Find a summary of updates and upcoming things to look forward to from CIC’s networks.
Network for Vocation in Undergraduate Education (NetVUE)
Updates
CIC launched the newest grant for the NetVUE program in Fall 2025: Grants to Individuals for Vocational Exploration. All previous NetVUE grants have been focused on institutional programming. This is the first time that individuals at NetVUE institutions have been able to apply for grants for their own projects, including scholarly writing, course revision, and other work that advances the conversation on vocation. CIC awarded 17 grants totaling over $200,000. The next set of Grants to Individuals for Vocational Exploration will be awarded in the late spring of this year, with an application deadline of March 11, 2026.
CIC’s NetVUE program hosted two successful regional events. In October, over 80 individuals gathered at Bushnell University (OR) for “The Purposeful University.” Conversations focused on institutional vocation, examining how a college or university discerns, embodies, and lives out its mission, and how this helps to integrate vocational questions across the academy. Follow this link for a brief video summarizing the event. In November, over 40 faculty members in religion and theology gathered for a NetVUE event preceding the annual meetings of the American Academy of Religion and Society of Biblical Literature. The theme of this gathering was “Scriptural Reasoning and/as Vocational Discernment.” View the complete program.
Upcoming
In March, over 900 individuals from NetVUE member institutions will gather in Kansas City, MO, for the 2026 NetVUE Conference. Under the theme “Vocation: An Itinerary of Hope for Higher Education,” plenary speakers will include Norman Wirzba of Duke University (NC) and Almeda Wright of Yale University (CT). Participants will also select from a wide range of breakout sessions; these include not only concurrent workshops that are programmed by the NetVUE staff, but also eighteen sessions designed and presented by individuals from NetVUE campuses. Two optional two-day workshops (on writing vocational narratives and on community engaged learning) will precede the conference, and two optional one-day workshops (on grant writing and on global engagement) will follow it. For complete information, including a detailed program, visit the 2026 NetVUE Conference website. For those unable to travel to the conference, a recap webinar will take place on Thursday, April 16, at 4:00 p.m. (ET); registration information will be distributed to NetVUE campuses.
Over the past several years, CIC has dramatically increased the number of summer seminars offered through its NetVUE program. These selective five-day seminars offer deep and enduring professional development opportunities for faculty members and staff, at no cost to those who work at NetVUE member institutions. Since 2017, the seminar on “Teaching Vocational Exploration” has been offered annually for faculty members who wish to integrate vocational exploration into their classrooms. Last summer, the first cohort of staff members participated in “Vocation Across Campus: Supporting Students’ Search for Meaning;” in addition, NetVUE hosted a new seminar called “Enhancing Vocational Exploration,” designed for those who hope to contribute to the growing national conversation on vocation. All three seminars will take place again in the summer of 2026, along with two new offerings: “Institutional Leadership for Vocation” and “Religion/Theology/Vocation.” While seminars for Summer 2026 are already filled, most will also take place in 2027, with the nominations invited this spring and due in Fall 2026. For a complete description, visit the seminars page on the NetVUE website.
Studies in Vocation and Calling, a new academic journal designed and produced through NetVUE, will publish its first issue this spring, with five scholarly articles on the relationship of vocation to the liberal arts, to particular courses and writers, to academic administration, and to the national higher education environment. The journal also includes broader reflective pieces; in the first issue, articles focus on curriculum redesign at a member institution and on one NetVUE contributor’s consideration of mid-career vocational shifts. A review section covers books and other media, including popular culture. The journal will be open-access and will be published in both online and print formats. Copies of the print edition will be distributed to NetVUE campus contacts and to participants at the 2026 NetVUE Conference. The electronic edition will be published in March on the Studies of Vocation and Calling website. That site already offers additional information about the journal (including a list of its editors and editorial board members); it also provides details about submitting an article for publication.
Online Course Sharing Consortium (OCSC)
Updates
In 2025, there were 277 new enrollments in CIC’s Online Course Sharing Consortium (OCSC) for a total of 14,989 CIC enrollments. Of that total, 11,916 were enrollments that occurred where both the home institution sharing courses and the institution providing courses (“teaching institution”) are CIC member institutions.
Upcoming
OCSC now offers pre-packed undergraduate and graduate concentrations that institutions can add to enhance their degree offerings, listed below.
Tuition Exchange Program (CIC-TEP)
Updates
CIC’s Tuition Exchange Program (CIC-TEP) is the largest FREE tuition exchange network in the country! CIC-TEP is included with CIC membership, with no additional participation or transaction fees. Over 400 member campuses across 48 states and five countries provide tuition-free opportunities through the network. Nearly 1,000 students receive at least one award each year. CIC-TEP is a network of member colleges and universities that are willing to accept full-time employees and their family members as students, tuition-free.
Upcoming
CIC is partnering with the Tuition Exchange to simplify the administration of the program and streamline processes for institutional employees and their families at participating institutions. Starting with the 2027–28 application cycle, CIC-TEP participants will access award information and apply using the Tuition Exchange platform. For more information or to join CIC-TEP, contact us at tep@cic.edu.