Participants in the fourth and final cycle of the Presidential Vocation and Institutional Mission program met July 13–16, 2008, near Bradford, Pennsylvania. Sixteen presidents and 15 spouses participated (see below). A follow-up session will be held January 7–8, 2009, immediately following the conclusion of the Presidents Institute.

Drawing upon diverse pre-event readings and engaging in discussion with each other and experienced facilitators, participants considered such questions as, “What are the differences and similarities between self-knowledge and institutional saga?” and “What contributions do faith and vocation make to saga-making and saga-telling?” Participants also worked with program facilitators to develop plans for continuing their explorations in the coming year.

On the final day of the July seminar, participants indicated their plans for incorporating learning from the program into their work. Several presidents expressed their intent to share seminar concepts and readings with members of their senior staff and faculty. Some of the spouses acknowledged that the deep conversations provided them with a better understanding of the work of the presidency, resulting in a greater appreciation for their support of the college.

Steven Bahls, president of Augustana College (IL), said of the program, “I feel like I have been given a gift. The seminar provided my wife, Jane, and me the needed opportunity to reflect in a more nuanced way about our calling. As one who was asked to be a change agent when I arrived at Augustana five years ago, the seminar helped me reflect on how my vocational calling has shifted from change to ‘letting bread rise.’ I am planning on being more deliberate in asking others to take time out to reflect about their vocational callings.”

The project director is William Frame, president emeritus of Augsburg College (MN) and CIC senior advisor. Other facilitators included presidents Joel Cunningham, Sewanee: The University of the South (TN), and Mary Ann Dillon, RSM, Mount Aloysius College (PA), past presidential spouse Anne Frame, current presidential spouse Trudy Cunningham, and Richard Hughes, distinguished professor and senior fellow at the Ernest L. Boyer Center at Messiah College (PA).

To date nearly 50 presidents, most with spouses, have participated in this program. An additional 60 senior administrators, along with their spouses, have participated in the parallel program for “prospective” presidents. CIC’s Presidential Vocation and Institutional Mission program is generously supported by a grant from Lilly Endowment Inc.