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CIC ANNOUNCES LILLY ENDOWMENT GRANT FOR SEMINARS ON VOCATION, MISSION, AND COLLEGE LEADERSHIP

WASHINGTON, DC—The Council of Independent Colleges (CIC) announced today that the Indianapolis-based Lilly Endowment Inc. has awarded CIC a $799,984 grant to conduct seminars on vocation for college presidents. This first-ever grant to CIC from the Endowment makes possible a three-year program designed to guide current presidents, as well as prospective presidents, in reflection about each leader’s sense of calling as it relates to the mission of the college that the president leads. William V. Frame, president of Augsburg College, will serve as project director.

In announcing the grant, CIC President Richard Ekman said the Council “has long been dedicated to strengthening presidential leadership through its programs and resources. One leadership issue that has received increasing attention in recent years is the ‘fit’ between a president’s sense of vocation and the institution’s mission and values. Many of us suspect that this factor, more than any technical aspects of management, plays a large role in sustaining the vitality of presidents, their presidencies, and their colleges.”

Each summer for the next three years, CIC will organize two, three-day Seminars for Leadership: Mission with Vocation—one for presidents and their spouses, the other for prospective presidents and their spouses. A distinctive feature of the program is its simultaneous attention to mission and vocation as they relate to the role of the president. Leading thinkers on these issues will serve as speakers and facilitators. Participants will discuss philosophical, theological, and historical frameworks for understanding vocation, and explore the question of congruence between their own talents and the institution’s deepest purposes. Among the questions they will address: How do leaders discern their personal vocations? How do presidents come to know institutional missions? Where do they find joy in their work? How can thoughtfulness of purpose in their leadership help to make institutions strong?

Craig Dykstra, vice president for religion at the Lilly Endowment, said, “In Lilly Endowment’s work with liberal arts colleges and universities, we have found that students and faculty are benefiting greatly from opportunities to explore their own sense of vocation. Many college presidents have concluded that a similar kind of inquiry into the deeper meanings and purposes of their work would benefit them personally and the leadership of their institutions. We are delighted that CIC will be conducting these seminars.”

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The Council of Independent Colleges is an association of more than 540 independent colleges and universities, including liberal arts, comprehensive, and international institutions as well as higher education affiliates and organizations that work together to strengthen college and university leadership, sustain high-quality education, and enhance private higher education’s contributions to society. To fulfill this mission, CIC provides its members with skills, tools, and knowledge that address aspects of leadership, financial management and performance, academic quality, and institutional visibility. The Council is headquartered at One Dupont Circle in Washington, DC.

Lilly Endowment Inc. is an Indianapolis-based, private philanthropic foundation created in 1937 by three members of the Lilly family to support the causes of education, religion, and community development. Although the Endowment supports efforts of national significance, especially in the field of religion, it is primarily committed to its hometown, Indianapolis, and home state, Indiana.

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