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WOODROW WILSON NATIONAL FELLOWSHIP FOUNDATION SELECTS COUNCIL OF INDEPENDENT
COLLEGES TO ADMINISTER WOODROW WILSON VISITING FELLOWS PROGRAM
For Immediate Release:
October 24, 2007
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Contact:
Laura Wilcox
Vice President for Communications
Council of Independent Colleges
(202) 466-7230
lwilcox@cic.nche.edu
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WASHINGTON,
DC — The Council of Independent Colleges (CIC) has accepted
an invitation from the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation to
administer its nationally renowned Visiting Fellows program.
The Visiting Fellows program brings artists and leaders from among non-academic
professions to liberal arts colleges for week-long residencies. Created
by the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation in 1973, the program
has offered students and faculty members at hundreds of colleges, particularly
those with limited access to guest speakers and visiting faculty, opportunities
to learn from business and nonprofit executives, diplomats, public officials,
and prize-winning journalists, writers, and artists. More than 200 colleges
have participated in the program.
Under the new arrangement, beginning in January 2008, the Council of Independent
Colleges will administer the program, expanding the roster of more than
100 Visiting Fellows, identifying additional Fellows, and matching Fellows
with individual colleges’ needs and interests. The program will
continue to bear the Woodrow Wilson name.
Arthur Levine, president of the Woodrow Wilson Foundation, said, “The
Visiting Fellows program has a special place in my heart, and CIC is a
natural fit for it. When I was president at Bradford College, the program
was a thrill, a gift—it meant a lot to us to have a Woodrow Wilson
Fellow. We got distinguished people to come to campus who never would
have come otherwise, people we could not have afforded to bring, and we
used them 24 hours a day to teach classes, meet with faculty, and talk
to the community.
“Woodrow Wilson is a fellowship organization, an incubator for new
programs, and an administrator of a small number of continuing programs.
We asked CIC to administer the Visiting Fellows initiative because of
the Council’s leadership, its history, and the number of its member
colleges that participate in the program. So we feel we’ve found
a wonderful new home for it.”
“CIC is delighted and, indeed, honored that Foundation officials
have confidence in the Council to take on the administration of such an
important and well-respected program,” said Richard Ekman, president
of CIC. “We believe that the Woodrow Wilson Visiting Fellows program
will be a perfect complement to the range of programs offered by CIC to
colleges and universities. As the program moves into its 35th year in
2008, CIC looks forward to honoring the traditions established in the
past and pledges to continue the high standards for the program set by
the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation,” Ekman added.
Past and present fellows include David Shipler of the New York Times,
former senator Margaret Chase Smith, and Deborah Amos of National Public
Radio. Among colleges that have hosted a Visiting Fellow are Alma College
(MI), Susquehanna University (PA), Furman University (SC), and Rocky Mountain
College (MT).
Allegheny College in Pennsylvania is one of many CIC institutions that
has participated in the Visiting Fellows program for years. Allegheny
President Richard Cook said, “Our experiences with the Woodrow Wilson
Visiting Fellows program have been nothing but positive. The Visiting
Fellows have been highly accomplished, willingly accessible to students
and faculty, and enthusiastic participants in this important program.
Their commitment to undergraduate education and the liberal arts is clear.”
Woodrow Wilson continues to manage the program’s fall 2007 residencies
as CIC prepares to administer spring 2008 visits and develop new approaches
for the 2008–2009 academic year. The program will make a formal
transition of administration on January 1, 2008.
The program will continue to be available to all four-year colleges and
universities, not only those that are members of CIC. Roger Bowen, CIC
senior advisor, will serve as director of the Woodrow Wilson Visiting
Fellows program. Bowen has a distinguished record of leadership in higher
education. He has served as general secretary of the American Association
of University Professors, president of the State University of New York
at New Paltz, and vice president for academic affairs at Hollins University.
For many years, he was professor of government at Colby College, where
he also was in charge of several overseas study programs. Bowen is a graduate
of Wabash College, and his Ph.D. is from the University of British Columbia.
His several books and other publications have included scholarly works
on various aspects of Japanese politics and foreign policy.
More information is available
here on CIC's website or by contacting CIC at visitingfellows@cic.nche.edu.
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The Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation
identifies and develops the best minds for the nation’s most important
challenges. In these areas of challenge, the Foundation awards fellowships
to enrich human resources, works to improve public policy, and assists
organizations and institutions in enhancing practice in the U.S. and abroad.
The Council of Independent Colleges is
an association of more than 570 independent liberal arts colleges and
universities and higher education affiliates and organizations that work
together to strengthen college and university leadership, sustain high-quality
education, and enhance private higher education’s contributions
to society. To fulfill this mission, CIC provides its members with skills,
tools, and knowledge that address aspects of leadership, financial management
and performance, academic quality, and institutional visibility. The Council
is headquartered at One Dupont Circle in Washington, DC.
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