PROGRAM INFORMATION AND APPLICATION DETAILS
Is my institution eligible to participate?
The program is open to all four-year public and private, nonprofit colleges and universities in the United States regardless of CIC membership status. CIC International Members institutions also are eligible to participate.
What is the role of the Council of Independent Colleges (CIC)?
CIC is responsible for administering the Visiting Fellows program. Its role includes promoting the program, enlisting appropriate Fellows, screening and selecting participating colleges, matching colleges and Fellows, and evaluating the program. After a visit is confirmed, CIC issues letters of agreements to the Fellow and the host institution, invoices the college for the visit fee, and supports the campus coordinator and the Fellow in the planning process. After the visit, CIC issues the Fellow’s honorarium and gathers post-visit feedback from the Fellow and campus coordinator.
WHO OWNS AND OPERATES THE VISITING FELLOWS PROGRAM?
CIC operates the Visiting Fellows program for the Institute for Citizens & Scholars. The Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation founded the Woodrow Wilson Visiting Fellows program in 1973 and operated it until 2007. In 2008, CIC took over operation of the program. In June 2020, the founding foundation released this statement on its decision to change its own name. During this period, CIC decided to refer to the program as the “CIC Visiting Fellows” program and will continue to do so. In November 2020, the foundation rebranded as the Institute for Citizens & Scholars. More information about the institute is available in this press release.
ARE YOU SCHEDULING ON-CAMPUS VISITS? WHAT IS A VIRTUAL VISIT?
When the COVID-19 pandemic halted travel, it became essential for the CIC Visiting Fellows program to offer virtual visits. As long as the need remains, CIC will continue to offer this option. We do not know when it will be safe for Fellows to travel and for campuses to host in-person visitors, but we are optimistically scheduling on-campus visits for spring 2022, with the understanding that the plans may change. Similarly, we see most campuses opting for virtual visits for fall 2021. We encourage you to apply for the visit type you think will most meet your needs and know that CIC will work with you to make any adjustments. As always, any decisions about the visit will be made in consultation with the designated campus coordinator, the Fellow, and CIC program staff.
A virtual visit is a dynamic multi-day schedule of various events held online, instead of on-campus in person. Many of the traditional functions of an on-campus visit—from large lectures to one-on-one meetings—can be translated to the digital realm with careful planning. Many Fellows are open to and experienced in virtual delivery and ready to meet the new normal of your campus. There is no change in fee for virtual visits. CIC bills the campus for the same amount, and the Fellow receives the same honorarium. The only difference in cost is that the campus does not incur any charges for travel, room, and board.
WHAT IS THE ROLE OF THE CAMPUS COORDINATOR?
In short, the role of the campus coordinator is to make Fellows’ visits successful. In order to do so, the campus coordinator must communicate with the campus community, the Fellow, and CIC. With the help of the Fellow and faculty members, the campus coordinator plans the main public lecture and class topics as well as subjects for discussion with student clubs and faculty seminars. This person is responsible for reserving housing, making meal plans, arranging transportation, and ensuring the Fellow’s comfort. This person will keep senior administration officials informed of the residency. After the visit, the campus coordinator will evaluate the success of the residency and communicate the evaluation to CIC. They are also responsible for ensuring that the Fellow is properly reimbursed for any travel, room, or board costs.
WHO SHOULD SERVE AS A CAMPUS COORDINATOR?
The campus coordinator can be any one person on campus who can serve in the above capacity or who can serve as the primary point of contact for a group of people, such as an ad hoc Visiting Fellows Planning Committee. Most often, the campus coordinator is an academic officer, a department or division chair, or a faculty member. On some campuses, the campus coordinator is an assistant to the president or chief academic officer, a librarian, a staff or faculty director of a campus center, or other staff member. The specific job title is not important. What is essential is that the person can bring together the campus community to plan a successful visit.
WHEN SHOULD MY INSTITUTION APPLY? IS THERE AN APPLICATION DEADLINE?
Applications can be submitted anytime and are processed on a rolling basis. The most common schedule is for institutions to apply in the spring to host a Fellow in the following academic year. We encourage interested institutions to apply to host a Fellow at least six months before their anticipated visit date to allow enough time to plan a successful visit. The priority application deadline for the receipt of applications to host Fellows in the 2021–2022 academic year is April 16, 2021.
WHO IS INCLUDED IN THE ROSTER OF VISITING FELLOWS?
The roster of Fellows includes prominent artists, diplomats, journalists, business leaders, and other working professionals who have deep expertise and can lead students, faculty members, campus staff, and community members in substantive dialogue. Whether they have influenced governmental policy, had first-hand observation of national crises, or have helped build a major corporation, Fellows provide a better understanding of the world beyond college walls. Fellows are selected for their professional expertise, personal enthusiasm for the goals of the program, interest in interacting with students, and ability to listen as well as to speak.
WHAT SHOULD A CAMPUS COORDINATOR DO TO IDENTIFY A SHORT LIST OF POTENTIAL FELLOWS TO VISIT THEIR CAMPUS?
The first step in selecting a Fellow is for the college to assess its needs. Fellows can be used to build on an institution’s strengths, shore up areas of weakness, explore and develop new program areas, and contribute to a multi-program theme or special colloquium. Fellows may serve as consultants for organizational needs, bridge gaps between academic departments, and act as catalysts for interdisciplinary programs.
Few campus coordinators are omniscient about their colleges. Most campus coordinators find that the best way to assess institutional needs is to establish a Visiting Fellow Planning Committee for program oversight. Most Visiting Fellows Committees are diverse, including students and faculty members from different disciplines. Some institutions use ad hoc committees formed for each visit, others have institutionalized the program and its support framework.
Campuses often use cross-departmental committees, which can lead to multi-department support, as a tool to bring together financial support from various parts of campus.
Once the campus coordinator has a sense of institutional interest, they should consult the searchable roster of Fellows. This comprehensive list is searchable by name, area of expertise, or keyword. Listings include photos and brief biographies.
CAN I GET RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FELLOWS THAT MATCH MY CAMPUS NEEDS?
Yes, of course. CIC Visiting Fellows program staff are happy to make recommendations, as they are very familiar with specific Fellows and their areas of expertise. Fellows are recommended based on the college’s expressed interests. CIC usually will place veteran Fellows (rather than new recruits) at colleges participating in the program for the first time. Indeed, many successful visits have started when an institution shares academic, topical, or career areas of interest rather than identifying individual Fellows.
WHEN IS A GOOD TIME TO HOST A FELLOW?
You as campus coordinator are in the best position to identify when the visit would be most effective on your campus. Visits should not be scheduled too close to examinations—neither students nor faculty members respond well. Residencies should not conflict with holidays, vacations, or major campus events such as Homecoming. Some campuses have success with visits that coincide with the beginning of a semester; for others this just does not work. The campus coordinator should check the college’s calendar for the upcoming year. If the college indicates broad availability, it is more likely that a compatible Fellow will be available.
WHAT ARE THE CHARACTERISTICS OF A STRONG APPLICATION?
Campus coordinators are encouraged to submit a full and complete application to ensure a good match. This means applications should include details about the intended use of the Fellow and reference any special semester themes, areas of special focus on campus, first-year experience themes, or similar points of emphasis that need to be addressed by the Fellow.
Campus coordinators should list their preferred Fellows in rank order. Applications should include potential dates for the visit that take into account the campus calendar. If you are most interested in a specific Fellow, please submit as many possible dates for the visit as might work. If you are most interested in hosting a Fellow at a specific time, please list a number of Fellows that you would be excited to host.
WHAT HAPPENS AFTER I SUBMIT AN APPLICATION?
CIC Visiting Fellows program staff review the application and immediately begin the process of matching the institution with a specific Fellow. Staff contact your preferred Fellow to check his or her availability for your preferred date, and proceed this way until a match is made. To this end, please only list Fellows and dates that will work for your campus. Within a few weeks of submission, campus coordinators will receive an email with a status update on the match-making process or the details of a confirmed visit. Once a match is made, campus coordinators can begin to plan for the visit.
PREPARING AND EXECUTING A VISIT
What will I receive from CIC?
You will receive an email from CIC confirming the visit details: specific Fellow, their contact information, and the visit date and mode. This serves as your notification to begin planning the visit. At some point before the visit, most usually in the summer before the academic year if you applied in the year previous, you will receive a letter of agreement to sign and an invoice for the visit fee from CIC. Payment is due 30 days before the scheduled visit.
You can request a Fellow’s bio, high-resolution photos, and other information that CIC may have on file. CIC provides participating institutions a sample press release that can be used to promote the visit.
HOW SHOULD A CAMPUS COORDINATOR PREPARE A FELLOW TO VISIT THEIR CAMPUS?
Most Fellows will know little about the college before they arrive. It is the responsibility of the campus coordinator to give them an accurate sense of the institution and the community in which it is located, including information about campus culture, student demographics, and senior leadership. Campus coordinators should be in regular email and telephone correspondence with the Fellow before the visit to jointly develop a schedule for the visit. It is important to talk with a Fellow about the type of visit they want to have and find a way to craft a schedule that is mutually beneficial. Some Fellows like an event every minute of the day, others prefer a slower pace or need to allow time to keep up with their work at home. Some Fellows want to focus on their area of expertise, and others want the opportunity to speak broadly.
DOES THE CAMPUS NEED TO MAKE TRAVEL ARRANGEMENTS FOR THE FELLOW?
If the visit will be on campus, yes. Campuses should provide transportation for the Fellow. This may mean buying their plane ticket and providing airport transportation directly, arranging it through a travel agent, or providing timely reimbursement of said expenses.
Note: This is new policy in place for visits that happen during the 2020–2021 academic year or after.
DOES THE CAMPUS NEED TO PROVIDE THE FELLOW HOUSING?
If the visit will be on campus, yes. Colleges are responsible for housing the Fellow for the duration of the visit. This means both securing and paying for the arrangements. Try to house the Fellow on campus with comfort and privacy. An on-campus guesthouse is ideal if the college has one. Local bed and breakfasts or hotels also are a possibility, but attention must be paid to providing the Fellow local transportation and providing ample opportunities for informal interactions with students.
DOES THE CAMPUS NEED TO MAKE MEAL ARRANGEMENTS FOR THE FELLOW?
If the visit will be on campus, yes. The host campus should provide all meals for the Fellow whether the meals are a part of the organized campus programming or not. Because the Visiting Fellows Program values dialogue, the informal talk that takes place at meals contributes greatly to the success of the visit. At a breakfast with students, lunch with faculty members, or dinner with friends of the college, Fellows have the opportunity to speak informally and to share their experiences in more intimate surroundings than a classroom or lecture hall. Every campus coordinator will make meal arrangements to suit his/her college environment. Meal programming has included: breakfast with small groups of students or faculty members, informal “brown bag” lunches with student interest clubs, lunch with a faculty member in the campus dining room, dinner with the president or with friends of the college, and potlucks off-campus.
WHAT DOES A TYPICAL SCHEDULE LOOK LIKE?
Each visit schedule looks very different, but they all share four essential elements.
- The classroom visit is at the heart of the residency. Most visits include at least one, and up to three or four, classroom visits a day. Fellows should not be expected to deliver a different polished 50-minute lecture in each class. Usually they make comments on a specific subject they know well for 15 to 20 minutes and then open the discussion for questions. The best classroom visits occur when the Fellow has all the relevant information about the class (size and level of class; syllabus; outside reading list; aims and objectives; what students have covered recently or are scheduled to cover immediately before the Fellow’s appearance) and when the Fellow and faculty member have been in direct contact about the visit. In some instances, the Fellow and faculty member work together to assign students a reading that can be discussed.
- Each visit should include at least one public lecture. Public lectures give Fellows broader connection to the local community and to students throughout the institution. This looks different on each campus, but attention should be given to ensure a large and engaged audience.
- Informal interaction. Opportunities for informal interaction between the Fellow and students, faculty and staff members, and the campus coordinator should be built into the schedule. This can happen over meals, during receptions, or even during Fellow “office hours.”
- Hospitality. Most campuses have the president or chief academic officer host a lunch or dinner for the Fellow to thank them for their visit and to strengthen the connection between the Fellow and the campus.
Depending on the Fellow and the campus, visits also can include writing workshops, film screenings, walking tours, and other special events.
DO YOU HAVE ANY TIPS FOR A SUCCESSFUL VISIT?
Yes! We have many tips for a successful visit and encourage you to reach out to program staff to get recommendations that match your campus needs. Some general recommendations that nearly always apply: involve students as early and as often as possible; engage with faculty members for classroom visits before they finalize their syllabi, if possible; engage with community groups to boost attendance at the public lecture; and encourage broad participation by soliciting partners across campus, and communicate and publicizing early and often. Talk with the Fellow to learn what elements of a visit would excite them, as their enthusiasm will be contagious.
AFTER THE VISIT
Do I need to complete an evaluation?
Yes. CIC requires campus coordinators to complete a brief online evaluation of the visit. To complete that evaluation, please be in touch with members of the campus community who participated in the visit to get their feedback.
Do I need to submit anything else to CIC?
CIC encourages campus coordinators to submit copies of the visit schedule, samples of promotion materials, and photos from the visit (high-resolution photos are preferred). CIC also seeks quotes about the impact of the program to use in promotion materials.
Do I need to issue payment to CIC? To the Fellow?
Payment for the visit fee is due to CIC 30 days before the scheduled visit. Payment should not be issued to the Fellow. CIC pays the Fellow’s honorarium.
Does the campus reimburse the Fellow for travel costs?
For on-campus visits, yes. The campus should pay for the Fellow’s primary travel, which includes the airfare, train ticket, mileage, or corresponding costs for the main mode of transportation between their home and the host campus. You should also pay for the Fellow’s ground transportation on the Fellow’s home side, such as between their home and the airport, and for incidental expenses such as meals while traveling. The campus should provide room and board while on campus, ground transportation between the airport and the campus, and transportation while on campus. If possible, the campus should provide and pay for all these items in advance. If the campus cannot arrange to pay this in advance, than it will be necessary for the campus to reimburse the Fellow for these uncovered expenses.