Meeting the Challenge: - The Council of Independent Colleges

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Welch Suggs “Coupling the rhetoric of claims for the distinctive effectiveness of smaller institutions with the growing supply of data that confirm the truth of this rhetoric seemed crucial.” —Richard Ekman, President, CIC, 2000–present are responsive to such terms as ‘Ivy League,’ ‘The Seven Sisters,’ ‘The Mother Universities,’ and ‘Old State U.’ However, our reaction is not so clear to the phrase ‘Small College.’ Hill and his successors were determined to make a big splash, not just on behalf of CASC/CIC as an organization but for the members as well. The CIC executive directors and presidents always wrote widely, delivered numerous addresses, and networked relentlessly with foundations and higher education associations. As far back as Hurley’s presidency, the Council began collecting and publishing research on its members to help educate donors, potential students, and other constituents about the strengths and characteristics of small colleges. CASC/CIC also aggressively courted the mainstream media to tell the members’ story. In 1959, the Council published a 16-page supplement in The New York Times titled “Small Colleges: An Untapped Resource.” Even though it cost $42,000, the supplement was phenomenally successful: one college reported receiving more than 100 requests for information, and CASC’s own office received more than 300 letters in the first week after the supplement appeared. In the early 1980s, CIC took a different approach to telling the story: a modern public-information campaign, featuring advertisements and specials in a variety of media. The goals of the “Small Colleges Can Help You Make It Big” campaign were to increase public knowledge about small colleges, cultivate student enrollment and private financial support, and reach out to high school students, their parents, guidance counselors, community colleges, alumni, religious organizations, and others. Over the past two decades, CIC has continued to refine its materials to help colleges tell their own stories. Among other programs, it has sponsored conversations between business executives and college leaders with the goal of developing a shared understanding of the connections between business and the liberal arts. 1987 CIC hosts the first Conversation Between Foundation Officers and College and University Presidents. 1988 CIC and the United Negro College Fund launch Enhancing Black College Leadership, a project to improve management practices at historically black colleges and universities. 75
From Accreditation to Validation: CIC’s First Half-Century In 2005, the Council continued these efforts with an updated approach: “Making the Case,” a dynamic website containing a collection of data-backed assertions about the effectiveness of small and mid-sized independent colleges. As Richard Ekman has noted, “Coupling the rhetoric of claims for the distinctive effectiveness of smaller institutions with the growing supply of data that confirm the truth of this rhetoric seemed crucial when we began to develop the plans.” Organized under six principal messages with documentation in more than 100 tables and graphs, these materials provide a strong argument for the benefits and effectiveness of CIC institutions to students and society. CIC’s Making the Case website (www.cic.edu/ makingthecase/index.asp) provides detailed evidence that independent institutions: • Are Affordable for Students and Families— they represent perceived value, provide financial assistance, and enable timely degree completion • Provide Access and Success for Diverse Students— they educate students of color, students of all income levels, first-generation students, “at-risk” students, and non-traditional students • Provide Personal Attention to Students—they encourage faculty-student interaction, offer engaging classroom experiences, promote learning outside the classroom, facilitate participation in campus activities, and foster development of faith and values • Enable Student Success—they lead to higher graduation rates and enable better preparation for life • Engender Alumni Satisfaction with Education— they offer quality education, represent a worthwhile investment, and encourage support for institutions • Involve Students and Alumni Contributing to the Public Good—they foster values and ethics, lead to higher graduation rates, encourage community involvement, and promote contributions to nonprofits. 1990 CIC launches Information Technologies Workhops, held annually for 12 years. 76
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Thanks also are due to all the tale
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Preface Richard Ekman The Council o
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Small by Design: Resilience in an E
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