Breakfast and Roundtable Discussions

November 7, 2022

Sponsored by Anthology

Breakfast will be provided for all Institute participants. Roundtable discussion groups will provide opportunities to gain practical advice from colleagues. Discussion facilitators will be experienced colleagues with insight to offer on each topic.

Academic Affairs and Enrollment Management Partnerships

What are best practices for academic affairs and enrollment management collaboration? Franklin College’s chief academic officer will share the structure her college has in place to facilitate communication and coordination between the two areas and how it has improved faculty involvement in the recruitment process. Participants are invited to share their own strategies and advice for building effective partnerships.

Kristin C. Flora, Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of the College, Franklin College

Campus Solutions to Enrollment Challenges

From historically high first-year recruitment melt and two years of decreasing enrollment, Schreiner University rebounded in fall 2022 with its largest first-year class ever. Schreiner’s senior recruitment team will share their university’s new approach to student recruitment and how it worked. Participants are invited to discuss their own enrollment challenges and effective recruitment initiatives.

Mark C. Tuschak, Vice President for Student Recruitment, External Affairs, Marketing and Communications, Schreiner University
Michael Probus, Assistant Vice President for Student Recruitment, Schreiner University

The CFO’s Role in New Program Development

How do CIC colleges and universities ensure that new programs are financially feasible? What are appropriate roles for chief financial officers in the planning process? Participants are invited to share their experiences and to discuss new options to support innovation on their campuses.

Diane Hoehnke, Vice President of Finance, Wisconsin Lutheran College

Choosing Peer and Aspirant Institutions

Chief academic, financial, and enrollment officers often approach the process of choosing peer and aspirant institutions from the perspective of their own silos. How can they collaborate effectively in the selection process? What data is required, and how should it be prioritized to produce a set of comparison institutions that will be useful in goal setting and measuring progress? Participants are invited to share their experiences and lessons learned.

Paul Gore, Vice President for Academic Affairs and Chief Academic Officer, Bellarmine University

Effective Chief Officer Communication

What are best practices for communication among CAOs, CFOs, and CEMOs? Gwynedd Mercy University’s vice president for marketing and enrollment will facilitate a conversation about communication strategies that foster strong collaborative relationships among chief officers in all three areas.

Kelly Statmore, Vice President for Marketing and Enrollment, Gwynedd Mercy University

Executive Leadership Academy and Senior Leadership Academy

Learn about CIC’s yearlong leadership development programs offered in collaboration with the American Academic Leadership Institute: Executive Leadership Academy (ELA) and Senior Leadership Academy (SLA). The ELA prepares college and university vice presidents for presidencies, while the SLA prepares mid-level administrators for vice presidencies in independent higher education.

Linda M. Bleicken, President, American Academic Leadership Institute (AALI)
Faith Brown, Membership Services and Tuition Exchange Program Manager, CIC

From Idea to Fruition: How to Create Successful Online and Hybrid Deliveries

How do institutions ensure online and hybrid deliveries are meeting their mission by creating increased revenue, while maintaining consistent and complete academic experiences across all educational deliveries? This discussion provides real solutions using case studies and benchmarks, creating immediate applications for campus use.

Tammy Shelton, Vice President of Business Development, Capital Education

Helping Students Cope with Financial Pressures

How are CIC colleges and universities easing the financial burden on students and their families? Participants are invited to share programs, policies, and other strategies that have made a difference on their campuses and to seek advice about challenges.

Anne S. Jung, Vice President for Academic Affairs and Chief Academic Officer, Maria College

How CIC Campuses are Balancing Budgets

In the face of current and anticipated enrollment challenges, how are CIC colleges and universities funding new programs and priorities and still balancing their budgets? Participants will exchange advice and share campus strategies that have helped their institutions stretch limited resources and make beneficial, forward-looking changes.

Sarah M. Ferguson, Vice President for Academic Affairs, Texas Lutheran University

Identifying New Revenue Streams

In the face of declining tuition dollars, what are opportunities for CIC colleges and universities to identify new and sustainable revenue streams? Participants will be invited to share strategies that have worked on their campuses, to get feedback on ideas currently under consideration, and to join in creative thinking about possible collaborative efforts to generate revenue.

Catharine E. O’Connell, Dean of the College and Provost, Illiinois College

Incentivizing Faculty and Staff Members When Budgets are Tight

When a tight budget makes salary raises minimal or impossible, how can chief officers incentivize faculty and staff members both to bolster morale and to encourage teamwork in support of student success and other institutional goals? The facilitator will share strategies that have been successful at Catawba College and invites CIC colleagues to contribute ideas and solutions from their own campuses.

Constance Rogers-Lowery, Provost, Catawba College

Maintaining Momentum on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Initiatives

In recent years, many CIC colleges and universities have added chief diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) officers and/or offices. Following this important step, how are institutions maintaining momentum on DEI initiatives and ensuring DEI permeates campus culture? Georgian Court University’s provost will describe her university’s multi-prong approach which encourages broad participation in training, events, committee work, book discussions, and new traditions. Participants are invited to share their own successful strategies and to seek advice on campus challenges.

Janice Warner, Provost, Georgian Court University

Managing Cabinet Transitions

Senior leadership transitions and new cabinet configurations occur with great frequency. What are effective practices for chief officers to manage the changes in cabinet personnel, to develop mutual trust, and to facilitate teamwork? Participants will share their experiences and exchange information about strategies that have created strong cabinet teams on their campuses.

Robert Murray, Provost, St. Thomas Aquinas College

Meaning and Purpose as Elements of Curricular Coherence

Liberal arts colleges pride themselves on providing a coherent curricular experience for all students. But the combined pressures of licensure requirements, multiple majors, and occasional turf battles can make this goal difficult to achieve. Many institutions have found the concepts of meaning, purpose, and identity to be extremely useful in helping students understand the interconnected nature of the undergraduate curriculum, and in some instances the related language of vocation and calling has proven useful as well. Join this roundtable to discuss with colleagues how meaning and purpose can serve as integrating principles for the curriculum, and how CIC can support this work through its Network for Vocation in Undergraduate Education (NetVUE).

David S. Cunningham, Director of NetVUE, CIC
Kerry Pannell, Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, Presbyterian College

New Approaches to Study Abroad

After a two-year hiatus, study abroad programs are beginning to resume. How have CIC institutions changed their study abroad program formats, pricing, and marketing strategies in response to the pandemic? What viable alternatives to international travel have they developed? Participants are invited to share new approaches to study abroad underway or in the planning stages on their campuses.

David Douglass, Provost and Dean of Faculty, The College of Idaho

Reinvigorating Shared Governance Models

How are CIC colleges and universities addressing outdated shared governance models? Nebraska Methodist’s chief academic officer will lead off the conversation with strategies she used to reinvigorate the Faculty Senate model she inherited. Participants are invited to discuss and share advice about improvements to shared governance structures and practices on their campuses.

Amy M. Clark, Vice President for Academic Affairs, Nebraska Methodist College

Relieve the Headache of Your Physical Plant

Learn how partnering with a physical plant management specialist, with services such as housekeeping, landscape maintenance, general campus maintenance, event planning/setups, and security, can benefit an institution.

J. Barron Wood, Vice President of Business Development, National Management Resources Corporation

Revitalizing Undergraduate Research Programs

In the post-pandemic higher education world, a significant priority for independent colleges is revitalizing undergraduate research programs as a high impact student engagement practice and attractive recruitment and marketing tool. Join the facilitator in a discussion of cost-effective and pedagogically sound pathways to achieving this goal across the academic spectrum.

Michael W. Markowitz, Vice President for Academic Affairs, Felician University

Talking with Students about the Value of the Liberal Arts

How can CIC senior leaders help today’s college students to recognize the liberal arts as relevant and enriching instead of simply required? Wagner’s chief academic officer will share her best practices for communicating the value of the liberal arts. Participants are invited to discuss both their challenges and strategies that have been effective in talking with students about the liberal arts.

Tarshia L. Stanley, Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, Wagner College

Test-Optional Admissions

Since 2020, many CIC institutions have made standardized test scores optional for college admission. What have been the positive and negative impacts of the decision to become test-optional on the enrollment funnel, scholarship awards, course placement, advising, and retention? How does being test-optional compare to being test-blind? Join Culver-Stockton’s CAO and CEMO in a lively discussion of these issues.

Kim Gaither, Vice President for Enrollment Management, Culver-Stockton College
Lauren Schellenberger, Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, Culver-Stockton College

Time to Build or Time to Repurpose?

What factors should be considered when deciding between constructing a new building or renovating existing space? How should senior officers collaborate in the decision-making process? Alvernia’s CAO will share criteria and strategies her institution used to develop plans for three building projects currently underway. Participants are invited to discuss their campus evaluation processes for determining when to build and when to repurpose.

Glynis Fitzgerald, Senior Vice President and Chief Academic Officer, Alvernia University

Understanding the Voice of the Online Learner

Recent survey findings show that the persistence of pandemic-driven online students is continuing to change the landscape of online learning. As the online learning population diversifies, what are the trends to know and the right questions to ask to guide the next phase of an institution’s online learning experiences? Join this discussion for insight into what thousands of students shared about their motivations, decision-making factors, and future learning plans which may impact online strategies moving forward.

Krysia Lazarewicz, Vice President of Business Development, Wiley University Services

Using Athletics as an Enrollment Growth Strategy: Slam Dunk or Missed Shot?

Athletics often plays a key role in prospective students’ decisions about where to go to college. How can CIC institutions effectively market a new athletic program to drive up their enrollment and positively impact the demographics of the traditional undergraduate student population? Are intramural and club sports ever a viable option to intercollegiate athletic programs? The facilitator invites colleagues to join him in a discussion of costs and benefits of using athletics as an enrollment growth strategy.

Dale H. Simmons, Provost, Simpson University (CA)

Welcoming Community College Transfer Students

What can CIC institutions do to facilitate degree completion for community college transfer students? The chief academic officers from Lourdes and Tiffin universities will share strategies and insights from their participation in the Ohio Consortium for Transfer Pathways to the Liberal Arts project, funded by the Teagle and Arthur Vining Davis Foundations. Participants are invited to ask questions, seek advice, and discuss their own successful campus practices.

Peter Holbrook, Chief Academic Officer and Provost, Tiffin University

Council of Independent Colleges