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A group of students from Dominican University (IL) had the opportunity to witness history by serving as part of the international election monitoring team in El Salvador this spring.


Continued Efforts to Mitigate Economic Impact

CIC institutions continue to help students and their families in a variety of creative ways through these difficult economic times. Many private colleges and universities have responded to the economic crisis by increasing financial aid and holding tuition steady and—in a few cases—lowering it. Many CIC institutions are doing more. Juniata College (PA), for example, has initiated new programs to lessen the economic impact of the recession for students and families. Those programs include increased work-study opportunities on campus (30 new campus employment positions were created), more funding to pay higher wages for seniors who oversee complex projects, creation of a special fund to adjust financial aid awards if a family’s primary wage earner loses a job or the family experiences a catastrophic financial change, and approval to use up to $2 million of the college’s endowment principal for short-term, low-interest loans for families who lose student loans due to changes in real estate values. At Davis & Elkins College (WV) the board of trustees voted to lower tuition after receiving word of a projected 20.4 percent increase in enrollment next year. The college’s Highlands Scholar program also allows students who graduate with a 2.5 or better GPA from high schools in the immediate area to attend Davis & Elkins with tuition equaling that of West Virginia University.

In addition to hosting a career fair and “Tools for Taking Charge: Life After Layoff” event on campus this spring, Newman University (KS) reduced its tuition rate for area residents who lost jobs due to cutbacks and layoffs. While tuition differs somewhat across Newman’s programs, students accessing this reduced tuition rate program will realize up to a 50 percent savings per credit hour. California Lutheran University’s new “4 to Finish” program is available to students who start in fall 2009. The program allows students who declare their majors early, meet regularly with their advisors, make sufficient progress toward their degree each year, and fulfill other responsibilities to have their tuition and fees waived for the remaining classes if graduation isn’t accomplished in four years.

Dominican University (IL) has launched a comprehensive plan to address the financial and emotional needs of current students, their families, and alumni. The university is offering seniors who graduated in January and May 2009 a 10 percent reduction in tuition for its four professional graduate schools, effective for two academic years. The university also is expanding the number of on-campus student jobs by at least 30 positions with an increased entry-level wage. For alumni who are struggling in this volatile job market, the university is offering free workshops on resume writing, interviewing, and financial management. In addition, the university’s School of Leadership and Continuing Studies will make available a limited number of academic scholarships to the parents of current undergraduate students who are between jobs and are seeking to complete their bachelor’s or master’s degrees to enhance their job prospects.

Several CIC institutions are providing some financial relief for students and families with the creation of new accelerated programs. Hartwick College (NY) recently announced the creation of a three-year’s bachelor’s degree that will reduce costs to students and their families by nearly 25 percent. And this fall, Chatham University (PA) will launch its first three-year program, a Bachelor of Interior Architecture (BIA). The program does not require summer study in order to allow students to participate in travel programs or internships. The Chatham format is designed to save students a year of tuition.

International Activities

Twenty-nine of the 100 projects selected to receive $10,000 grants for Kathryn W. Davis’s 100 Projects for Peace Program that are underway this summer were submitted by students from 25 CIC member institutions. The Davis Projects for Peace is an initiative for students to design grassroots projects for peace that they implement anywhere in the world. Through a competition on over 90 campuses, 100 projects were selected for funding by Kathryn W. Davis, a lifelong internationalist and philanthropist who believes that today’s youth—tomorrow’s leaders—ought to be challenged to formulate and test their own ideas. Mrs. Davis, who is now 101 years old, is the mother of Shelby M.C. Davis who funds the Davis UWC Scholars Program (the recipient of CIC’s 2009 Award for Philanthropy). The projects are taking place across the globe including in Argentina, Bosnia, Vietnam, and the United States. Three Trinity College (CT) students received a grant to provide health education in Honduras; however, due to the political unrest their project was relocated to Zambia. They are currently sharing HIV/AIDS health education curriculum as they work with five high schools located in Mufulira, Murundu, and Kitwe. The 2009 project grants were awarded to students from: Agnes Scott College (GA), College of Notre Dame of Maryland, Connecticut College, Earlham College (IN), Gettysburg College (PA), Grinnell College (IA), Hamilton College (NY), Kalamazoo College (MI), Kenyon College (OH), Lafayette College (PA), Luther College (IA), Macalaster College (MN), Mount Holyoke College (MA), Oberlin College (OH), Scripps College (CA), St. John’s College (MD), St. Lawrence University (NY), Swarthmore College (PA), The College of Idaho, Trinity College (CT), University of Richmond (VA), Wartburg College (IA), Washington and Lee University (VA), Westminster College (MO), Wheaton College (MA).

A group of Dominican University (IL) students had the opportunity to witness history when they served as part of the international election monitoring team in El Salvador this spring. The students had the opportunity to see democracy in action overseas after participating in their first presidential election in the United States. Leading up to the Salvadoran election the students attended political rallies, observed candidate debates, and visited with community groups. On Election Day, the students were stationed in community centers throughout the countryside where they compiled information about polling irregularities, counted ballots, and filed reports for the country’s Supreme Electoral Tribunal and witnessed the democratic transition of power from the long-entrenched ARENA party to a candidate backed by the FMLN. The group detected irregularities at the polls, but they concluded that this election represented the first peaceful transition of power in El Salvador in decades.

In June, 20 students from College of the Ozarks (MO) were invited by The Greatest Generations Foundation to be a part of the commemorative activities at Omaha Beach in Normandy for the 65th anniversary of D-Day. The students traveled with a group of ten veterans to London before crossing the English Channel and traveling through northern France for visits to Utah Beach, Omaha Beach, and Point-Du-Hoc. On June 6, the contingent was part of the International Commemoration of D-Day. More information about this experience can be found at www.thenormandyexperience.com.

Competitive Program Winners

Seven of 47 persons selected to participate in the 2009 Frye Leadership Institute are CIC faculty members and administrators. This intensive, two-week residential program was held May 31–June 11 at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, and cosponsored by the Council on Library and Information Resources and EDUCAUSE. The Institute is designed to develop the next generation of higher education leaders with backgrounds in information technology or library sciences. Participants from CIC institutions included: Jody Britten, Butler University (IN); Darlene Brooks, Rhodes College (TN); Scott Krajewski, Augsburg College (MN); Annette Marksberry, Xavier University (OH); Amanda Moore, Hendrix College (AR); Sondra Smith, St. Lawrence University (NY); and David Weinberg-Kinsey, Cardinal Stritch University (WI).

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Students from North Central College (IL) celebrate 20 years of programming in the Leadership, Ethics, and Values program that prepares first-year students for campus leadership.

Announcing New Programs, Majors, and Schools

Viterbo University (WI) this summer announced one of the largest curricular developments in the institution’s history. The new initiative includes two communications majors in organizational and visual communications; a clinical laboratory science major in partnership with the Mayo Clinic and a “4+1 BBA to MBA” program that will allow students to complete both an undergraduate and graduate degree in five years that incorporates the principles of ethics, corporate social responsibility, and sustainability; and a sports management and leadership major.

Saint Joseph College (CT) announced this summer the establishment of five schools to reinforce its mission as a comprehensive institution with career-focused undergraduate, graduate, and certificate programs. The five new schools are in the areas of education; graduate and professional studies; health and natural science; humanities and social science; and pharmacy.

Announcing Gifts and Grants

The University of Dubuque (IA) received a $30 million gift from an alumnus, Joseph Chlapaty, and his wife. The gift will be used to strengthen academic programs and to support construction and renovation projects. The Chlapatys made the gift in honor of the university’s commitment to providing higher education to students who are first in their families to go to college and for supporting talented students who believed college was not possible for them.

Chapman University (CA) announced a $25 million gift that will make possible a new 1,300-seat performing arts center. The challenge gift was made by anonymous longtime Orange County residents.

Taylor University (IN) and Indiana Wesleyan University were major recipients of gifts from the estate of Arthur Hodson,
a community leader and philanthropist who left the majority of his $27 million estate to the two universities. Taylor received $13.8 million and Indiana Wesleyan received $10.6 million. The gifts will be used primarily for endowments, scholarship funds, and endowed chairs.

Marian University (IN) received a historic $6 million gift from a former trustee. The amount of the gift—given as a $1 million check and a 10-year pledge of $500,000 annually—represents the single largest gift from an individual ever made to the university. The anonymous donor sent the gift to honor the institution’s official transformation to Marian University.

Mount Ida College (MA) was recently awarded three grants over the course of one week totaling more than $2.1 million, including a $1.7 million grant approved by the U.S. Department of Education in July that will fund major improvements in the college’s technology infrastructure, the expansion of staff and resources in the college’s Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching, faculty development programs, and overall student retention.

Gwynedd-Mercy College (PA) was awarded a $1.2 million grant from CampusEAI Consortium, a global, nonprofit information technology services and consulting provider, that will equip the college with the myCampus Web 2.0 campus portal. Through this web portal, students, faculty, and staff will have access to academic and social information in one place. Departments will be able to target groups or individuals by managing customized web pages. Students will be able to access grades, financial information, course schedules, and activities. The portal will also facilitate faculty and department collaboration, alumni activities, events and development, prospective student engagement, and customized alerts and announcements.

Lebanon Valley College (PA) has received a $1 million gift, the largest single foundation grant the college has ever received, for student financial aid. The gift from the Donald B. and Dorothy L. Stabler Foundation of Harrisburg will create a permanent new endowment to reduce the college loan burdens of some local juniors and seniors.

Frank and Susan Shaw of Dawsonville, Georgia have given Furman University (SC) a $1 million gift that will be used primarily to support a scholarship fund on campus.

Forming Partnerships

Faculty members from Holy Family University (PA), Thomas Jefferson University (PA), and La Salle University (PA) are collaborating on a program to help nursing students who speak English as a second language. Twelve of the 40 students who enrolled in the program across the three universities receive one-on-one tutoring from Holy Names faculty members.

Loras College (IA) recently signed a collaborative agreement with Allen College that gives qualified students the opportunity to complete a Bachelor of Science degree in biology or general science at Loras and then enter Allen College’s accelerated nursing program to earn a bachelor of science in nursing. The program collapses four years of nursing coursework into 15 months of intensive study.

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Elmira College’s (NY) new residence hall, Meier Hall, named for the college’s 12th president, is slated to open in autumn of 2010.

New and Recently Renovated Facilities

Elmira College (NY) laid the cornerstone this summer for a new residence hall slated to open in fall 2010 that will be named for Thomas Keith Meier. Meier, who is in his 22nd year as president of Elmira College, is the second-longest serving president of the college.

In May, Wilson College’s (PA) new $25 million science education building was opened and named the Harry R. Brooks Complex for Science, Mathematics and Technology after the father of philanthropist Marguerite Brooks Lenfest. Lenfest, a 1955 Wilson College graduate, and her husband H.F. “Gerry” Lenfest contributed the lead gift of $10 million for the science complex in February 2007. The Lenfests received CIC’s 2008 Award for Philanthropy.

Springfield College (MA) recently unveiled the newly remodeled Fuller Arts Center for visual and performing arts and other academic programs. The $1.2 million renovation was supported with a lead gift from the George F. and Sybil H. Fuller Foundation. Improvements include a new computerized stage lighting system and improved stage visibility in the auditorium.

Environmental Leadership

In March, Benedictine University (IL) hosted “Sustainable Saturday in Lisle” that attracted 1,500 people to load their cars full of recyclables and drive them to campus. The items collected included 180,827 pounds of electronics, 197 large batteries, 7.96 tons of scrap metal, 11,000 pounds of paper, 489 pairs of eyeglasses, 236 ink jet cartridges, 128 bicycles, and 398 cell phones. Seven households will have energy for the next 12 months because of the recycling efforts.

Several CIC institutions, including Merrimack College (MA) and Ferrum College (VA), have recently gone “trayless” in their cafeterias. At Merrimack this move accounts for savings of 15,000 gallons of water and reduced use of chemicals and electricity. The move to trayless cafeterias also reduces the amount of food waste. At Texas Lutheran University the amount of discarded food was cut in half after going trayless—from 1,200 pounds daily to 600.

SAT Elimination

Sewanee: The University of the South (TN) recently announced that it will no longer require applicants to submit SAT or ACT scores so long as a graded academic paper is provided and the applicant completes an interview. Loyola College in Maryland also recently did away with the SAT requirement, joining other Maryland schools including Goucher College, Washington College, St. John’s College, and McDaniel College that use “test-optional” admissions policies.

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This fall, students will be able to work in state-of-the-art labs in Madonna University’s (MI) new Franciscan Center for Science and Media. The 60,000 square-foot structure is the first stand-alone building constructed on campus in more than 40 years.

Changing Status

Columbia Union College has officially changed its name to Washington Adventist University (MD) and College of St. Catherine is now St. Catherine University (MN). Marian University (IN), Muskingum University (OH) and Neumann University (PA) also have recently changed status from college to university.