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Students at CIC institutions participate in myriad international activities. Austin College (TX) students and faculty members traveled to Machu Picchu in January as part of a course entitled “The Art and Archeology of the Andes: The Lost City of the Incas.”


Student and Family Assistance During the Economic Downturn

CIC institutions are helping students and their families in a variety of creative ways to deal with the difficult economic times and potential financial challenges. Gannon University’s (PA) trustees, for example, have authorized up to $2.6 million more this year for financial aid as part of the Gannon Stimulus Initiative, increasing Gannon’s total financial aid to $26.6 million for the 2009–2010 academic year. Additional financial aid will be available to current and prospective students, particularly those whose economic circumstances have adversely affected their ability to pay tuition. Students who may be eligible for a portion of the aid could include, but may not be limited to, those whose parents have lost their jobs or are experiencing unusual circumstances and self-paying students who have become unemployed. More than 95 percent of Gannon students receive some form of financial aid and nearly 42 percent are first-generation college students. Merrimack College (MA) recently announced that students will not face an increase in tuition, room, and board charges for 2009–2010. In recognition of the financial challenges facing college students and their families, the college’s board of trustees recently voted to extend 2008–2009 rates to next year. In addition, Merrimack has increased the amount of financial aid it will provide next year by more than $1 million to nearly $18 million in financial assistance. More than 80 percent of the college’s students receive financial aid.

To help its community gain a better perspective on the economy, the University of Richmond (VA) hosted a gathering of 16 top economists, including Nobel Laureates and the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, to confer on the economic crisis. The participants, who also included economic historians, macroeconomists, financial economists, and policy makers, took questions from an invited audience of students, faculty members, guests, and members of the news media.

In a similar effort, 25 private colleges and universities in Virginia (including 19 CIC member institutions) offered a day of special presentations to reassure prospective students and their parents that the personal education provided by the private institutions in the state is more valuable than ever and within reach, even in today’s economy. The “Within Reach and Personal” sessions were organized by the Council of Independent Colleges in Virginia and took place at Averett University, Bluefield College, Bridgewater College, Eastern Mennonite University, Emory & Henry College, Ferrum College, Hollins University, Lynchburg University, Mary Baldwin College, Marymount University, Randolph College, Randolph-Macon College, Roanoke College, Saint Paul’s College, Shenandoah University, Sweet Briar College, University of Richmond, Virginia Union University, Virginia Wesleyan College, and Washington and Lee University.

Enrollment Increases

Despite this period of economic uncertainty, many CIC colleges and universities are reporting high levels of enrollment for fall 2008 and spring 2009. Brescia University (KY) reported a 21 percent increase in its total student enrollment over spring 2008. This includes 80 more undergraduate students and 18 additional graduate students. This increase, coupled with record fall enrollment, means the university is nearly at capacity for student housing. Concordia College (MN) reported that fall enrollment was slightly up from last year, and a full 100 percent of pre-registered first-year students arrived on campus, completely filling the college’s residence halls. Additionally, Trine University (IN) reported that the number of full-time students enrolled in the spring semester has increased by 11 percent over spring semester last year, contributing to the highest spring enrollment since 1972.

Carnegie Foundation Recognizes 25 CIC Institutions

Twenty-five CIC colleges and universities were recently designated by the Carnegie Foundation to receive its elective classification for Community Engagement. This classification affirms that a university or college has institutionalized community engagement in its identity, culture, and commitments. It also affirms that the practices of community engagement are aligned with the institution’s identity and form an integral component of the institutional culture. There are three categories in the classification: (1) curricular engagement, (2) outreach and partnerships, and (3) a combined category for both curricular engagement and outreach. All 25 CIC institutions were recognized in the combined category of curricular engagement and outreach, including: Alvernia University (PA), Augsburg College (MN), Berea College (KY), Cabrini College (PA), Daemen College (NY), Defiance College (OH), Dominican University of California, Duquesne University (PA), Eckerd College (FL), Emory & Henry College (VA), Keuka College (NY), Messiah College (PA), Mount St. Mary’s College (CA), Nazareth College (NY), Otterbein College (OH), Pfeiffer University (NC), Regis University (CO), Rollins College (FL), Saint Anselm College (NH), Saint Peter’s College (NJ), Springfield College (MA), Stonehill College (MA), Swarthmore College (PA), Wagner College (NY), and Xavier University (OH).

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Endicott College (MA) recently announced the opening of the Center for Visual and Performing Arts. The 62,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art facility is located on a sloping site overlooking the lakes on the main campus.

2008 U.S. Professors of the Year

The Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) and The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching in November honored four national winners and 46 state winners of the 2008 U.S. Professors of the Year award. Eleven CIC faculty members were named 2008 state winners: Tim Lindblom, associate professor of biology at Lyon College (AR); Kerry Hunter, professor of political economy at The College of Idaho; Beau Basel Beaudoin, professor, television department, and coordinator of culture, race, and media at Columbia College Chicago (IL); Kimberly Burke, professor of accounting at Millsaps College (MI); Mary Spratt, Cox Endowed Professor of Biology at William Woods University (MO); Maurissa Abecassis, associate professor of social science and education at Colby-Sawyer College (NH); Andrew Mickley, professor of psychology and neuroscience at Baldwin-Wallace College (OH); Richard Ellis, Hatfield Professor of Politics at Willamette University (OR); Nicholas More, associate professor of philosophy at Westminster College (UT); Kelly Lambert, Brock Professor of Psychology at Randolph-Macon College (VA); and James Evans, professor of physics and science, technology, and society at University of Puget Sound (WA).

Faculty Discoveries

Graham Peck, associate professor of history at Saint Xavier University (IL), discovered forgotten records from rival newspapers giving accounts of the Lincoln-Douglas exchange at the 1854 Illinois State Fair that illuminate Abraham Lincoln’s historic rivalry with Senator Stephen A. Douglas. Peck’s findings will be released in the summer issue of the Journal of the Abraham Lincoln Association. Professor Peck was a participant in the 2003 CIC/Gilder Lehrman American History Seminar.

Launching New Centers and Institutes

College of Notre Dame of Maryland will launch two new schools in 2009. A School of Pharmacy will address the great need for pharmacists regionally and nationally. A shortage of 157,000 pharmacists nationwide is predicted by 2020. The School of Pharmacy will be the first on the campus of a women’s college in the U.S. and the second in the state of Maryland. The pharmacy program, with 70 students per class, will provide a distinctive focus on leadership development and women’s health care across the lifespan and will be open to women and men. This fall, the college also launches a School of Education that will offer programs at the baccalaureate, graduate, and doctoral level. Pending approval by the Maryland Higher Education Commission, the school will offer new master’s programs—Catholic teacher leader with a concentration in religious studies, liberal studies with a concentration in education, and special education. A new BA/MAT degree with four education certifications will also begin in fall 2009. Four other graduate studies programs will be phased in through fall 2013. Establishment of the School of Education will help meet a critical workforce shortage in Maryland.

With first-generation college students making up more than 40 percent of Barry University’s (FL) current freshman class, many students enter college without the family background or tradition to support study skills needed in the college environment. The renovation of the university’s Glenn Hubert Learning Center ensures that many more Barry University students will have access to these services. The center officially reopened recently after being renovated with a $370,000 gift from benefactor Glenn Hubert. The facility has doubled in space and features new computers, software to assist with learning and virtual workshops, furniture, and equipment. The center consists of a Mathematics Laboratory, Reading Laboratory, Writing Center, and Center for Advanced Learning.

Presbyterian College (SC) plans to open its new Confucius Institute in 2009. The college was selected by the Office of Chinese Language Council International, headquartered in Beijing, to host this program to promote Chinese language and culture in South Carolina. The institute will build on the college’s existing Chinese language and culture program in partnership with China’s Guizhou University. As part of the partnership, China will send language instructors to the Institute and share 3,000 volumes with the college’s library. Presbyterian College also will partner with the South Carolina State Department of Education and a coalition of four other institutions—Clemson University, Furman University (SC), Wofford College (SC), and Converse College (SC)—to develop a plan for teaching Chinese language in the state’s public schools.

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Students at the College of Notre Dame of Maryland’s new School of Pharmacy make good use of the state-of-the-art lab facilities and equipment.

Announcing New Programs, Majors, and Terms

Franklin College (IN) will add an art major to the curriculum after years of incrementally building toward a degree program. Students will have multiple opportunities to exhibit their work, pursue internships in the visual arts, and take part in field trips and winter-term travel courses. The college already offers scholarships and financial aid for students who excel in visual and fine arts.

Robert Morris University’s (PA) School of Education and Social Sciences announced three new degree programs for 2009. Beginning in January, the school will offer RMU’s first totally online undergraduate program in applied psychology, designed for students who are either beginning their college careers or have earned an associate’s degree. In the fall, the school also will offer online master’s degrees in instructional leadership and in business education.

Carlow University (PA) will offer a new doctor of nursing practice degree, a low-residency nursing program that will begin in August 2009. The program will be open to students who have a current RN license, a bachelor of science in nursing, and a master’s degree in nursing.

Ohio Valley University (WV) will offer graduate courses in education this spring with the introduction of a new master of education degree program in curriculum and instruction. It can be completed in 16 months and courses will be offered in an online format. The new program is designed for graduate students who already have a bachelor’s degree, who are certified teachers, and who need additional credentials for a position or salary enhancements.

Alvernia University (PA) launched an online master of business administration program this spring with courses in strategic management and management finance. Designed to be completed in two years, the program enables students to complete the same curriculum as their on-campus counterparts. In addition, the admissions and academic requirements for the online MBA program are identical to those of the on-campus program and include on-campus seminars, allowing for person-to-person interaction with faculty members, professional networking, traditional academic presentations, and lectures from leaders in the field of executive business administration.

While many college students were enjoying their holiday break, some Austin College (TX) students returned to campus early to begin the new January term. During this one-month “head start” on the normal semester, Austin students take only one course allowing for in-depth study of a particular topic. Students also have the opportunity for travel related to their topic of study, and this January nearly 250 Austin College students and faculty members traveled to Argentina, Brazil, China, Germany, Malaysia, and Singapore among other destinations. A course on “Leadership in a New Era” brought students to Washington, DC, to witness the change of presidential leadership at the Presidential Inauguration.

Campaign Success

Springfield College (MA) announced the completion of its largest fundraising campaign, $44.5 million, in the college’s 123-year history. The college entered the public phase of the campaign in 2005 with $20 million raised. Last year, The Kresge Foundation announced a $1 million challenge grant if the college raised $39 million by June 30, 2008. The challenge was met. Supported by these campaign funds, the college constructed its new Wellness Center and Field House, expanded and renovated the Schoo-Bemis Science Center to create a modern, interdisciplinary science teaching facility, and broke ground for the new Campus Union Complex. It also established 50 newly endowed scholarships and 16 named funds supporting the college.

Trinity College (CT) received a gift of $5 million from Thomas S. Johnson, a 1962 graduate and former trustee and chairman of the board, and his wife, Ann. With this generous support Trinity now has secured ten of the 16 endowed chairs that are among the highest priorities of the Cornerstone Campaign for Trinity, a $350-million comprehensive fundraising effort that was publicly launched in October 2007. The college also recently received almost $2 million for financial assistance for undergraduate students from the estate of the late Reverend John Curry Gay, who in 1998 received his master’s degree from Trinity, and close to $1 million in support of faculty salaries from the estate of the late Kathleen MacNerney, widow of John MacNerney, who attended Trinity from 1939 to 1941.

Gannon University (PA) raised its largest amount ever in a fundraising drive. The university’s Power To Transform Comprehensive Campaign raised more than $39 million. In addition to campaign gifts, Gannon University also obtained more than $8 million in additional funds from state and federal sources. The overall fundraising amount, therefore, was almost $40 million over the last seven years. The campaign received contributions from more than 11,000 individuals and from more than 800 organizations.

In support of The Hollins Campaign for Women Who Are Going Places, the largest comprehensive fundraising campaign in the university’s history, Frank Batten and his wife, Jane, presented a gift of $3 million to Hollins University (VA) to further endow the institution’s leadership program that bears their name. The Hollins’ Batten Leadership Institute, created in 2002, provides programs and initiatives that focus on students’ personal, interpersonal, and intellectual development.

Announcing Gifts and Grants

Donald and Patricia Schneider provided a $4 million gift toward the construction of a new athletic complex, which will be named the Donald J. Schneider Outdoor Athletic Complex, at St. Norbert College (WI). Don Schneider graduated from St. Norbert College in 1957 and is a member of the college’s board of trustees. The new athletic complex will include a 400-meter track with an all-weather surface, appropriate space for all field events, field turf for football and soccer competition, and a building with lockers and showers that can accommodate more than 200 home and visiting athletes.

Alvernia University (PA) recently received the largest single gift in the 50-year history of the institution. T. Jerome (Jerry) and Carolyn Holleran donated $3 million to support the Center for Community Engagement, which will be renamed The Holleran Center for Community Engagement at Alvernia. The gift includes working capital to enhance the work of the center in the community as well as provisions to permanently endow the center. The center has served as a prominent “front door” for the university’s many community-based projects, including a new nonprofit roundtable with the Chamber of Commerce and a series of free lectures.

Point Park University (PA) received a $2 million grant from the Heinz Endowments to support the architectural design phase of its campus master space plan for the Academic Village Initiative. The grant will underwrite a comprehensive design process resulting in a specific set of architectural and engineering blueprints necessary for construction of the Academic Village. In addition, the grant will support a university architect/planner to oversee the initiative in its entirety and to help construct an environmentally sustainable overlay for the project.

Madonna University (MI) received a $1.5 million challenge grant from the Kresge Foundation to support construction of an environmentally-friendly $20 million science and media building. The new building will provide the university’s growing science program with laboratories that exceed nationally recognized standards for higher education, along with state-of-the-art production facilities that meet the highly technical demands of its broadcast and cinema arts program. At nearly 60,000 square feet, it will house instructional laboratories in the physical and biological sciences, classrooms, seminar rooms, a lecture hall, and a high-definition media studio.

Franklin Tech Park Associates, LLC transferred a land title to Franklin College (IN) for nearly 32 acres of woods. The gift, valued at $1.39 million, will be used for botany and field ecology studies and research by college students and faculty members. The land also will support academic programs in natural sciences and environmental studies. The company donated the land to the college because of its commitment to responsible land stewardship and its greater mission of furthering the education of young people.

St. Bonaventure University (NY) recently received an anonymous gift of $1 million from an alumnus to support entrepreneurial service learning. The leadership gift will endow service programs in the School of Business, specifically Students in Free Enterprise, Volunteer Income Tax Assistance, and BonaResponds.

The College of St. Catherine (MN) has received the largest gift in its 104-year history from an anonymous donor. The perpetual legacy endowment will ensure a gift to St. Catherine of at least $1 million annually in perpetuity. The donor intends the gift to support initiatives in the School of Health, launched in 2007, funding program development, administrative costs, digital learning development, and laboratory expansion.

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In celebration of the United Nation’s naming 2009 as the International Year of Astronomy, Lourdes College (OH) is presenting “Black Holes: From Here to Infinity” at its Appold Planetarium this spring. The show is narrated by Academy-Award nominated actor Liam Neeson and made possible through NASA’s high-energy GLAST telescope project and the National Science Foundation.

New and Recently Renovated Facilities

Cedarville University (OH) announced the successful completion of an $11 million fundraising effort for the Center for Biblical and Theological Studies. The 60,000-square-foot building houses the university’s Bible department and The Cove, an academic enrichment center that caters to students’ educational needs. The center was designed to draw on natural light and includes stained glass windows that stretch from the base to the top of the building.

A state-of-the-art Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology lab is now open at Merrimack College (MA). RFID technology is an automatic identification method that uses tags or transponders to store and remotely retrieve data, and Merrimack is one of the few colleges in the country with such equipment for research. It is also one of the only higher education institutions to include RFID coursework as a core requirement for an electrical engineering undergraduate degree.

Name Changes

Grand View University and Northwest Christian University have recently changed their status from college to university.