The CIC/New York Times Partnership in Education offered a day-long Student Newspaper Editors Workshop and supported “EntrepreneurshipWeek USA” in February 2007, following an October 2006 meeting of the Partnership’s Presidents Council at the Times.

The Student Newspaper Editors Workshop on February 26 at the Times in New York City was highly successful, attracting 133 student newspaper editors from 60 CIC member institutions. The students spent a day at the New York Times exploring the role of a newspaper in society, meeting with Times correspondents and editors, and developing their journalistic skills.

Highlights of the day included a discussion about the life of a foreign correspondent with Ethan Bronner, deputy editor of the foreign desk, and tips on becoming a sports writer from female sports reporter Lynn Zinser. Student Co-Editor in Chief of The Gwynmercian, Maureen Curcio of Gwynedd-Mercy College (PA), said of the event, “it was very insightful and helped me to better understand the lifestyle of the modern journalist. I especially enjoyed listening to the sports journalism segment—it was interesting to hear a woman’s perspective on an area of news that is generally dominated by men.”

Also in February, the Partnership supported Entrepren­eurshipWeek USA, an initiative by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation and New York Times to “celebrate the power of entrepreneurship and ignite the nation’s consciousness about the importance of being entrepreneurial.” EntrepreneurshipWeek USA was held from February 24 to March 3, 2007. More than 30 CIC member colleges and universities participated in its activities, including invention competitions, entrepreneurship film festivals, and networking events. Students from all academic disciplines were encouraged “to explore their potential as self-starters and innovative thinkers.”

On October 9, 2006, 16 members of the Partnership’s Presidents Council met with Times Education Editor Allison Mitchell and Higher Education Correspondent Alan Finder to discuss coverage of colleges and universities by Times education writers, higher education trends, and ideas for future coverage. In answer to a question about how correspondents select which stories to cover, Mitchell said “trend stories, quirky programs, and cutting edge activities,” as well as “intellectual life, campus disputes, college costs, and battles of ideas on campus” are among the most likely topics of interest. Finder said that a particular institution is written about primarily to illuminate a trend, or put a story in broader context, and added that he is interested in writing about college professors who inspire students; the role of great teachers who change lives. Mitchell encouraged participants to email appropriate, compelling story ideas directly to her at almitc@nytimes.com or to Finder at finder@nytimes.com.

She explained that correspondents’ education beats in general are as follows: Finder writes about college admissions; Tamar Lewin covers campus life; Karen Arenson covers SATs and New York-based higher education; Diana Schemo writes about education policy from DC; and Sam Dillon covers K-12 and No Child Left Behind.

To learn more about and to join the CIC/New York Times Partnership, contact CIC Vice President for Communications Laura Wilcox at lwilcox@cic.nche.edu or (202) 466-7230.