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 CAO
Marketing Brochure Cover
Strategies
for Educating Today's Students is Focus of Conference for CAOs
The Council of Independent Colleges 29th annual Institute for Chief
Academic Officers in the fall will focus on helping today's students
develop strengths that can be translated into success in college and
beyond. The conference will be held November 3-6 in Palm Springs, California.
The meeting, "Educating Today's Students: Strategies
for Success," will assist both chief academic officers (CAOs) and chief
student affairs officers (CSAOs) at independent colleges and universities
in working together to educate today's students. CSAOs are urged to
participate in the conference this year, the first time since 1996.
The Institute is planned with the interests of both groups in mind.
Educators in both areas report that the challenges
are growing as students on campus have wider differences in prior academic
preparation and motivation, in time commitments of work or family, and
even—for some students—in personal challenges such as learning
disabilities or destructive and potentially addictive behaviors.
Conference participants will discuss a variety
of student cultures, which require an increasingly complex set of educational
strategies and techniques. They will examine what recent research tells
campus administrators about dealing with these issues and learn which
programs and systems have been proven effective. In addition, the conference
will focus on successful programs for improved academic achievement,
retention, service learning, learning communities, assessment, and diversity.
The featured keynote speaker will be George
D. Kuh, chancellors' professor and director of the National Survey
of Student Engagement, a research project sponsored by the Pew Charitable
Trusts and administered by the Indiana University Center for Survey
Research. His address will discuss what it takes to create a learner-centered
campus—that is, one that is committed to helping today's students
succeed academically and socially during college and after graduation.
CIC will honor Kuh during the conference with the Council's 2001 Academic
Leadership Award.
"Professor Kuh's research on student learning
has already benefited many CIC institutions," said CIC President Richard
Ekman. "His work on the National Survey of Student Engagement has given
private colleges and universities a new way of demonstrating the success
of their students."
Another key speaker is Richard J. Light,
professor in the Graduate School of Education and Kennedy School of
Government at Harvard University. Light will present highlights of findings
from his ten years of work to strengthen undergraduate education. His
research has included in-depth interviews with more than 1,600 undergraduates
on a variety of campuses. He will discuss what his research shows about
strengthening teaching, learning, advising, and the campus experience,
as well as some of the ways campus leaders can enhance students' positive
learning from racial and ethnic diversity. CIC will provide free
of charge one copy of Professor Light's newly published book, Making
the Most of College: Students Speak Their Minds, to each campus
registered for the Institute by September 28.
During the Institute, CAOs and CSAOs also will
have an opportunity to examine key challenges by participating with
their colleagues in Working Group Seminars; some of the groups will
have nationally-known experts serving as resource persons. Among the
topics to be discussed by the Working Groups:
- Building
Collaborations Between Academic Affairs and Student Affairs for Student
Success
- The
Future of Independent Colleges and Universities
- Redefining
Faculty Workload Within Fiscal Constraints
- The
Role of the Liberal Arts in Today's World
- Technology
and Human Relationships
For
more information about the Institute for Chief Academic Officers, visit
CIC's website at www.cic.edu/conferences.
2002
Presidents Institute to Highlight Financing, Governance Issues
The Council of Independent Colleges 2002 Presidents Institute will focus
on financing and governance issues in a significant number of its sessions.
The meeting, titled "Framing Conversations for the Future," will be
held January 4-7 in Fort Myers, Florida, at the Sanibel Harbour Resort
& Spa.
The financial "track" will include sessions
on some of the financial challenges presidents face: How can technological
developments be funded? How should institutional financial aid be used
as a strategic tool in enrollment management? What are the implications
of growing competition in the adult-oriented, master's-level programs?
In what ways can presidents capitalize on opportunities for fund raising?
Participants will examine current governance
and decision-making structures on their campuses. For example, do they
facilitate effective and timely decisions? Do the financial and admissions
challenges inherent in today's higher education marketplace create tensions
between collegial governance patterns and the new trustee activism that
threatens to introduce new ways of governing and delivering education?
How can colleges modify governance structures and processes while addressing
complex issues such as retention or financial solvency?
The Institute is an annually held meeting for
presidents of independent colleges and universities that includes a
two-day workshop for new presidents. The New Presidents Workshop, to
be held January 3-4 in the same location as the Presidents Institute,
addresses a wide range of issues from the perspective of experienced
presidents and other experts.
For more information on both the Presidents
Institute and the New Presidents Workshop meetings, visit the CIC website
at www.cic.edu/conferences.
Relations
Between Colleges and K-12 Education is Topic of Foundation Meeting
Presidents of CIC member institutions are invited to meet with foundation
officers on September 19, 2001 as part of the Council's Annual Conversation
Between Foundation Officers and College and University Presidents. The
theme for this year's meeting will be "K-12 Institutions: The Liberal
Arts College's Role and Responsibilities." The meeting will be held
at the TIAA-CREF Conference Center/Wharton Auditorium in New York City.
TIAA-CREF will once again donate use of the conference facilities and
has arranged for discounted rates for meeting participants at a conveniently
located hotel.
Daniel Fallon, chair of the education division
of the Carnegie Corporation of New York, will be the primary speaker.
Fallon oversees the Corporation's grantmaking efforts to improve educational
achievement from preschool through the postsecondary level.
The core of the program will consist of the
exchange of ideas and sharing of perspectives between presidents and
foundation officers centered around four topics: 1) teacher preparation;
2) partnerships between schools and colleges; 3) national priorities
and the core curriculum; and 4) intercultural awareness for both teachers
and students.
Among the questions to be addressed during the
meeting: What should be the role of liberal arts colleges and universities
in preparing teachers? What is the connection between the quality of
K-12 education and the quality of higher education? Is there a connection
between the nature and quality of the bridges built between liberal
arts colleges and K-12 institutions, on the one hand, and college student
retention levels, on the other? What are the expectations of foundations
with respect to partnerships between liberal arts colleges and K-12
institutions? How can, and how should foundations with a focus on K-12
institutions find a place for higher education?
Formal invitations and registration materials
for the meeting were mailed to CIC member presidents in June. Hotel
accommodations may be reserved by calling (212) 490-8900 or (800) 221-4982
at the New York Helmsley Hotel.
Using
Technology to Improve Student Learning Was Focus of Teaching and Learning
Workshops
Campus teams of faculty members, academic administrators, and information
technology staff explored how to use technology to improve student learning
during the 2001 Teaching and Learning Workshops sponsored by the Council
of Independent Colleges.
Teams at the five workshops held this spring
in Portland, Oregon; Raleigh, North Carolina; Des Moines, Iowa; Nashville,
Tennessee; and Albany, New York each developed a plan to take back to
campus that incorporated concrete objectives and strategies on ways
to foster student learning with technology. In particular, they defined
goals for a learner-centered faculty development program and assessed
institutional resources to support such a program, and determined achievable
goals with existing resources.
Workshop participants learned how to utilize
the concept of campus Teaching and Learning Mentors (TLMs), who would
help train their colleagues in the effective use of technology to enhance
teaching and learning (the "train the trainer" concept). The participants
were provided with access to resources they will use to develop their
own expertise and to support the implementation of their faculty development
strategies.
Participants gave the workshops high marks for
providing the opportunity to work in campus teams and to learn from
colleagues from similar institutions, and for supplying "excellent materials
that had been tested with campus faculty." Participants evaluating the
program said the leaders were "very knowledgeable and familiar with
issues and practices at independent colleges and universities" and were
"flexible enough to help each institution at its own stage of development."
Workshop leaders were J. Wesley Baker, professor
of communication arts at Cedarville College (OH); CIC Senior
Advisor Edward J. Barboni; Debra L. Fleming, assistant provost for institutional
effectiveness and a professor of accounting at Palm Beach Atlantic
College (FL); and Mace Mentch, manager of educational technology
services, Baldwin-Wallace College (OH).
IT
Workshop Discusses Cost, Managing Change
The dizzying pace of technological change and the need to make informed
choices about technology require more collaboration and information
sharing among independent colleges and universities, said speakers at
the Council of Independent Colleges 12th Annual Information Technologies
Workshop.
Participants in the workshop, "Anticipating
the Future of Information Technologies," held this spring in Pittsburgh,
PA, learned about strategies for managing costs and financing information
technology (IT); compared course management and administrative systems;
shared effective practices in ubiquitous computing and managing technological
change; and discussed how to recruit and retain qualified IT staff,
among other issues.
Cedarville University Professor J. Wesley
Baker encouraged colleges to enter into consortial arrangements to keep
costs down when purchasing course management systems such as Blackboard,
WebCT, and Jenzabar. Baker provided a side-by-side comparison of the
licensing options for the three systems, and cautioned institutions
before purchasing a system to explore whether it can be integrated into
existing administrative systems.
In addition to cost, managing change is another
enormous challenge when considering new technology systems. Frederick
V. Moore, president of Buena Vista University (IA), shared his
story of developing the nation's first completely wireless laptop campus.
The program, called eBVyou, provides all full-time students and faculty
with laptop computers connected to a wireless network accessible anywhere
on the 60-acre campus, and represents nearly three years of planning,
development, and implementation.
"We had to overcome a great deal of resistance
to the plan," Moore said, "but we recognized this resistance as legitimate,
kept a sharp eye on our goal, and focused on the students." He outlined
several successful strategies to manage the change process, among them:
secure the support of the faculty; establish a cross-functional team;
get the students involved; conduct careful research and detailed financial
planning; document every step of the initiative; communicate plans constantly;
refrain from imposing the plan as a mandate-let success breed success;
and build for future capacity.
Once new technology systems are in place, perhaps
the biggest challenge facing IT programs on campuses is the ability
to recruit and retain qualified technology support staff. Juniata
College (PA) has established a student-directed IT support program,
in which Juniata students serve as managers for vital IT services. Anthony
Bichel, director of teaching and learning technologies and assistant
professor of politics and information technology, said the program has
not only vastly improved IT support capabilities but also has increased
the educational opportunities available to Juniata students.
 Campus
Public Relations Professionals Learn Publicity Tips from Media
New
York Times education editor Ethan Bronner (right), Associated Press
higher education reporter Arlene Levinson (middle), and USA Today education
editor David Breezing (back) answer questions from some of the 185 higher
education news officers who attended a recent conference, "How Colleges
Can Obtain National (and Regional) Publicity." (Photo by Bill Hawkins)
Nearly 200
higher education media professionals attended a recent conference aimed
at helping them attract news coverage for their campuses.
During the June 21-22 conference in Philadelphia,
PA, "How Colleges Can Obtain National (and Regional) Publicity," reporters
and editors from dozens of national newspapers, magazines, wire services,
and radio and television networks shared tips and advice on how to work
with the print and broadcast media. The conference is sponsored by Keith
Moore Associates.
The Council of Independent Colleges co-sponsored
a pre-conference workshop on June 20, "What the Media Wants from Faculty,"
and organized a dinner for more than 25 public affairs/communications
officials from CIC colleges.
Among the tips offered to attract media attention
and handle media calls:
- Be accessible
(reporters are usually on deadline), available (treat media calls
as top priority), helpful (refer them to other sources), articulate
(give concise answers and state opinions succinctly), and colorful
(provide interesting quotations).
- Create
an experts list of media-savvy professors on your campus, and put
the list on your website under an easy-to-see "media" button.
- Take
advantage of alumni connections in the media and Hollywood to help
attract interest in your story
- Get to
know the media by inviting reporters to lunch or special events on
campus or hosting media fellowships.
- Be willing
to take on a controversial subject or position on a current issue.
- Listen
carefully to reporters' questions and respond to what is asked; have
your thoughts together before the interview and avoid off-the-cuff
responses; keep your message simple and avoid jargon or big words;
summarize your key points.
Mark
Your Calendars!
2001 CAO
Institute
Palm Springs Marquis • Palm Springs Hilton Resort
Palm Springs, California • November 3-6, 2001
2002 Presidents Institute
The Sanibel Harbour Resort & Spa • Fort Myers, Florida
January 4-7, 2002
Visit www.cic.edu or call CIC
at (202) 466-7230 for more information on the conferences listed above.
Independent
The Council of Independent Colleges
One Dupont Circle NW, Suite 320 • Washington, DC 20036
tel: (202) 466-7230 • Fax: (202) 466-7238 • e-mail: cic@cic.nche.edu
• www.cic.edu
Last updated: August 2, 2001
Copyright © 2001 The Council of Independent Colleges
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