Newsletter Article

Read more from CIC President Marjorie Hass about how CIC programs are developing leaders, supporting campus success, and serving as a leading voice of independent higher education.

CIC announced in August 2023 the selection of 25 member institutions to participate in the inaugural cohort of the Work-Based Learning (WBL) Consortium, which will provide a national community of practice to support institutions in easing student barriers to internship access and job market preparation, particularly for students from under-represented groups.

The State Councils Annual Conference, a convening of CIC’s State Council executives and their staff, provided a forum for face-to-face networking and an opportunity to share best practices with colleagues. CIC also announced this year’s State Councils grant recipients. These grants provide CIC/UPS Scholarships for use at every four-year private college and university in the State Councils network.

CIC’s annual Teaching Pre-Modern European Art in Context seminar took place on June 18–23, 2023, at the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art in Memphis, TN. CIC faculty members in art history, the arts, and other disciplines who incorporate art history in their courses were invited to apply over the winter to participate.

In June 2023, CIC and Interfaith America held a multidisciplinary seminar on Teaching Interfaith Understanding for full-time faculty members at CIC member colleges and universities. This long-running seminar series seeks to broaden faculty members’ knowledge and perspective to help them strengthen the teaching of interfaith understanding, develop new courses and other resources, and join a network of faculty members.

Twenty-nine philosophers from CIC member colleges met in Baltimore, MD, on July 23–27, 2023, to explore “New Currents in Teaching Philosophy.” This was the third and final Institute in an annual series designed to help faculty members strengthen the philosophy programs at their institutions by offering students more diverse, compelling, and relevant courses.

CIC's new Presidential Renewal program is designed to support the personal revitalization of experienced member presidents at CIC institutions who will continue to serve in the vital role of the college presidency. Twelve CIC member presidents were selected to participate, and spouses and partners were welcome to join them at the Summer Seminar.

CIC's Presidential Vocation and Institutional Mission program (V&M) is designed for senior leaders at CIC member schools to explore their potential vocational calling to serve as a college or university president, as well as examine what types of institutional missions they might best serve. The Opening Seminar took place July 16–July 19, 2023.

The Opening Seminar for the 2023–2024 Executive Leadership Academy (ELA) took place on June 26–28, 2023. CIC, AASCU, and AALI also sponsor the Senior Leadership Academy (SLA). Both ELA and SLA had a Closing Seminar for the 2022–2023 cohort in June 2023.

CIC's Belong: An Inclusive Learning Community is well into its first year, and members of the Belong network are confirming that the programming is making a difference on campuses across the country. Faculty and staff are able to put into place actions to achieve tangible results.