Leaders from CIC member institutions and affiliate organizations gathered in January for the 2024 Presidents Institute in Hollywood, FL, and in November for the 2023 Institute for Chief Academic Officers with Chief Advancement and Chief Marketing and Communication Officers in Tampa, FL. Participants engaged in timely and practical discussions on the future of higher education and the essential role it plays in a time of great change.
The theme of the Presidents Institute was Under the Big Tent: Independent Higher Education in a Democratic Society. Sessions, discussions, and presentations focused on the role of higher education in fostering civic values, applying risk management principles, and the impact of artificial intelligence in higher education, in addition to other relevant or pressing themes and topics.
For the first time, CIC offered Risk Management Case Studies for participants to apply risk management principles and tools from the preceding Plenary Session, “A New Model for Managing Risk as a College or University President.” Topics addressed in the Case Studies included Free Expression, Health Emergency, Campus Violence, and Financial Emergency. Also new this year was the opportunity for participants to submit ideas and proposals for sessions they thought would be most relevant or helpful to others in the same roles. Many speakers and topics were selected and developed from these proposals.
The theme of the Institute for Chief Academic Officers was Storied. Independent. Together. Sessions, discussions, and presentations focused on the future of independent higher education, the importance of marketing and storytelling, and crisis communication, in addition to other relevant themes and topics.
For the first time, CIC offered a moderated panel called Briefs from the Field on the status of policy and practice in admissions and campus programming in the aftermath of the Supreme Court ruling. Also new was a set of Concurrent Sessions that allowed for discussions specific to the invited roles (chief academic, communication, or advancement officers). Interactive Seminars offered a workshop format to highlight important issues that currently impact independent higher education. Designed to be practical and hands on with clear learning outcomes, these seminar topics included “College Student Mental Health,” “Institutional Mergers and Partnerships,” “Managing Change and Disruptive Innovation,” “Utilizing Data for Effective Storytelling,” and “Effective Crisis Communications.”
Both Institutes provided an opportunity for participants to think creatively in community and return to their campuses with new inspiration, innovative solutions, and deeper professional relationships.
Institute Fast Facts
Presidents Institute
Institute for Chief Academic Officers with Chief Advancement and Chief Communication and Marketing Officers
Most Popular Sessions (According to Guidebook)
Presidents Institute
- Risk Management Case Study: Financial Emergency
- Overcoming Barriers to Radical Innovation
- Cushion the Fall Off of the Enrollment Cliff
- Risk Management Case Study: Free Expression
- Building an Executive Leadership Team
- Legal Issues that Keep Presidents Up at Night
- Rapidly Launch New Programs and Certificates with CIC’s OCSC
- Risk Management Case Study: Campus Violence
- Lessons from Florida’s Politically Charged Climate
- Renewing Your Presidency
Institute for Chief Academic Officers with Chief Advancement and Chief Communication and Marketing Officers
- Designing Effective Faculty Load Models
- Interactive Seminar: Managing Change and Disruptive Innovation
- Artificial Intelligence: What We Know and Planning for the Future
- Interactive Seminar: When to Speak and What to Say: Effective Crisis Communications and Issues Management for Campus Leaders
- Rapidly Launch New Programs and Certificates with CIC’s OCSC
- A Model Approach to Full-Scale Handbook Revision
- New Program Development, Program Assessment, Efficiency Gains, and Prioritization
- Interactive Seminar: Utilizing Data for Effective Storytelling
- Marketing Starts with Product: Developing a Strategic Relationship with Chief Academic Officers and Chief Marketing Officers at the Program Level
- Interactive Seminar: Leading and Communicating During Crises