CIC is pleased to announce a summer seminar for those serving on the faculty or staff at institutions that are members of its Network for Vocation in Undergraduate Education (NetVUE). This seminar, Enhancing Vocational Exploration, is designed to bring together a small group of educators who seek to contribute to the growing national conversation about vocation and calling. The 2026 Enhancing Vocational Exploration Seminar will take place June 1–5, 2026 at the Alexander Hotel in Indianapolis, IN; the nomination deadline is September 26, 2025.
CIC also offers three other NetVUE summer seminars, each of which is described on a separate webpage:
For early- to mid-career faculty whose primary interest is in incorporating vocational exploration into their classroom teaching.
Designed for staff who direct campus programs or serve in other long-term administrative capacities, but who do not also hold faculty appointments.
For faculty members and staff who have taken on administrative roles (associate deans, assistant provosts, and the like) and who would like to explore campus-wide projects that encourage vocational exploration.
Thanks to a generous grant from Lilly Endowment Inc., CIC will cover most costs of participation for those faculty members who are selected.
About the Seminar
Thirty years ago, the primary connections between the words vocation and education had mostly to do with trade schools; a vo-tech school was where a person learned to be a plumber or a diesel mechanic. But since that time, attention to vocation has become an important feature of liberal arts institutions across the country—not to train people for the trades, but to help them think about their future directions in life, and to do so in the broadest possible terms. One’s vocation—or better, vocations—are those paths that one is being called to follow: not only in terms of paid employment, but also in the domestic, civic, and leisure spheres. And vocation is not only, and not even primarily, about individual pursuit of “success”; it is about the ways that our lives will always be intertwined with the communities of which we are a part. It is about how our lives might contribute to the common good.
This renaissance in the concepts of vocation and calling has been accompanied by a marked increase in attention to issues of meaning, purpose, and identity across all sectors of society. This focus is particularly noticeable in higher education, and especially so in the time and place that we designate as “the undergraduate years.” During these years, institutions seek to offer students a reasonable amount of time, and a relatively unconstrained space, within which they can think about the kinds of lives they want to live and the kinds of people they want to be. How might educators take more advantage of this opportunity and find ways to enhance our students’ experiences of vocational exploration and discernment?
The participants in this seminar will bring to the table their experiences with vocation on their own campuses, whether in teaching, research, writing, service, or inter-office cooperation. Any member of the staff or faculty at a NetVUE member institution is eligible to be nominated for the seminar. The typical nominee will have some experience of vocational reflection—whether through classroom teaching, working with students outside of the classroom setting, reading and writing about vocation, or some form of institutional leadership around vocation. Preference will be given to nominees (and to institutions) that have not yet participated in another NetVUE summer seminar. Selected participants will gather for a five-day seminar at the Alexander Hotel in Indianapolis, Indiana, on June 1–5, 2026. Through the generosity of Lilly Endowment Inc., all seminar costs will be covered, including a generous travel reimbursement.
Participants in the seminar will be expected to:
- Have done some work related to vocation, whether through classroom teaching, reflective or academic writing, institutional leadership, or work in campus offices (for example, career services, campus ministry, student success);
- Undertake a significant amount of background reading, so that the group can start with a common framework of understanding;
- Offer a brief (10-page) seminar paper, which will be submitted to the seminar facilitators six weeks before the seminar begins, and revised based on feedback for discussion in the seminar;
- Participate actively in the seminar sessions; and
- Agree to arrive in Indianapolis by early afternoon on Monday, June 1, and remain fully immersed in the event (including meals and social time beyond the scheduled sessions of the seminar) through lunch on Friday, June 5, 2026.
Seminar discussions will also cover a range of activities that can enhance vocational exploration in undergraduate education. Some attention will be given to direct work with students, whether through classroom teaching, advising co-curricular activities, or mentoring students. However, this will not be the primary focus on the seminar. (Faculty members who would prefer to focus on integrating vocation into their classroom teaching should instead consider the other faculty seminar, Teaching Vocational Exploration.) The primary focus of this seminar will extend beyond classroom applications to include research, writing, and institutional leadership on the topic of vocation. The name given to this seminar—Enhancing Vocational Exploration—reflects our hope that its participants will find a variety of ways to further their work of engagement with vocational questions—not only on their own campus (whether through teaching, writing, or service), but also in the wider national and international conversation about vocation and calling in undergraduate education.
Current Status
The seminar will take place on June 1–5, 2026 at the Alexander Hotel in Indianapolis, Indiana. Up to 12 participants will be selected by competitive nomination. Nominations for the 2026 seminar on Enhancing Vocational Exploration are now open; nominations are due on September 26, 2025. NetVUE member colleges and universities may nominate one full-time employee in any discipline, department, or campus office. Selected participants are notified in early December for the following summer’s seminar.
Seminar Leaders
David S. Cunningham is the executive director of NetVUE, overseeing and guiding NetVUE staff from the national office at Aquinas College in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Previously he served as director of the NetVUE Scholarly Resources Project, overseeing the development and editing of three books published by Oxford University Press, to which he also contributed the introductions, epilogues, and one chapter in each volume. He holds a faculty appointment as professor of theology at Aquinas College; his research focuses on Christian theology and ethics and their relationship to rhetoric and drama. He is the author of five books and two additional edited volumes on theological themes. He holds a BSS in communication studies from Northwestern University, a BA and MA in theology and religious studies from the University of Cambridge, and a PhD in religion from Duke University.
Rachael A. Baker is the director of professional development for NetVUE; she also serves as the network’s grant assessment director. In these roles, she develops trainings and works with NetVUE campuses to support efforts to implement vocation-informed programs and practices for faculty, staff, and students, as well as leading the work of assessment for NetVUE grants. She also serves as associate professor and co-chair of the department of chemistry and biochemistry at Calvin University in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Rachael was a participant in the 2021 NetVUE Teaching Vocational Exploration seminar and has develop curriculum to engage students with virtue practices in courses across their programs. Rachael holds a BS in biochemistry from Calvin University and a PhD in biochemistry and biophysics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Justin D. Klassen is associate professor of theology and chair of liberal studies at Bellarmine University. His interests include contemporary theology, environmental ethics, and philosophy of religion. He is the author of The Paradox of Hope: Theology and the Problem of Nihilism, and the co-editor of Aspiring to Fullness in a Secular Age: Essays on Religion and Theology in the Work of Charles Taylor. He was a participant in the 2021 NetVUE seminar on Teaching Vocational Exploration, and he is a contributor to the forthcoming fifth book in the NetVUE Scholarly Resources Project. His current research focuses on the role of non-human nature in the Christian moral imagination. He holds a BA in humanistic studies from Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, British Columbia, and an MA and PhD in religious studies from McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario.
Nomination Details
Those who wish to participate in the seminar should ask the cabinet-level officer who has responsibility for their work to submit a letter that makes a case for the nominee’s participation in the program. Each institution may nominate one individual. Each nomination should include the completed nomination form, and the following three items, uploaded as a single document:
- A nomination letter from the cabinet-level officer who has responsibility for the nominee’s work. The letter should emphasize that person’s qualifications, their commitment to the institution’s mission, and the opportunities the nominee will have to contribute insights about vocational exploration both to the home campus and to the broader community of independent higher education;
- Nominee’s résumé or curriculum vitae (no more than five pages); and
- Nominee’s statement (no more than two pages) indicating reasons for wishing to participate in the seminar, current understanding of and experience with vocational exploration, and the anticipated results for the nominee’s work for their institution and for the wider national conversation on vocational exploration and discernment.
Nomination Deadline: Friday, September 26, 2025
Selection of participants will be announced December 2025
Location and Expenses
The seminar will take place June 1–5, 2026 at the Alexander Hotel in Indianapolis, IN. Thanks to generous support from Lilly Endowment Inc., CIC will cover most seminar costs, including materials, lodging, and meals, and will provide a travel reimbursement of up to $800 per participant.
Contact Information
For questions about the seminar or the nomination process, contact Rachael Baker, NetVUE director of professional development, at (616) 526-7939 or rbaker@cic.edu.
About NetVUE
Learn more about NetVUE, including the array of programs and services that are available to member institutions.
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.