Meeting the Challenge: - The Council of Independent Colleges

John R. Thelin
University of the Ozarks in Arkansas takes rightful pride
in an exceptional program to serve students with learning
disabilities. Principia College in Illinois benefits from a
harmonious campus environment thanks to a master plan
developed by noted architect Bernard Maybeck in the 1920s
and 1930s. Saint John’s University and the College of Saint
Benedict in Minnesota have fashioned a unique shared
curriculum and course schedule for two campuses six miles
apart. Westmont College in California, the University of
Richmond in Virginia, and Franklin College in Indiana all
offer signature programs centered on understanding and
developing leadership. There have been as many variations on
the theme of diverse approaches to college education as there
have been CIC member colleges and universities.
It was largely the desire of CIC institutions to
combine their interest in addressing local educational
needs with curricular innovation that explains the frequent
expansion into selected master’s degree and graduate
programs. Today, nearly 70 percent of CIC institutions offer
master’s (or higher) degrees. Often these programs were
tailored to provide access to underserved constituencies by
offering weekend and evening courses, with Mundelein
College in Illinois and Hiram College in Ohio offering
the first weekend colleges in the country. Whitworth
College offered master’s programs in teaching, nursing,
Institutions such as
Mills College
in California
transformed
their traditional
curricula in
the liberal arts
to respond to
the changing
demographics
of gender and
ethnicity in the
surrounding
communities,
attracting a strong
representation of
students of color
among their
constituencies.
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