Among the 19 presidents attending a meeting at the New York Times were (l-r): Richard Cook, Allegheny College; Richard Detweiler, Hartwick College; Scott Miller, Wesley College; and Barbara Sirvis, Southern Vermont College.

A special meeting organized by CIC and the New York Times offered the opportunity for 19 CIC member presidents to have an in-depth conversation with high-ranking editors and higher education reporters of the Times. The purposes of the meeting were to brief Times reporters and editors on issues of concern to presidents of private liberal arts colleges and universities and to hear about the higher education trends the Times staff are especially interested in learning about and the issues they anticipate writing about in the future.
    The day-long meeting was held on Monday, March 18, in conjunction with CIC's annual Conversation Between Foundation Officers and College and University Presidents. The meeting with the Times included conversations with education correspondents Jacques Steinberg and Karen Arenson, editorial writer Brent Staples, college marketing manager Felice Nudelman, and New York Times president and general manager Janet Robinson. CIC Board Chair Richard Detweiler, president of Hartwick College (NY), facilitated the meeting.
    Steinberg discussed his criteria for choosing what issues or stories to write about and asked the presidents for story ideas from their campuses. Although he said he really has no formula, he tries to "tell big stories through a small place to personalize it." He tries to present a "slice of life" in his stories, and is likely to be more interested in "quirky, funny, unique" items, or stories that identify a trend in higher education. In addition, "when there's a debate over a program or issue, it's a richer story," he said, adding that "a story needs tension to work."
    In a dialogue about the nuances of Times interests in selecting and covering stories, Cedar Crest College (PA) President Dorothy Blaney and Saint Joseph's College (IN) President Ernest Mills described their institutions' attempts to focus their students on the democratic process, issues of social justice, and learning tolerance of ideas and people in classrooms and integrating what they learn into their lives. Steinberg said he'd be interested in "finding a rich classroom where there has been tension and exploring how the students work their way through it." He was also intrigued by Saint Leo University (FL) President Arthur Kirk's description of how his small campus delivers education to thousands of students online, most of whom never step onto the campus except for graduation ceremonies. Steinberg said he'd be interested in following a group of students who took the online program and meet each other face-to-face for the first time at commencement. "It could say something powerful about Internet education… but what comes next? How is online education working? How does it change the life of the campus?," Steinberg asked, noting that these issues may not be easy to address.
    When College of Notre Dame of Maryland President Mary Pat Seurkamp asked Steinberg if he would be interested in looking in-depth at the issue of financial aid and the process of determining aid packages for students, he said he would like to "find one student and follow him through the student aid process." He'd also look at "how institutions are played off each other by families seeking the best aid package, and how colleges make the calculations for aid."
    In response to one of the more unusual story ideas pitched to him during the meeting, Steinberg was intrigued by the fact that seven graduates from Point Park College's (PA) School of Theater and Dance are members of the New York Rockettes. As a result, Point Park President Katherine Henderson said the school has become a "Rockette network" where students come to Pittsburgh to audition for the coveted slots. Steinberg said he is often interested in quirky stories such as this, and would set the story at the auditions and let it unfold from the perspective of one or two students auditioning.
    In addition, he was interested in learning more about the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) and asked whether presidents were planning on publicizing the data from their institutions. Education writer Karen Arenson also expressed some interest in the NSSE study. When Elon University (NC) President Leo Lambert suggested she look into the survey results, "which could potentially be a big story if the participating colleges allow the data to be released," Arenson said she might take a deeper look at it. She said she doesn't cover as many surveys and reports as she used to, but that she'd be interested in chronicling student life and efforts to improve student services.
    Arenson said she is primarily interested in issues of access (who gets in?), cost (who pays?), what students need to know, and remediation, and said she tends to write more analytical stories. "The best stories are finding out what's really going on on campus," she noted. She has recently looked at "what colleges are doing with finances and endowments, accountability and assessment efforts, and the early decision phenomenon, which has been fueled by the U.S. News & World Report rankings."
    In response to Johnson C. Smith University (NC) President Dorothy Yancy's question about how much time she spends looking at small colleges, Arenson said she focuses on "a limited number of institutions, mostly publics, and very little on small campuses that no one has heard of," unless she picks up a trend among the smaller private schools. She's also intrigued by the issue of teacher shortages. "Why aren't we getting more teachers? Low pay is one reason, but how do we change it short of raising taxes? Low status is another factor-teachers aren't treated as professionals…. We're making headway in getting respect for teachers and colleges have begun to set up training programs and scholarships to get more students interested in teaching," Arenson said, suggesting that teacher education is an issue that will be covered in the Times.
    In his remarks, editorial writer Brent Staples stressed the value of a liberal arts education, and said the average K-12 education can be elevated by a serious liberal arts regimen. He said the writing skills of college graduates have declined over the years. He urged the presidents to focus on teaching students to be able to express themselves in writing and to be able to state a thesis and write an argument. He also said institutions "have a tremendous responsibility to teach students the ideas of civilization," as well as values and morals. He cautioned that "too much of teaching these days is being done by adjuncts who are not well educated and are not paid well." He said educational institutions "need to invest in excellent teachersspend—the money to get the best." He also bemoaned the loss of education funding for poor students. "For every dollar the government spends on educating poor students, $10 is spent on educating middle and upper-class students." When Le Moyne College (NY) President Charles Beirne, SJ, explained that wealthy students now increasingly attend public institutions while lower-income students are more and more attending private colleges, Staples was very interested in seeing data on the average income of students at public and private institutions.
    Many presidents who participated in the meeting were interested in possibilities for partnerships with the New York Times, described by Felice Nudelman. Among the opportunities:

• a consortium of CIC institutions could be offered a significant
  discount to run a full-page ad in the newspaper on an issue of collective importance;
  
• colleges can partner with the New York Times in a readership program that involves the purchase of daily newspapers for class and student use;
  
• colleges can work with the Times to develop a national model of faculty development, using the newspaper to help faculty teach science and writing, among other subjects;
  
• the Times could create a section on its website (www.nytimes.com) for CIC member schools that would highlight aspects of these institutions for prospective students; and
  
• a consortium of CIC institutions could be offered a discount for site licences for the New York Times archives.

    Nudelman also suggested that a similar meeting with CIC member presidents could be held in the future. CIC President Richard Ekman stressed that "CIC is very interested in continuing these conversations so that more CIC members have the opportunity to participate in similar small-group discussions with the Times."
    Times President Janet Robinson stressed that the newspaper is "very committed to the pursuit of higher education for all students" and that these partnership possibilities offer not only the Times the opportunity to build readership among college students, but also offer educators a chance to connect classroom text to current experience and events. She said "a key factor in ensuring relations with colleges and universities is a sound and growing relationship with college presidents," and urged the meeting participants to follow up "to see what we can do together."

Contacting the Times:
Main number: (212) 556-1234
Partnership possibilities: 1-888-NYT-COLL
Jacques Steinberg: Jacques@nytimes.com
Brent Staples: Brent@nytimes.com
Karen Arenson: Karen@nytimes.com
Felice Nudelman: nudelf@nytimes.com

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tel: (202) 466-7230 • Fax: (202) 466-7238 • e-mail: mailto:cic@cicnche.edu • www.cic.edu

Last updated: July 10, 2002
Copyright © 2002 The Council of Independent Colleges