Through seminars, small group discussions, individual consultations, and extensive reading, a team of facilitators—experienced presidents and their spouses—guide participants in this inquiry over the course of one year.
Program participants gather twice for group seminars. The first seminar takes place over four days in the summer, and the second lasts for two days in the winter. Participants read assigned materials in advance of each seminar. Each participating individual or couple also has at least three video consultations with members of the facilitator team spaced out over the program year.
Many practical aspects of the presidential search process deliberately are not part of this program. We do not practice interviewing or meet with search consultants. Other programs do those things well. What we intentionally do is read, reflect, discern, and discuss the applications of these activities to each participant’s life and career. The purpose is to help participants gain a better understanding of how to discern both an institution’s mission and their own calling.
SAMPLE SEMINAR TOPICS
The seminar topics and readings vary each year. These past examples illustrate the program’s distinctive approach to the process of considering a college presidency.
Early in the Summer Seminar, participants meet in small groups to discuss texts such as:
- Mary Catherine Bateson, “Composing a Life Story” (book excerpt); and
- Robert Frost, “Two Tramps in Mud Time” (poem).
The discussion focuses on understandings of vocation. Participants consider questions such as: How do we discern our callings?
Several times in the summer gathering, participants meet in a large group. The topics on these occasions include the nature of a college presidency, the support presidents receive from their communities, and the importance of presidents aligning themselves with an institutional mission. Participants are informed by texts such as:
- Jill Ker Conway, “A Different Choice” (book excerpt);
- Ta-Nehisi Coates, “Mecca and the Death of Mythology” (book excerpt); and
- Abraham Lincoln, “Second Inaugural Address” (speech).
Discussion questions include: What will help us decide where we go and when?
Other authors include diverse voices, such as Martin Luther King, Jr., Eboo Patel, Abigail and John Adams, Aristotle, Louise Erdrich, Henri Nouwen, Amy Tan, Dorothy Sayers, Thomas Merton, Jhumpa Lahiri, and Vincent Harding. The readings are deliberately eclectic—including the ancient and modern, the contemporary and classic, spiritual and secular—and are analytical, reflective, and creative.
PROGRAM FACILITATORS
PROGRAM DIRECTOR
Steven C. Bahls, president emeritus, Augustana College (2003–2022)
PROGRAM FACILITATORS
These individuals served as facilitators for the 2022–2023 program. CIC will announce the facilitators for the 2023–2024 program in spring 2023.
Donna M. Carroll, president emerita, Dominican University (IL) (1994–2021) and interim president, North Central College (2022–2023)
Alan Cottrell, presidential spouse, Texas Lutheran University (since 2019)
Debbie Cottrell, president, Texas Lutheran University (since 2019)
Harry Dumay, president, Elms College (since 2017)
Maggie Dumay, presidential spouse, Elms College (since 2017)
Fred Ohles, president emeritus, Nebraska Wesleyan University (2007–2019)
Rosemary Ohles, former presidential spouse, Nebraska Wesleyan University (2007–2019)