During the final days of the 2008 presidential campaign, Widener University (PA) hosted a forum for Democratic Nominee Barack Obama. Despite pouring rain, thousands of students and members of the community turned out to hear the candidate speak (see article below).

Campus Activities for 2008 Presidential Election

Many CIC campuses hosted rallies, forums, and other events during the 2008 presidential campaign. Just days before this year’s historic election, Widener University (PA) hosted a campaign event for presidential candidate Barack Obama that attracted a crowd of nearly 10,000 students and other members of the community who braved the rain for a chance to hear the Democratic Senator from Illinois speak. Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell and Widener University President James T. Harris III also spoke during the event. Harris noted that Senator Obama’s running mate, Senator Joseph R. Biden, Jr., is a long-time member of the faculty at Widener’s Delaware campus law school. Capital University (OH) held a voter-registration drive and rally in late September that featured presidential candidate John McCain and his running mate Sarah Palin. Libertarian presidential candidate Bob Barr spoke at Capital in early October. And Michelle Obama visited the campus and spoke for about 30 minutes in late October in place of her husband who left the campaign trail on short notice to visit his ailing grandmother in Hawaii.

In early October, environmental policy advisors for Obama and McCain discussed their candidates’ proposals at the University of Richmond (VA). Elgie Holstein, representing Obama, and Rebecca Jensen Tallent, representing McCain, presented the energy, natural resources, and environmental issues and policy proposals of their respective candidates.

Typical of the many activities occurring on CIC campuses as the election drew to a close, Campbellsville University (KY) held a forum on the election called “Presidential Politics 2008” in late October for students and the public to learn more about the candidates, sponsored by Campbellsville’s Kentucky Heartland Institute on Public Policy. Goucher College (MD) hosted political pundit and social commentator Arianna Huffington, who presented “Countdown: McCain and Obama 12 Days Before the Election,” at the fall 2008 President’s Forum lecture. And Lindsey Wilson College’s (KY) Katie Murrell Library organized a display about the presidential nominees that also included information about the two vice presidential nominees, copies of the Republican and Democratic national platforms, and a description of the Electoral College. An open forum to discuss the presidential race was also held at the end of October. Alverno College (WI) for the first time declared Election Day a holiday so that students could vote and have the opportunity to volunteer as poll workers without missing class.

Reactions to Economic Downturn

CIC institutions are reacting to the economic crisis in a variety of creative ways. With federal loan applications on the rise and campus financial aid offices receiving more requests from families who in the past might not have qualified for assistance, many colleges are exploring new ways to help students pay for college. In mid-October the board of trustees of Benedictine University (IL) voted to freeze tuition at its current level through spring 2010 for traditional undergraduate students already attending Benedictine and have guaranteed that next year’s freshman class will not see a tuition increase through spring 2011. Shenandoah University (VA) and Hamilton College (NY) attracted national media attention with their responses to the crisis. USA Today reported that Shenandoah enacted temporary measures including an emergency fund for textbooks and meal plans and flexible tuition payment schedules, and that Hamilton increased its financial aid endowment and sent a letter to prospective students promising to meet demonstrated financial need for all admitted students.

Business faculty members from the University of Evansville (IL) hosted an economic forum in October to discuss the economic situation facing Americans today. Four faculty members from UE’s Schroeder Family School of Business Administration comprised a panel that commented on the crisis and then answered questions from the audience. Chowan University’s (NC) School of Business hosted guest lecturer and alumnus Kemper Baker for a discussion in early November entitled “Current Economic Events” to promote understanding of the crisis affecting domestic credit markets and its implications for the global economy. Baker, a career economist at the Federal Reserve Bank, is also chair of Chowan University’s board of visitors. (For more examples of how campuses are responding to the economic crisis, see the story about Guilford College (NC) President Kent John Chabotar’s Open Forum on the Economy at CIC’s Institute for Chief Academic Officers.)

Dorms of Distinction

Several CIC institutions were recognized for their distinctive residence halls in the inaugural “Dorms of Distinction: Top Residence Halls for Today’s Students” competition sponsored by University Business. Four winners were selected along with eight runners-up from the 76 nominations received for the competition. The dormitories that were recognized were chosen for their ability to meet the needs of today’s students—including making students feel at home, fostering a sense of community through interior and/or exterior spaces, helping keep students and their belongings safe, and incorporating green elements in an aesthetically pleasing way. Wofford College’s (SC) Village Housing Complex won in the small private institutions category and College of St. Catherine’s (MN) Henrietta Schmoll Rauenhorst and Susan Schmid Morrison Halls were the highest rated residence halls in the medium private institution category. Southwestern University (TX) was honored as a runner-up in the small private category for its Dorothy Manning Lord Residential Center, and Rollins College’s (FL) Ward Hall was a runner-up in the medium private category. An article featuring all the “Dorms of Distinction” can be found online in a special section of the August issue of University Business at www.universitybusiness.com/viewarticle.aspx?articleid=1115.

Wofford College’s (SC) Village Housing Complex took top small-private honors in the University Business “Dorms of Distinction” competition. The apartment-style dorms were designed with pedestrian friendly sidewalks, lamposts, and green spaces, and also feature large front porches with comfortable swings.

Announcing New Programs and Majors

Bloomfield College (NJ) was recently selected by the Korean government to teach English to Korean teachers. Bloomfield’s American Language Center, a department in the Institute of Technology and Professional Studies, has inaugurated the Total Immersion Course for Korean English Teachers (TICKET). Bloomfield College is the only institution of higher education outside of Korea to provide this type of education, training, and support for Korea’s English teachers. Fifty top Korean elementary school teachers were chosen to participate.

Numerous CIC institutions have expanded their academic offerings with new degree programs. Saint Mary’s College (IN) announced a new major in communicative disorders, which had been a minor for over a decade. Trine University (IN) now offers two new majors—hospitality and tourism management, and informatics—in its undergraduate program and added a biomedical major to its master’s of engineering program.

Springfield College’s (MA) School of Health Science and Rehabilitation Studies introduced a new bachelor’s degree program in health science/general studies this fall. The degree will prepare students for careers in public health agencies, human services agencies, wellness services, health insurance, hospital administration, pharmaceutical sales, elder services, scientific writing, research, and other health care venues. Also beginning this fall, Alvernia College (PA) is offering a master’s degree program for nurses designed to prepare nurse educators. The program responds to a national shortage of nurse educators and is a hybrid program consisting of both in-class and online instruction.

Westminster College (UT) enrolled its first class in the bachelor of business administration program this fall. This project-based degree-completion program is geared toward helping individuals complete their business degrees who have either an associate’s degree or the equivalent in college credits.

Mount Mary College (WI) has added a diagnostic medical sonography major to its undergraduate program offerings. The major, a four-year program, is made possible through a partnership between Mount Mary and Columbia St. Mary’s hospitals. The first two years of the program are spent at the Mount Mary College campus completing general education courses and prerequisites for the major, and the last two years of coursework are completed at Columbia College of Nursing with clinicals at Columbia St. Mary’s hospitals and clinics.

York College of Pennsylvania recently received a $2 million gift allowing for the creation of the Donald and Dorothy Stabler Nursing Program. The college will also use the gift to enhance its life sciences program by improving laboratories and creating special nursing scholarships. Recent additions to the program include master’s degree tracks in the fields of clinical nurse specialist, nurse educator, and certified registered nurse anesthetist, as well as a nurse practitioner track to be implemented in fall 2009.

Campaign Success

King’s College (PA) announced the successful completion of the “Legacy of Excellence” capital campaign, having raised more than $37 million in gifts and pledges to surpass its $30 million goal. Albright College (PA) celebrated the successful completion of its comprehensive fundraising campaign, “Crossing Boundaries: The Campaign for Albright.” The college exceeded its $35 million goal and raised a total of $43 million in gifts and pledges. And Defiance College (OH) recently received gifts and pledges that total $13.5 million as it opens its new comprehensive capital campaign, “The Transforming Difference: A Campaign to Defy the Ordinary”—the largest campaign in the college’s history.

Announcing Gifts and Grants

Le Moyne College (NY) announced a $50 million gift in November that will double the size of the institution’s endowment. The funds, which come from the estate of a couple that long supported Le Moyne and Jesuit education, will be used for computer science, information processing, physics, and religious philosophy. The Duke Endowment has awarded Furman University (SC) a $17 million grant—the largest single cash commitment in the university’s history—the bulk of which will go to establish the Charles H. Townes Scholarship, a major scholarship program for out-of-state students to complement the Hollingsworth Scholarship program for South Carolina residents. The grant will also provide endowed professorships for the university’s nationally prominent department of Asian studies. University of Evansville (IN) announced its receipt of a $7.85 million grant from Lilly Endowment Inc., for Phase II in the continued development of its Institute for Global Enterprise in Indiana. The grant will allow the university to expand the ways in which it serves students, faculty members, and the Indiana business community through the support of international learning opportunities and programs focused on business initiatives in Asia.

Two CIC institutions recently received gifts for the purpose of constructing Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) science learning spaces. Westminster College (UT) received $5.5 million from the Meldrum Foundation to support the construction of the college’s new science center. The facility, scheduled to open in spring 2010, will be LEED gold-certified and house 14 open and flexible classroom/laboratories and five dedicated undergraduate research laboratories. Susquehanna University (PA) was recently awarded $4 million in state funds to help construct a new 75,000 square-foot, LEED-certified science building that will house biology, chemistry, and earth and environmental sciences. The investment in Susquehanna is the second largest gift to the university in its 150-year history.

Trine University (IN) has announced the receipt of a $1.5 million gift from alumni Larry and Judy Reiners of Tulsa, Oklahoma, to the department of civil engineering.

Culver-Stockton College (MO) announced that the total gifts received in its latest fiscal year were $2.8 million, nearly equal to last year’s record-setting total giving. In addition, $1.145 million was designated for the Education Fund alone, a sum that exceeds Culver-Stockton’s five-year average for its annual giving program. The college saw a 49 percent increase in the number of individual participants in the Education Fund this year.

Newman University (KS) recently received a gift of more than $1 million from the estate of the late Lucy Heinz of Ellinwood, Kansas, which will be used to establish an endowed scholarship for nursing.

Creating Partnerships

Two colleges in Vermont are merging this fall. Woodbury College, which is located in Montpelier and enrolls 125 students, will join forces with Champlain College in Burlington to form the Woodbury Institute at Champlain College. The merger will add to Champlain College’s legal studies and mediation offerings, two of Woodbury College’s specialties. Lourdes College (OH) and University of Detroit Mercy (UDM) are partnering to offer a new Engineering Transfer Program that allows students to take math, science, and humanities classes at Lourdes for one to two years, then transfer to complete their designated Bachelor of Engineering degree at UDM.

With an increasing number of students now enrolling at community colleges, Mount Vernon Nazarene University (OH) and Columbus State Community College have signed an agreement that facilitates the transfer of business associate degree graduates into the university’s bachelor’s degree programs. The agreement essentially lays out a “road map” for Columbus State business students so they know which courses to take in order to fulfill their bachelor’s degrees at MVNU and ensures that their courses and credits are recognized by the university.

A new agreement between Wilson College (PA) and Vermont Law School (VLS), one of the nation’s premier environmental law schools, will smooth the way for Wilson bachelor’s degree recipients to be admitted to VLS. Under the articulation agreement, Wilson graduates in good standing who meet standards in grade-point averages and entrance exam scores would be guaranteed admission to the law school, which admits only 200 students from more than 1,100 applicants each year.

Dominican University of California has entered into a partnership with SUPINFO International University, France’s largest accredited higher education institute of information technology. The partnership will bring about 240 students to a new Dominican University of California/SUPINFO campus in San Francisco and eventually will enable Dominican to offer select business programs to students enrolled at SUPINFO campuses overseas. The Paris-based institution offers a five-year degree in information technology. This is its first partnership with a U.S. institution.

Olympic Athletes

Athletes from two CIC institutions demonstrated their prowess at the summer Olympics in Beijing. Bryan Clay, a graduate of Azusa Pacific University (CA), took the gold in the decathalon to add to the silver he captured in Athens in 2004. Jenn Stuczynski, a graduate of Roberts Wesleyan College (NY) took the silver medal in the pole vault (and is one of only three women ever to clear the 16-feet mark in the event). Prior to taking up the pole vault only four years ago, Stuczynski was a standout basketball player for Roberts Wesleyan.

Alumni of two CIC member institutions medaled in the Beijing Summer Olympics. Azusa Pacific University’s (CA) Bryan Clay (pictured) took gold in the decathalon. Jenn Stuczynski, a graduate of Roberts Wesleyan College (NY), won silver in the pole vault.

New Facilities

Georgian Court University (NJ) officially opened its new $26-million Wellness Center Complex. The 67,000 square-foot building and complex includes state-of-the-art athletic fields, an eight-lane track, six tennis courts, a two-court arena with seating for 1,200 spectators, a training/exercise science laboratory, two studios for dance, ballet, and aerobic programs, a fitness center, administrative offices, a classroom, locker rooms, outdoor spaces for reflection and gathering, and the new university bookstore. The facility will allow Georgian Court to increase the number of NCAA Division II sports it offers to 11 from the current 8. The complex incorporates recycled materials as well as water, material, and energy efficiency.

Saint Vincent College (PA) officially opened the $14 million Fred M. Rogers Center. The center was named in honor of the late Latrobe native, Fred Rogers, who was the internationally popular host of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood on PBS and a lifelong friend of Saint Vincent College. The center is a two-story, 36,500 square-foot, ultramodern building which houses the Fred Rogers Center for Early Learning and Children’s Media, the Fred Rogers Archive, the Foster and Muriel McCarl Coverlet Gallery, the Conference Center at Saint Vincent College, and an interactive exhibit about Fred Rogers’ life and work.

Union University (TN) students moved into 14 new student housing buildings when they returned to campus for the fall semester less than seven months after a powerful tornado destroyed much of the university’s existing student housing.

Launching New Centers and Institutes

Grace College (IN) was recently awarded a $1.07 million grant from the U.S. Department of Justice for the development of an Integrated Community Emergency Response Training Center. The grant will allow both emergency first responders and local community members to respond to sudden disasters and emergencies by endowing community outreach, disaster simulations and drills, and local workshops. Merrimack College (MA) announced the establishment of a new center to encourage the study of the interreligious connections among Jews, Christians, and Muslims, expanding on the college’s 14-year-old Center for the Study of Jewish-Christian Relations. Lewis University (IL) in October launched the Lewis University History Center: Urban, Cultural and Catholic History of the Upper Midwest. The center will engage in scholarship, education, and community outreach activities as well as featuring guest lecturers/speakers and history exhibits.

Adult Learners

Benedictine University’s (IL) new “Weekend College” program allows adults to take classes on Saturdays or Sundays so that they can complete an associate’s or bachelor’s degree in about two years. Benedictine University offers an associate of arts in business administration, a bachelor of arts in management, and a master of business administration through the program. St. Andrews Presbyterian College (NC) announced the formation of the St. Andrews Center for Adult and Professional Studies. This initiative combines opportunities for online, main campus, weekend, and evening courses for working adults who wish to pursue a degree. The center offers bachelor of arts degrees in business administration and liberal studies as well as courses for baccalaureate degree holders who wish to pursue teacher licensure. In January, Utica College (NY) will begin offering an online master’s degree in criminal justice administration in eight-week modules to accommodate the lives of working professionals.

Environmental Leadership

Georgian Court University (NJ) has announced that it is the first higher education institution in New Jersey to get all of its electricity from renewable resources and has purchased approximately 6,122,000 kilowatt hours of wind power, an amount equivalent to the university’s annual electrical power usage, in the form of Renewable Energy Certificates. The decision to purchase wind power is part of the university’s commitment to sustainability. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, an energy purchase of this magnitude will eliminate approximately 5,247 tons of carbon dioxide emissions, the equivalent of eliminating pollution from the use of 872 cars on the road for one year or burning 24.9 railcars worth of coal.

Furman University (SC) and Unity College (ME) are two of 12 U.S. colleges and universities nationwide selected to work with a team of energy researchers from the Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) to pursue “breakthrough” projects on campus to design innovative, greenhouse gas reduction projects on campus. The institutions will also be eligible for seed funding to carry out the projects. They hosted a two-day site visit by RMI this fall and will collaborate in a workshop with officials from RMI and the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE). The project also will include collaboration with the institutions to identify barriers to their campuses going “carbon neutral” and to map viable solutions; examination of possible scenarios for climate action related to institutional practices, school governance, financial decision-making, and the social landscape on campus; and publication of a comprehensive, web-based framework that all institutions can consult for guidance on climate action planning.

In October, the New York Times featured three CIC institutions, Ripon College (WI), University of New England (ME), and Saint Xavier University (IL), that have established bike-sharing programs, including providing free bicycles to first-year students.

Name Changes

Malone University (OH) and Alvernia University (PA) have recently changed their status from college to university. Additionally, Warner Southern College has officially changed its name to Warner University (FL).