Studies, an interdisciplinary center that

offers a graduate certificate program in autism spectrum disorders

and provides continuing educational opportunities.

Benedictine University (IL) has received a $1.2 million

Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Grant from NSF to help

prepare students to become high-quality math and science

teachers. Beginning in January 2013, the College of Science

will boost recruitment efforts for students with strong math and

science backgrounds who are considering teaching as a profession

as part of the NSF initiative, “Expanding and Strengthening the

Secondary STEM Teacher Training Program.” More than 100

qualified students may receive up to $10,000 annually to apply

toward tuition for a maximum of two years if they agree to work

in a “high-needs” school for at least two years.

The University of Puget Sound (WA) recently announced a

$1.1 million commitment from the Names Family Foundation

to support a new $17.5 million athletics and aquatics center. The

pledge will help Puget Sound upgrade and expand the athletics

facilities in Memorial Fieldhouse and Pamplin Sports Center and

build an aquatics center on the west side of the building.

The Health Resources and Services Administration, an

agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services,

recently awarded Bay Path College (MA) a five-year grant for

nearly $1 million for its physician assistant training in primary

care program. Awarded to Bay Path’s master of science in

physician assistant studies program, the grant aims to increase the

number of primary care practitioners, particularly in underserved

regions; provide opportunities for physician assistants in

community partnerships with the program to have a dual role

as clinical faculty; and facilitate the recruitment and retention of

minorities and veterans.

Ferrum College (VA) has announced a new major and minor in media and communication. The program is geared for students who wish to pursue careers and further education in radio and television broadcasting, multimedia journalism, public relations, corporate communications, audio recording, filmmaking, and online media creation.

Announcing New Majors and Programs

The Indiana Wesleyan University board of trustees announced in October the creation of the School of Health Sciences as the university’s fifth principal academic unit and dedicated a five-story science and nursing building that is scheduled to open in fall 2014. As the centerpiece of the university’s health sciences initiative, the new school will create several graduate degree programs in health sciences fields, including a doctor of physical therapy degree, a doctor of occupational therapy degree, an entry-level master’s degree in athletic training, and a master’s degree in public health. One other degree, the doctor of nursing practice, will be a part of the School of Nursing.

Saint Mary’s College (IN) began the 2012–2013 year with a new academic department, the Department of Global Studies, which offers a new major and minor in global studies. The interdisciplinary major offers seven possible concentrations: gender and women’s studies, global business administration, global economics, global postsecondary education administration, intercultural studies, international development, and modern European culture. Students in the major must demonstrate proficiency in at least one world language and spend at least five weeks in a college-sponsored study or internship abroad program.

A new master’s degree program in leadership at the University of Indianapolis (IN) will emphasize human resources and problem-solving skills. The master of science in strategic leadership and design is the first graduate program to be offered by the university’s School for Adult Learning, which specializes in evening programs for working adults. The new program includes courses on performance appraisal and conflict resolution, and courses are offered in a hybrid format of online activities and evening meetings. Goshen College (IN) will offer a new MA degree in intercultural leadership, starting in January 2013. The 18-month program with residential sessions and online coursework is designed for mid-career working professionals—including business managers, educators, health care professionals and nonprofit leaders—who want to understand how culture informs effective approaches to leadership.

Dominican College (NY) recently announced two new master’s degree programs in education: MS in adolescence education and MS in adolescence education and students with disabilities. Adolescence education is designed for students who seek certification to teach grades 7–12. The dual adolescence education and students with disabilities program will prepare students who seek both general and special education certification for grades 7–12.

Bellarmine University (KY) this fall launched a new master’s degree in taxation. All courses will be offered during evenings and weekends, and students can obtain the degree in one year. Lourdes University (OH) has added a new part-time option for their master of business administration program. Beginning this fall, individuals interested in pursuing an MBA are able to choose between a full-time, 12-month option or a part-time, evening, 24-month option.

Undergraduates at Messiah College (PA) can select three new majors for the 2012–2013 academic year: public relations, film and media arts, and musical theater. The public relations BA program will instruct students in facilitation of effective, strategic, and ethical communication; the film and media arts BA program will teach film and high-definition video production; and the musical theater bachelor of fine arts program will provide extensive training in theater, dance, and music.

St. Joseph’s College (NY) this fall began offering a BA in journalism and new media studies at its Brooklyn campus. To augment the new degree, the college has partnered with several leading media outlets. Mount Saint Mary College (NY) this fall launched a new major in digital media and a pre-physician’s assistant concentration. The interdisciplinary technology and digital media major emphasizes hands-on experience with skills to succeed in web content, corporate communications, health care, engineering, and higher education.

Gettysburg College (PA) has launched three new academic programs: a bachelor of science in mathematical economics, a bachelor of science in computer science, and a minor in Middle Eastern and Islamic studies (MEIS). The study of Arabic language is a centerpiece of the MEIS program, and demonstrated proficiency in Arabic or another Middle Eastern/Islamic world language is a requirement. The program emphasizes the study of languages and cultures, histories, identities, and the world views of people in the greater Middle East, contributing to a broader understanding of Islam and how the peoples of the Middle East have shaped human experience.

Husson University (ME) this fall launched a new undergraduate degree program in its College of Business—a bachelor of science in business with a concentration in retail management. The College of Business developed the new program with input from Walmart, which plans to encourage retail employees and students in Maine to take courses in the new concentration. The new degree offers courses that address selling and service, supply chain management, human resources, organizational management, financial reporting, and marketing.

Blackburn College (IL) launched an environmental studies major this fall. With coursework focused on natural sciences, social sciences, and the humanities, the major will prepare students for careers in resource planning and management, natural resource conservation, environmental education, waste management and recycling, and environmental law and policy.

Calvin College (MI) began offering a major and minor in public health. The interdisciplinary major engages students in the diverse field of public health and serves as a foundation for students interested in a broad range of related careers. Park University (MO) launched a bachelor of science degree in fitness and wellness this fall. The program will focus on health promotion and lifestyle modification.

Ursinus College (PA) recently opened the Ursinus Center for Science and the Common Good, a program with a mission to produce citizen-scientists who can confront the ethical implications of their work. Funded by an $800,000 grant from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the center will present seminars, host a science writer in residence, and provide opportunities for students to consider the impact of science on society.

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