Breakfast is provided for all Institute participants.
Academic Freedom: Upholding Academic Freedom Principles Today
Academic freedom is a core academic value—and one challenged today by government, activist donors and alumni, and sometimes even by on-campus stakeholders. Join us for a candid and confident conversation among peers about these difficult issues.
Jacqueline Pfeffer Merrill, Senior Director of Civic Learning and Free Expression Projects, CIC
Aligning Enrollment Management with Academic Program Changes
While the academic affairs division typically has robust procedures in place to engage faculty in adding or phasing out academic programs, a major challenge is ensuring these changes are effectively communicated across campus. How do chief officers ensure recruitment and admissions teams are equipped to attract students to new offerings? How should the discontinuation of programs be communicated to current students, prospective applicants, and their families? This roundtable discussion will focus on practical strategies for integrating admissions and recruitment staff into the program change lifecycle to maintain seamless communication and outreach.
Ann Vendrely, Vice President for Academic Affairs, Goshen College (IN)
Steve Wolma, Vice President for Enrollment Management, Goshen College (IN)
Balancing Human(e) and Strategic Leadership
As senior leaders, we are called on simultaneously to be compassionate, empathetic, equitable, fair, human, humane, responsible, and strategic. How do we lead in situations where these values are in conflict? In this discussion, we will share experiences and strategies for balancing competing values in decision making. Participants will be invited to reflect with self-awareness and to share scenarios encountered and trade-offs made.
Daniel Jasper, Provost and Dean of the College, Millsaps College (MS)
Hilary Williams, Academic Vice President and Dean of Faculty, Colby-Sawyer College (NH)
Collective Problem Solving Within the Cabinet
This breakfast roundtable will explore how collective problem solving occurs among senior leadership teams at CIC institutions. Participants will share core principles and best practices from their own institutions. They also will brainstorm and discuss strategies to improve the efficacy of the process, including ways to engage all stakeholders and how to initiate collective problem solving if it is not already in practice.
Tamara McEwen, Associate Vice President of Academic Affairs and Dean of the Faculty, Southwestern College (KS)
Creative Strategies to Support Student Success in Resource-Challenged Times
How are CIC colleges and universities addressing the growing need for supporting student academic success while facing budget cuts and resource shortages? This discussion will explore collaborative efforts to reconfigure existing positions and improve systems in academic affairs, student success, and retention to provide high-touch academic support in areas such as advising, tutoring, and faculty mentoring. Participants will share efforts from their own institutions and discuss the challenges and opportunities of building collaborative, sustainable support systems.
Latrissa Lee Neiworth, Vice President of Academic Affairs and Chief Academic Officer, Warner Pacific University (OR)
Cross-Institutional Collaboration to Advance Institutional Success
Cross-institutional collaborations can help individual colleges and universities achieve outcomes that are difficult to accomplish alone: expanding student access to courses and programs, supporting credit mobility across campuses, sharing faculty and staff expertise, and creating richer opportunities for mission-driven engagement. Drawing on ongoing work through the Catholic Higher Education Alliance of Rising Institutions in Service and Mission (CHARISM), the facilitators will share practical strategies for launching and sustaining effective partnerships among colleges and universities. Participants will discuss how institutions can identify shared needs, establish trust and governance structures, curate productive relationships, anticipate challenges such as uneven capacity or misaligned expectations, and design shared initiatives that remain financially, academically, and missionally sustainable over time.
Eva Fernández, Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, University of the Incarnate Word (TX)
Erlinda López-Rodríguez, Associate Provost for Academic Innovation and Partnerships, University of the Incarnate Word (TX)
From Strong Individuals to a Strong Team
Hiring talented leaders is only part of the work. The harder part is turning a group of strong individuals into a cohesive, high-performing team. Join us for a candid, peer-to-peer conversation on what actually makes leadership teams work. Bring a challenge you’re facing or a topic you’d like to explore, and leave with practical ideas from colleagues who are working through the same questions.
Scott Flanagan, Managing Director and Senior Executive Coach, Academic Search
Investing in Leadership: Strengthening Campus Leadership and the Profession (AALI & CIC Leadership Programs)
Investing in leadership development strengthens not only individual leaders, but also the institutions and teams they serve. This roundtable will explore how the AALI and CIC leadership programs help build leadership capacity, strengthen campus leadership, and contribute to a stronger higher education profession.
Javier Cevallos, President, AALI
Tara M. Hart, Director of Programs, AALI
Leading Academically, Thinking Institutionally: Expectations for Provosts in University Strategic Plans
This breakfast discussion will explore presidential expectations for provosts and other cabinet members in an era of prioritized strategic plans, dashboard-tracked progress, fundraising goals tied to institutional priorities, and heightened pressure for cross-divisional execution. How can provosts lead academically while thinking institutionally? What are best practices that facilitate effective partnerships with advancement and finance chief officers and help build a cabinet culture of accountability, candor, and shared ownership? Provosts and other senior leaders are invited to share reflections on the evolving role of the cabinet—not as a collection of divisional representatives, but as the president’s strategic leadership team.
Bonnie Gunzenhauser, Provost and Academic Vice President, John Carroll University (OH)
Navigating a Merger
As mergers become more common in higher education, leaders must guide institutions through strategic, cultural, and operational change with clarity and trust. How can senior officers communicate the rationale for a merger while addressing concerns from students, faculty, staff, trustees, alumni, and community partners? What strategies help maintain mission alignment and institutional momentum during the transition? Drawing on the jointly made decision for St. Luke’s College-UnityPoint Health (IA) to become part of Morningside University (IA), the facilitator will share lessons learned and invite participants to discuss the challenges and benefits of significant institutional change.
Chris Spicer, Provost and Vice President for Academic and Student Affairs, Morningside University (IA) and Interim Provost, St. Luke’s College (IA)
Partnering with Chief Advancement and Financial Officers: Tips for CAOs
How can chief academic officers effectively partner with their chief advancement and financial officers to achieve academic and institutional goals? The facilitator will share how enhanced communication and collaboration across these cabinet divisions led to positive outcomes for Northwestern College (IA) in both grant seeking activities and the launch of new academic programs. Participants will have the opportunity to share their own success stories and to seek advice about challenges.
D. Nathan Phinney, Vice President for Academic Affairs, Northwestern College (IA)
Partnerships with Community Colleges
Although more than 80 percent of community college students aspire to earn a four-year degree, only 32 percent transfer to a four-year institution and just 16 percent complete a bachelor’s degree within six years. This conversation will explore the opportunities and challenges CIC colleges and universities face in attracting community college transfer students and supporting them through degree completion. The Muhlenberg College (PA) team will share lessons from their collaborative work to build transfer pathways with local community colleges. Participants will be invited to discuss their own experiences with community college pipeline partnerships, to offer advice about overcoming obstacles, and to exchange practical strategies for supporting community college transfer students to graduate.
Amy Becher, Vice President for Enrollment Management, Muhlenberg College (PA)
Laura Furge, Provost, Muhlenberg College (PA)
Prioritizing AI Across Institutional Strategy
For CIC colleges and universities, the question is no longer whether artificial intelligence belongs in institutional strategy, but how visible, centralized, and urgent that investment should be relative to other mission-critical priorities. This discussion invites CIC chief officers to compare how their institutions are making AI decisions in practice. Is AI being treated as a strategic priority considered alongside enrollment growth, student retention, academic quality, and research infrastructure? Or is it being framed as a foundational capability that underpins all those priorities through better data, new workflows, improved student support, and more efficient operations?
Natalia Blank, Vice President for Academic Affairs, Bay Path University (MA)
Resilience in Senior Leadership Transitions
Senior leadership transitions have become increasingly common and offer both opportunities and challenges for the individuals and institutions involved. What are effective ways for new chief officers to integrate into their new campus communities? How can they build trust and establish themselves as team players with their cabinet colleagues? What are pitfalls to avoid? This roundtable invites participants to discuss their experiences, share wisdom, and seek advice.
Jamie Frueh, Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of the College, Westminster College (PA)
Restructuring Cabinets: Opportunities and Challenges
Recently Texas Lutheran University has done extensive cabinet restructuring, combining four vice presidential positions into two and introducing a totally new position to the leadership group. The facilitator will share details of Texas Lutheran’s unique structure, the challenges encountered, and the beneficial new collaborations that have evolved as a result. Participants are invited to ask questions and to share their own experiences with reconfigured and new cabinet positions.
Steven R. Vrooman, Interim Vice President for Academic and Student Affairs, Texas Lutheran University
Rethinking Faculty Development in a Changing DEI Landscape
This breakfast conversation will explore new approaches to faculty development that advance campus inclusivity by strengthening the connections between faculty success, student belonging, and organizational flourishing. Given the shifting landscape for diversity, equity, and inclusion work, chief academic officers are invited to reflect on the frameworks CIC campuses use, the messages those frameworks convey, and the supports faculty members need to meet students where—and who—they are. Participants will exchange perspectives on promising strategies for helping faculty create welcoming learning environments while navigating complex internal and external pressures on belonging efforts.
Sarah Fatherly, Provost, Queens University of Charlotte (NC)
Strengthening Institutional Continuity Through Succession Planning
This discussion will explore the advantages and strategies for intentional succession planning. How are CIC colleges and universities helping emerging leaders develop the competencies required for senior campus leadership roles? Ursinus College (PA)’s provost will share insights from his experience. Participants will be invited to exchange information about strategies and professional development opportunities that have been effective at their own institutions to support leadership continuity.
Kelly Sorensen, Provost, Ursinus College (PA)