2020 Presidents Forum at Apple

CIC and Apple will co-host the 2020 Presidents Forum at Apple, March 9–10, 2020, on the new Apple Park campus in Cupertino, California. The third of such events since 2011, this new forum will allow 25 competitively selected CIC member presidents to engage in focused discussions on the practical aspects of deploying or strengthening digital learning initiatives. Presidents and Apple Education staff will explore how CIC institutions can use mobile and digital technology initiatives to support student learning, success, retention, and recruitment. The agenda will include case studies of CIC member institutions that have recently deployed a new initiative, presentations from Apple executives, and hands-on learning opportunities.

CIC in the News

Two new CIC reports received press coverage in recent months. CIC’s October 2019 report, A Study of Chief Academic Officers at Independent Colleges and Universities, 2009–2019, was featured in the Chronicle of Higher Education article “Why Being a Provost Is One of the Toughest Jobs at Vulnerable Colleges” (November 8) and the Inside Higher Ed brief “Report on Chief Academic Officers” (October 29). The June study Strengthening the STEM Pipeline II, prepared for CIC by NORC at the University of Chicago, was featured in the Diverse: Issues in Higher Education article “Small Institutions Lead the Way in STEM Degree Attainment for Underrepresented Students” (October 14). Both CIC President Richard Ekman and CIC Senior Vice President Harold V. Hartley III were interviewed for the article. In addition, CIC’s 2018 report Taking the Field: Intercollegiate Athletics on CIC Campuses was cited in the Community Impact Newspaper article “Athletics Driving Enrollment as Park University Starts Up” (August 29).

Several recent news articles included CIC commentary about college business models, enrollment trends, and financial issues. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette story “Small Private College in Ohio Offers Tuition Price Cut” (September 20) and the University Business story “New Tuition Model at Hiram College [OH] Offers Financial, Educational, Career Benefits” (September 10) quoted Richard Ekman about Hiram College’s plan to reduce tuition by 35 percent for all undergrads. The Ohio-based WKSU story “Hiram College’s New Price Model Could Lead to Nationwide Change” (September 12) quoted Ekman about the college’s new pricing model and other initiatives.

In October, members of Congress introduced a bipartisan bill, Pell Plus Act of 2019, that aims to support low-income students in completing their college education. CIC was among the numerous higher education associations that supported the legislation and was mentioned in several articles, including Ripon Advance, “Brooks’ Bill Supports College Completion by America’s Low-Income Students” (October 8); iFiberOne NewsRadio, “Kilmer, Brooks Introduce Legislation to Give Students in Need Access to More Financial Aid” (October 8); and Hamilton County Reporter, “Brooks Introduces Bill to Expand Access to Pell Grants for Current College Students” (October 5).

An article in the ChronicleVitae (a service of the Chronicle of Higher Education), “10 Suggestions for a New Academic Dean” (August 26), listed CIC as a helpful resource for deans.

CIC’s Online Course Sharing Consortium was discussed in the Inside Higher Ed column “Rethinking Higher Education through the Consortial Model” (October 23).

The Tribune-Democrat article “Mount Aloysius College Awarded Grant for Seminar on Science Pedagogy” (September 10) discussed the college’s participation in CIC’s program.

The CIC/UPS Scholarship program was featured in two recent news briefs: Longview News-Journal, “Student Awarded $3K Scholarship” (October 23), which discussed a LeTourneau University (TX) student who received a CIC/UPS Scholarship distributed by the Independent Colleges and Universities of Texas (ICUT) Foundation; and Baptist Standard, “Around the State” (September 25), which discussed an East Texas Baptist University student who also received a CIC/UPS Scholarship from the ICUT Foundation.

Since releasing her first “Advancing to the Presidency” column in June, S. Georgia Nugent, then interim Illinois Wesleyan University president and CIC senior fellow, wrote three more columns in the Inside Higher Ed series: “No. 2: Always Be Learning” (August 20), “No. 3: Do the Homework” (September 26), and “No. 4: Create Your Own Jobs” (November 7). In addition, the Pantagraph published two articles featuring Nugent: “In Era of ‘Truthiness,’ IWU Leader Encourages Search for Knowledge” (September 4) and “Interim IWU President Hits Ground Running” (August 25).

Marylouise Fennell, principal of Hyatt Fennell and CIC senior counsel, and Scott D. Miller, president of Virginia Wesleyan University, wrote a column for the August/September 2019 issue of University Business: “The Advantages of Social Media for College Presidents.”

An Inside Higher Ed article about esports on campus, “Roses and Thorns” (November 5), mentioned an upcoming CIC research brief on the topic.

2019 Jefferson Lecture in the Humanities

CIC President Richard Ekman joins Father Columba Stewart, executive director of the Hill Museum & Manuscript Library of Saint John’s University (MN), and Jon Parrish Peede, chair of the National Endowment for the Humanities, at the 2019 Jefferson Lecture in the Humanities. A Benedictine monk and scholar of early religions, Stewart delivered the 2019 lecture, titled “Cultural Heritage Present and Future: A Benedictine Monk’s Long View,” at the Warner Theatre in Washington, DC, on October 7. The lecture is the highest honor the federal government bestows for distinguished intellectual achievement in the humanities. Stewart is the first scholar at a CIC member institution to be chosen to serve as the Jefferson Lecturer.

Staff News and Notes

CIC President Richard Ekman participated in a panel presentation “How Does the Liberal Arts Model Assist Student Success Efforts?” during the Times Higher Education U.S. Student Success Forum 2019, held in New York City on September 5. During the panel, Ekman; Katherine Bergeron, president of Connecticut College; and Lynn Pasquerella, president of the Association of American Colleges and Universities, answered the question: The value of the liberal arts education model is much debated—Are students better served by shorter courses that produce more marketable skills, or by the critical thinking abilities fostered by extended, wide-ranging study? They also discussed how colleges and universities can show the utility of this distinctly American model to students, parents, and employers.

Ekman participated in a meeting of an advisory committee for the Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute on September 16.

In November, Illinois Wesleyan University appointed S. Georgia Nugent to serve as the institution’s 20th president; she began serving the university as interim president in August 2019.  While serving as president, Nugent will remain a CIC senior fellow and continue to facilitate CIC’s remaining Talking about Private Colleges workshops. 

Lesley McBain, CIC’s director of research projects, represented CIC at the 2019 Association for the Study of Higher Education (ASHE) Conference, which took place in Portland, Oregon, November 14–16. During the annual conference, McBain co-chaired a meeting of the ASHE-CIC Collaboration, a research-to-practice partnership established to strengthen the link between empirical research and institutional practice in smaller private colleges and universities.