Celebrations
Congratulations to the 2026 Enhancing Vocational Exploration Seminar Participants
The Council of Independent Colleges (CIC), through its Network for Vocation in Undergraduate Education (NetVUE), has selected 10 individuals through a competitive nomination process to participate in the 2026 summer seminar on Enhancing Vocational Exploration. CIC and NetVUE are grateful for the support of Lilly Endowment Inc., which makes this event possible. The seminar brings together a small group of educators who seek to contribute to the growing national conversation about vocation and calling. Participants in the 2026 Enhancing Vocational Exploration seminar will gather June 1–5 at The Alexander Hotel in Indianapolis, IN.
Participants will have the opportunity to engage in discussions about vocation in undergraduate education. The focus of this seminar extends beyond classroom applications to include research, writing, and institutional leadership on the topic of vocation. Participants will bring to the table their experiences with vocation on their own campuses, whether in teaching, research, writing, service, or inter-office cooperation. They will be led in conversation and reflection by David Cunningham, executive director of NetVUE, Rachael Baker, NetVUE associate director, and Justin Klassen, professor of theology and chair of liberal studies at Bellarmine University. For more information about this and other seminars that NetVUE offers, visit the NetVUE website.
The following individuals were nominated by the chief academic officer at their institution and selected for the 2026 Enhancing Vocational Exploration seminar:
Alexandra Alayan, Pepperdine University (CA)
Emily Dykman, Viterbo University (WI)
Ann Fournier, Colby-Sawyer College (NH)
Michelle French-Holloway, Mount Saint Mary’s University (CA)
Lauren Lunsford, Belmont University (TN)
Craig Mattson, Calvin University (MI)
Robert Pampel, Washington University in St. Louis (MO)
Sarah Spangler, University of Providence (MT)
Shannon Spencer, Warren Wilson College (NC)
Anna Stewart, Valparaiso University (IN)
More about CIC and NetVUE
The Council of Independent Colleges (CIC) is an association of over 600 nonprofit independent colleges and universities, state-based councils, and higher education affiliates that works to support college and university leadership, advance institutional excellence, and enhance public understanding of independent higher education’s contributions to society. CIC provides members with ideas, resources, and programs that help institutions improve their leadership expertise, educational programs, administrative and financial performance, and institutional visibility.
The Network for Vocation in Undergraduate Education (NetVUE) is a program of CIC with over 350 members. The purpose of NetVUE is to increase the capacity of independent colleges and universities to support their undergraduate students as they explore and discern their many callings in life. The process of vocational reflection is an interdisciplinary endeavor, bringing together theological, philosophical, ethical, historical, and affective approaches, and implementing the theoretical reflections of these fields in vocation related practices. Campuses are encouraged to support students in this work through a variety of academic departments, pre-professional programs, and campus offices. NetVUE is governed by a principle of subsidiarity: individual member institutions are encouraged to shape their work related to vocation and calling— including the vocabularies that they use to describe this work—in ways that are best suited to their own missions, teaching philosophies, student demographics, and other matters best known to those who lead and guide this work on campus.
To report a technical problem with the website, or to offer suggestions for navigation and content issues, please contact Alex Stephenson, NetVUE communications coordinator, at astephenson@cic.edu.