CIC institutions conducted relief efforts during the flooding that occurred in the Midwest in early summer. The flooding affected Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, and Wisconsin. Photos above are from the relief effort at Culver-Stockton College (MO) (see article below).

Midwest Flood Relief

During the recent severe flooding in the Midwest, numerous CIC institutions assisted in relief efforts. Culver-Stockton College’s (MO) location above the Mississippi floodplain allowed the college to house volunteers—Army National Guard, first responders from around the state, AmeriCorps, the Red Cross, a group of Mennonites from the Ozarks, and even low-risk inmates from Missouri correctional institutions. Residents from the Canton Senior Housing Authority found safe ground on campus and a Red Cross-operated emergency shelter for local residents was also established. The flood-fighting effort was directed from the Canton Emergency Operations Center (EOC), located on campus and led by a Culver-Stockton alumnus. Several businesses from the city temporarily operated from locations on campus, including two banks, the local newspaper, and the Canton school district’s summer program.

Mount Mercy College (IA) President Christopher Blake encouraged college employees and students to mobilize volunteer efforts for their communities, while the campus provided housing for over 400 members of the Iowa Air National Guard and U.S. Army National Guard troops deployed to Eastern Iowa. More than 30 members of the Red Cross Core Leadership Team stayed on the Mount Mercy campus to assist with area cleanup. The college allowed local businesses displaced by the disaster to relocate to its campus until their own facilities could be restored.

Cornell College’s (IA) hilltop campus in Mount Vernon escaped the historic floods and the college supported recovery efforts by housing 325 Red Cross volunteers on campus. An additional 60 women, children, and live-in staff from a Cedar Rapids social service agency stayed in another residence hall and several businesses also rented temporary space on campus.

Colleges from farther away also helped. St. Bonaventure University’s (NY) disaster-relief squad, BonaResponds, for example, conducted a relief trip to Iowa to help victims. The group worked in conjunction with other disaster-relief teams on projects such as cleanup, gutting interiors, mold abatement, putting up drywall, painting, and rough electrical work, as well as cooking and cleaning for victims and relief workers, running errands, helping organize work orders, and consoling the victims. The group began work in the small community of Palo, where 470 of the community’s 500 homes experienced some type of flood damage.

Great Colleges to Work For

A number of CIC institutions have been recognized by the Chronicle of Higher Education for creating exceptional work environments. The Chronicle recently published the results of its first annual “Great Colleges to Work For” survey in July. CIC institutions that scored well in one or more of the 27 categories measured by the survey include Augustana College (IL); Aurora University (IL); Austin College (TX); Berea College (KY); Drake University (IA); Gordon College (MA); Hanover College (IN); Hastings College (NE); Indiana Wesleyan University; Juniata College (PA); Millsaps College (MS); Oklahoma City University (OK); Regent University (VA); Southern New Hampshire University; The College of Saint Rose (NY); and Webster University (MO). More information about this survey can be found online at: http://chronicle.com/indepth/academicworkplace.

Veterans Assistance

Benedictine University (IL) recently announced that it will extend its First Responder Program to Illinois Armed Forces Veterans—active and reserve—returning from service in Iraq and Afghanistan. The program was established in 2002 to provide Illinois police and fire personnel access to higher education with no tuition charge. Illinois veterans who participate in this program will be able to pursue an AA in business administration or a BA degree in management. The university also will extend half-tuition benefits to members of reserve units who are not deployed.

Robotic Innovation

University of Evansville (IN) is leading in robotic innovation for two unlikely tasks—firefighting and lawn mowing. Students at the university have developed, as part of an annual competition, several versions of small robots that can self-navigate, locate, and extinguish a fire. During the competition, each robot must perform its task in a simulated four-room home, using a candle as the fire that must be extinguished. For lawn mowing, students have developed robots as part of a competition held by the Institute for Navigation. These robotic lawn mowers are guided by a computer system and GPS, allowing the robots to be directed on a calculated path by satellite.

Science of Music

Juniata College (PA) music students are taking a uniquely scientific approach to music: they are building their own instruments. As a final laboratory project, more than 20 students custom-built instruments ranging from a simple xylophone to a theremin (an electronic instrument played by manipulating the air above two antennas). The students used varying designs and materials to test the properties of physical shape and material for sound quality. Video of the musical instruments can be viewed at www.juniata.edu/magazine/?p=16.

Merrimack College (MA) now runs all of its 20 diesel maintenance vehicles using a more eco-friendly blended fuel made from diesel and cooking oil. Typically, the used cooking oil from the college food services is waste—now it’s a reusable resource. The college is saving on the cost of diesel, as well as the fee for waste oil pick-up.

Environmental Leadership

Barry University (FL) is replacing its shuttle bus system with a battery powered tram. The tram is the only one of its kind at a university in South Florida and cuts operating costs from $1.43 to $.10 a mile. The vehicle, which was purchased from Florida Electric and Gas Vehicles, replaces a diesel-powered bus and is a zero-emission vehicle. It will move students the quarter of a mile between the commuter parking lot and Barry’s Student Union, running on refurbished paved track.

Eckerd College (FL) is now providing students with an innovative, sustainable option for cafeteria take-out—the EcoClamshell. Made from a durable, dishwasher-safe plastic material, this take-out container is the product of a grant from the Environmental Research and Education Foundation to develop an innovative reusable to-go system. Students sign up for an EcoClamshell for five dollars, covering the student’s four years at Eckerd unless the container is lost or destroyed. The student checks out an EcoClamshell, fills it with food and exits the cafeteria. Upon returning to the cafeteria, the student checks the container back in and places it on the dishwasher conveyor. The container can circulate for years before being retired to a recycling center.

The James B. Duke Library at Furman University (SC) has been awarded LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) gold certification by the U.S. Green Building Council. Buildings earn LEED certification based on the number of green design and construction features that positively impact the project itself and the broader community. The library earned credits in all six categories of evaluation: sustainable sites, water efficiency, energy and atmosphere, materials and resources, indoor environmental quality, and innovation in design process.

Seniors Make Their Mark

Seniors at CIC institutions made their mark on campus this spring—quite literally. Many institutions conducted senior rituals in which their graduating students signed memorable campus objects or landmarks, helping create a sense of ongoing community and legacy. Southwestern University (TX) seniors climbed a narrow spiral staircase in the campus’ tallest tower to sign their names on the early 19th-century stone walls. Scripps College (CA) seniors signed their names around a logo on the campus “Graffiti Wall.” Saint Vincent College (PA) theater students signed the backstage wall of the main student center, which dates from 1954.

Announcing New Programs

Numerous CIC institutions have expanded their academic offerings with new degree programs. Goshen College (IN) has added three new majors in broadcasting, journalism, and public relations. Centenary College (NJ) now offers a master’s degree in psychoanalytic counseling in addition to its graduate degree in psychoanalysis through the Academy of Clinical and Applied Psychoanalysis. For the first time since changing its status to university, University of the Cumberlands (KY) will expand its graduate studies by offering two new programs: a doctorate in education and an MBA degree. St. Thomas Aquinas College (NY) will begin offering a new major in forensic science, and Fontbonne University (MO) is now offering a graduate degree program in human environmental sciences. Presbyterian College’s (SC) board of trustees recently approved a proposal to create a new pharmacy school. California Lutheran University is launching a new graduate program—an MS in information systems and technology that combines the technical foundation of information systems with business concepts. Barry University’s (FL) School of Nursing will begin offering a doctorate of nursing practice degree. Molloy College (NY) recently announced that it will offer an MS degree in music therapy and a BS/MS dual degree in music therapy. In addition, University of Richmond (VA), with U.S. Department of Education funding, will develop an interdisciplinary minor in Middle Eastern studies. Westminster College (UT) in fall 2008 will enroll its first class in the Professional Bachelor of Business Administration (PBBA) program, a project-based degree-completion program for students with associate’s degrees or equivalent college credit to complete their business degrees.

Campaign Success

Hilbert College (NY) celebrated the completion of its $3.5 million “First 50 Campaign,” the college’s most successful capital campaign ever, named in honor of the college’s 50th anniversary. As part of the campaign, which was publicly launched last year, Hilbert also met its first challenge grant from the Kresge Foundation. Campaign funds have been used for academic facilities that double the college’s classroom space, as well as other new buildings, facilities renovations, and student scholarships.

Announcing Gifts and Grants

Lesley University (MA) received a $136 million gift from the trust of the late Frank C. Doble. Part of a $272 million combined gift to Lesley and Tufts University, the gift is the largest in Lesley’s history. Saint Vincent College (PA) received a $7 million grant toward construction costs of the Sis and Herman Dupré Science Complex that will house the Herbert W. Boyer School of Natural Sciences, Mathematics, and Computing. Alvernia College (PA) received a $3 million gift, the largest in the college’s history, from T. Jerome (Jerry) and Carolyn Holleran to support the Center for Community Engagement, which will be renamed the Holleran Center.

Nazareth College (NY) announced it has received an unrestricted $2 million gift from Pal Linehan and Judy Wilmot Linehan to fulfill any unmet needs at the college. And Dominican University (IL) received a $2 million gift from Jay and Doris Christophe for a nutrition sciences center. The gift includes a $500,000 endowment to be used to maintain the facility, update equipment, and advance the nutrition sciences curriculum.

Linfield College (OR) recently received a $3 million pledge from T.J. Day, vice chair of the college’s board of trustees. The money will go toward the renovation of Northrop Hall, which will become the home of the departments of business, economics, English, and philosophy and several academic centers.

Washington College (MD) received a gift of $4.3 million from the estate of Alonzo G. Decker and Virginia Gent Decker. To honor the Deckers, the college will dedicate the main theatre in the newly renovated performing arts center and create two new endowed scholarships—one in business and one for the performing arts—in their names.

Forty-eight undergraduate institutions, including 16 CIC colleges and universities, will receive $60 million collectively from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) to “usher in a new era of science education.” The 48 institutions were selected from 192 proposals from colleges and universities with a track record of preparing undergraduate students for research careers. The HHMI grants allow for flexibility and creativity so institutions can identify novel strategies that may work with students in a variety of settings. Creating interdisciplinary science classes and incorporating more mathematics into the biology curriculum were among the major themes proposed, and many institutions will allow more students to experience research through classroom-based courses and summer laboratory programs. Oakwood University (AL), for example, will receive $1.2 million to create a pre-research program to ensure that its students are ready to work in research labs, and with its $1.3 million grant, Washington and Lee University (VA) will take a long-term approach to research, assigning students to work in the same lab for two years before traveling to other labs doing similar research and to professional research meetings. The other CIC institutions receiving HHMI grants include: Calvin College (MI), $1.1 million; Drew University (NJ), $1.1 million; Furman University (SC), $1.2 million; Georgetown College (KY), $1.3 million; Gustavus Adolphus College (MN), $1 million; Kalamazoo College (MI), $1 million; Morehouse College (GA), $1.4 million; Mount Holyoke College (MA), $1.5 million; Spelman College (GA), $1.4 million; Swarthmore College (PA), $1.6 million; The College of Wooster (OH), $1 million; University of Richmond (VA), $1.4 million; Washington & Jefferson College (PA), $1 million; and Wilkes University (PA), $1 million.

New Schools and Facilities

University of Scranton (PA) completed the 118,000 square-foot Patrick and Margaret DeNaples Center, which features a grand forum, ARAMARK’s “Fresh Food Company,” a Starbucks and other dining operations, a fireplace lounge, a 260-seat theater, ballrooms, and a uniquely designed student forum that encourages collaboration by sharing common space and equipment.

Chatham University (PA) recently accepted a land donation unequaled in the institution’s history—the nearly 400-acre Eden Hall Farm in Richland Township from the Eden Hall Foundation. With this additional campus property, Chatham will establish the largest university campus in Allegheny County, enabling the university to expand both its academic and environmental programs.

Concordia College (MN) will launch a new business school in fall 2008. The Concordia College School of Business will focus on experiential, global, and ethical learning and will serve the 460 declared majors in the business, accounting, and economics department as well as the nearly 900 other students taking courses in the department each semester.

Shenandoah University (VA) recently opened Halpin-Harrison Hall, the new home of the Harry F. Byrd, Jr. School of Business.

Creating Partnerships

Wilson College (PA) has announced a partnership with nearby Letterkenny Army Depot to establish a new educational facility at the Army Depot for Letterkenny employees, contractors, and business tenants. Under the agreement, Wilson College will be responsible for staffing and scheduling classes, which will be taught by Wilson’s faculty members.

Interational Activities

At Lourdes College (OH) this summer, faculty and students are taking education and service trips to Hungary, Peru, South Korea, Spain, and the United Kingdom. Juniata College (PA) students are traveling abroad this summer to the Intag River Valley region of Ecuador as part of Juniata’s Cultural Learning Course, now in its third year. St. Edward’s University (TX) announced that it will begin efforts to establish professional educational programs in France for both French and American students. Professional education courses that are anticipated to begin in fall 2008 include project management, information technology, business English, and management and sales.

Changing Status

Villa Julie College recently changed its name and status to Stevenson University (MD) and Tri-State University will become Trine University (IN) in August. Additionally, Carroll University (WI), Marian University (WI), and Northwest Christian University (OR) recently changed status from college to university.