Making the Case

Key Messages and Data • Making the Case Resources • Media Activity • Speeches and Addresses • Books and Reports •

Vol. 4, No. 2
April 2003

Presidents’ Edition

Welcome to another issue of Communications Resources. This is CIC’s periodic kit of tools and ideas to help you tell your institution’s story. Your public relations director has received a similar mailing.

State budget woes are being headlined in newspapers across the country. Several CIC presidents have seized the issue and published op-ed pieces and articles about how independent colleges can contribute to a state’s resources. The contributions of private women’s colleges, and the promises and challenges of small liberal arts colleges are the focus of additional presidential articles.

In this issue, we also include three “big picture” assets: an article about “The University as a Moral Force,” a guide for describing strategic planning terms that may help your next planning exercise, and a piece that provides an uncommon slant on the liberal arts college.

You’ll find an excellent article on 100 colleges that are “hidden gems,” many of which are CIC institutions. We also include important information about confronting drinking abuses on your campus, and a useful article on how to present succinctly your points during media interviews.

PRIVATE CONTRIBUTIONS TO A STATE’S RESOURCES

Private college presidents in New Jersey, Virginia, and Pennsylvania have published eye-opening arguments for taxpayer support of independent colleges. James Loughran, SJ, president of Saint Peter’s College (NJ), published his views in the Newark Star-Ledger. Elisabeth Muhlenfeld, president of Sweet Briar College (VA), wrote a letter to the Washington Post and an op-ed in the Richmond Times Dispatch, and Cedar Crest (PA) President Dorothy Blaney’s proposals to save Pennsylvania money appeared in the Allentown Morning Call.

BENEFITS OF A WOMEN’S COLLEGE

Presidents Mary Pat Seurkamp of College of Notre Dame of Maryland and Nora Kizer Bell of Hollins University (VA) expressed their views recently on single gender education. Seurkamp’s opinion appeared in The Catholic Review and The Baltimore Sun. Bell’s piece appeared in The Christian Science Monitor.

PROMISES AND CHALLENGES OF LIBERAL ARTS COLLEGES

Bryant Cureton, president of Elmhurst College (IL) writes an engaging piece about “The Big Promise of the Small College” in Prospect, The Magazine of Elmhurst College. William Carroll, president of Benedictine University (IL) published “A Discordant Melody of Sameness” in AGB’s Trusteeship, that discusses how “small liberal arts colleges can avoid the path to extinction by taking the path of distinction.” And James Will, president of Saint Vincent College (PA) urges American business leaders to be more involved in higher education in the March issue of University Business.

The article “Colleges Worth Considering” (April 1, 2003) by Washington Post columnist Jay Matthews describes his informal and unscientific survey to uncover the 100 colleges and universities that “deserve more attention than they are getting.” The full article, based on his book, “Harvard Schmarvard: Getting Beyond the Ivy League to the College That Is Best For You,” is on the Post’s website (click here).

THE BIG PICTURE

Three “big picture” pieces focus on ethics and universities, strategic planning, and an uncommon view of the liberal arts. Adelphi University (NY) President Robert A. Scott, in a speech at the Garden City Community Church in January, argues that “a university is a ‘moral force’ because it constantly extends the boundaries of what is known, and therefore challenges societal rules describing desirable and undesirables states and behavior.”

Eastern University (PA) Provost Harold Howard explains the difference between vision and mission, and action planning and strategic planning in “Tips & Tools for Tomorrow’s Leaders: Strategic Planning Terms.” While a sidebar piece in the guide admits there are no “freeways to the future,” the guide focuses readers on some misunderstood aspects that frequently impede planning. Additional copies can be obtained by contacting Howard directly (contact information is on back of pamphlet).

Professor of Religion Stephen H. Webb’s viewpoint on the liberal arts college from LiberalArtsOnline, Vol. 2, No. 11, shows a new way of looking at a centuries-old dilemma. He’s from Wabash College (IN).

ALCOHOL ABUSE PREVENTION

Consequences of excessive and underage drinking affect virtually all campuses, communities, and students, whether they choose to drink or not. The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), National Institutes of Health (NIH), and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services are distributing useful facts to every campus they can. “What College Presidents Need to Know About College Drinking,” NIH publication No. 02-5014, is a valuable 12-page booklet that explains that 1,400 college students die, and 500,000 students between the ages of 18 and 24 years are hurt annually from alcohol-related unintentional injuries. The guide describes what presidents can do to improve their campus’ odds. It is free from NIAAA, 6000 Executive Boulevard, Willco Building, Bethesda, MD 20892-7003, www.collegedrinkingprevention.gov.

SUCCESSFUL MEDIA INTERVIEWS

Rick Kelly of Robinson Kelly Strategic Communications (www.robinsonkelly.com) is another of those who have tried to advise presidents on how to conduct media interviews. You might want to keep “Dos and Don’ts of Successful Media Interviews” in a lower drawer of your desk for that time when the local news reporter calls.

WANT TO SHARE SOME OF YOUR WRITING?

If you have a short speech, op-ed, report, or other article that you think would be of interest to your colleague presidents in CIC, send them to us for inclusion in the next edition. For more information or to talk about your materials, contact CIC Vice President for Communications Laura Wilcox at (202) 466-7230; e-mail: lwilcox@cic.nche.edu.

Vol. 4, No. 2
April 2003

Public Relations Directors’ Edition

Welcome to another issue of Communications Resources. This is CIC’s periodic kit of tools and ideas to help you tell your institution’s story. Your president has received a similar mailing.

You’ll also find some great resources on the web; we’ll point you to an article on the Washington Post website by columnist Jay Matthews about the top 100 colleges and universities that are “hidden gems”; and we include a useful article on how to present succinctly your points during media interviews.

PRIVATE CONTRIBUTIONS TO A STATE’S RESOURCES

BENEFITS OF A WOMEN’S COLLEGE

PROMISES AND CHALLENGES OF LIBERAL ARTS COLLEGES

Bryant Cureton, president of Elmhurst College (IL), writes an engaging piece about “The Big Promise of the Small College” in Prospect, The Magazine of Elmhurst College. William Carroll, president of Benedictine University (IL), published “A Discordant Melody of Sameness” in AGB’s Trusteeship, that discusses how “small liberal arts colleges can avoid the path to extinction by taking the path of distinction.” And James Will, president of Saint Vincent College (PA), urges American business leaders to be more involved in higher education in an “open letter” published in the March issue of University Business.

If you haven’t yet seen the article “Colleges Worth Considering” (April 1, 2003) by Washington Post columnist Jay Matthews, be sure to check it out online. In it, he describes his informal and unscientific survey to uncover the top 100 colleges and universities that “deserve more attention than they are getting.” Based on his book, “Harvard Schmarvard: Getting Beyond the Ivy League to the College That Is Best For You,” the article can be found on the Post’s website (click here).

SIZE OF A COLLEGE AND SOUND OF A VOICE

Spend three minutes reviewing Professor of Religion Stephen H. Webb’s views on the liberal arts college from LiberalArtsOnline, Vol. 2, No. 11, and you may discover a new way of looking at a centuries-old dilemma. He’s from Wabash College (IN).

WATCHING THE WEB

If you’re trying to create the world’s most distinctive branding tagline for your institution, you’ll want to head first to “The Great Stamats Tagline Repository.” Approximately 400 higher education institutions’ taglines are listed there. You can find the Repository at www.stamats.com/taglines/ searchresults. By the way, if you’re thinking of using the words “excellent” or “excellence” in your tagline, you’ll be sharing the word with 22 other institutions that already use them in their taglines.

Stamats also publishes a periodic online newsletter about web trends to which you can subscribe. It’s titled, STAMATSSTATS. You’ll find results of a nationwide survey of 800 college-bound high school juniors and seniors reported in “Stamats 2002 Teens Talk Study.” To receive a copy or become a subscriber, contact Becky Morehouse at becky.morehouse@statmats.com.

Several other firms and organizations provide online resources that will help you in supporting the admissions recruiting effort at your institution. Noel-Levitz, a higher education consulting firm, published the group’s enlightening 2002 National Enrollment Management Survey Report. You can obtain the report by e-mailing info@noellevitz.com. Also, Creative Communications of America and Bob Johnson distribute via e-mail the Higher Education Marketing Newsletter with fresh “marketing notes, tips, and comments to make your time invested worthwhile.” You can subscribe to the free newsletter by e-mailing: join-higher-education-marketing@atomic.sparklist.com. In addition, UCLA’s third annual survey on Internet use finds that people are using the Internet more, but they trust it less. Top five activities for Internet users are 1) e-mail and instant messaging, 2) web surfing or browsing, 3) reading news, 4) accessing entertainment information, and 5) shopping. The full 89-page report is available as a PDF file for downloading here.

SUCCESSFUL MEDIA INTERVIEWS

CIC PR LISTSERV

If you’re not on CIC’s “listserv” discussion group for public relations directors and their staffs and would like to join, send your e-mail address to Elizabeth Hamshaw at ehamshaw@cic.nche.edu, and we’ll add your name. There’s no charge for this service. Participation is restricted to PR practitioners from CIC member institutions. See CIC’s website (www.cic.edu) or newsletter for details on this and other campus listservs.