Celebrations
Congratulations to the 2026 Institutional Leadership for Vocation Seminar Participants
The Council of Independent Colleges (CIC), through its Network for Vocation in Undergraduate Education (NetVUE), has selected 16 individuals through a competitive nomination process to participate in the inaugural 2026 summer seminar on Institutional Leadership for Vocation. CIC and NetVUE are grateful for the support of Lilly Endowment Inc., which makes this event possible. The seminar brings together a group of emerging institutional leaders who will explore how vocational exploration and discernment can play a greater role across campus, particularly in the work these leaders do with members of the faculty and staff, but also in curricular and co-curricular programming for students. Participants in the 2026 Institutional Leadership for Vocation seminar will gather from rom June 15–19 at the Brown Hotel in Louisville, KY.
Participants will have the opportunity to reflect on their vocational path into leadership and how that informs the way they continue to lead. They will explore how to make the case for vocational exploration and discernment across their campus, and ways that vocation can be integrated across student-facing programming. The seminar will be led by Remylin Bruder, provost, vice president of academic affairs, and professor of nursing at Rochester Christian University, and Kurt Schackmuth, vice president for student life and chief mission officer at Lewis University. For more information about this and other seminars, visit the NetVUE website.
The following individuals were nominated by the cabinet level supervisor at their institution and selected for the 2026 Institutional Leadership for Vocation seminar:
Karen Compton, Presbyterian College (SC)
Brantley Craig, Davis & Elkins College (WV)
Jennifer Guyer-Wood, Macalester College (MN)
Lynn Hampton, St. Lawrence University (NY)
Kayla Hollins, Stonehill College (MA)
Monique Jimenez-Herrera, St. Edward’s University (TX)
Tish Kalita, Manchester University (IN)
Bryan Langlands, Georgetown College (KY)
Zach McGrain, Ashland University (OH)
Sara Milillo, Bay Path University (MA)
Yujin Oh, Schreiner University (TX)
Kathrin Parks, Loras College (IA)
Laura Roberts, Fresno Pacific University (CA)
Karin Trail-Johnson, University of St. Thomas (MN)
Peter White, Colby-Sawyer College (NH)
Ryan White, Hope College (MI)
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.