A group of 20 CIC college presidents, chief academic officers, communications professionals, and information resources officers helped develop the Council’s Making the Case and Data Initiatives during a day-long meeting in Washington, DC on March 6.

Twenty campus officials, including several CIC presidents and campus communications professionals, participated in a special day-long meeting hosted by CIC on March 6 in Washington, DC to help develop the Council’s new “Making the Case” and Data Initiatives.
    The initiatives are being launched this spring as a result of the year-long strategic planning effort in 2001, during which presidents and chief academic officers in 22 roundtable discussions urged CIC to help make a stronger case for the forms of education offered by small to mid-sized, teaching-oriented, private colleges and universities, and to collect and disseminate data and information on the independent sector of higher
education.
    In announcing the initiatives, CIC President Richard Ekman said, “Our goals for the Data Initiative include providing data to presidents and other campus leaders to make better-informed decisions, providing the information needed to make the case more effectively for independent colleges, and improving CIC programs. The Making the Case Initiative will help campus officials in their efforts to communicate the values and benefits of their institutions to key audiences, including the media, community neighbors, legislators, prospective donors, granting agencies, parents, alumni, and prospective students.”
    During the March 6 meeting, a group of presidents and public relations officers discussed the goals, critical messages, activities, and data needs of the Making the Case Initiative, and another group of campus leaders, including presidents, chief academic officers, and those involved in institutional research helped to shape the Data Initiative. The two groups met separately and joined for lunch to discuss overlapping concerns.
    Participants in the Making the Case meeting discussed how CIC should begin thinking about key messages, identifying target audiences, prioritizing activities to disseminate the message, and developing resources for carrying out those activities. The group also identified data needs, which were presented to the data group for discussion. Among the overarching themes identified were issues about affordability, student learning outcomes, and policy issues, in addition to the need for more comprehensive descriptions of institutional characteristics.
    Participants in the Data Initiative meeting worked to refine and focus a set of activities that CIC will undertake over the next few years, as well as to identify new areas of need. “Our goal with the initiative is to help campus leaders obtain the information they need to respond to today’s numerous challenges,” said Michelle Gilliard, CIC’s vice president for planning and evaluation. “We hope to provide campus leaders with access to relevant, sector-level data—reports, studies, and technical assistance that will increase their decision-making capacity and thereby strengthen their institutions,” she said.

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Last updated: March 2003
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