Each summer, The New American Colleges and Universities holds a Summer Institute on one of its campuses for faculty and administrators from member colleges and universities. The institute, lasting three days, provides an excellent opportunity for professional development, discussion of issues common to our member institutions, and networking. A Planning Committee develops the program.

June 22-24, 2011
Summer Institute 2011
North Central College Naperville, Illinois

Wagner College—Staten Island, New York
June 16-18, 2010

The Summer Institute has always afforded NAC&U members with the opportunity to share best practices with like-minded institutions, and this year’s conference was no different in that respect. But in many ways, the 2010 Summer Institute, whose theme was “Sustaining Community, Renewal, and Meaning in our Work,” prompted the 145 attendees to examine what lies ahead for higher education and determine how to best use the tools and opportunities available—whether the consortium’s collective strength, social media, or data on student trends—to remain viable while staying true to what they do best.

Executives discussed leveraging the consortium as a way to stay competitive.

Prior to the official start of the Institute at Wagner College in New York, presidents, provosts/CAOs, CFOs, and vice presidents for Enrollment Management gathered for an Executive Summit to discuss fiscal sustainability and institutional positioning in response to a changing demographic and economic climate. Executives also discussed how to leverage NAC&U to better position both their own institutions and the consortium. Following the Executive Summit, Alexandra Tilsley, reporter at The Chronicle of Higher Education, interviewed eight NAC&U members about the consortium and its plans to increase collaboration.

The official start to Summer Institute kicked off on Wednesday with a luncheon, the first of many delicious meals that showcased Wagner’s gracious hospitality. Following that, Charles Blaish of The Wabash Center at Wabash College gave a presentation on the Center’s national study of 49 institutions that identified practices and conditions that promote liberal education and growth within students. Blaish asserted that it was essential to listen to student feedback if an institution were to be successful at attaining positive outcomes in student retention and student achievement.

Annmarie Dowling-Castronovo, nursing professor at Wagner, discusses sustainable civic engagement.

Throughout the institute there were sessions of concurrent panels. Topics included Educating and Retaining the 21st Century Student, Piloting a K-16 Early College High School, and Literacy across the Curriculum, among others, presented by faculty and administrators from member campuses and guest speakers.

John Lawlor and Lynsey Struthers of The Lawlor Group, specialists in education marketing, discussed social media for colleges and universities. The presentation outlined the reasons why institutions need to be on social media, redefined the four Ps of marketing, and provided a concrete game plan for setting up a presence on popular sites. To conclude the Summer Institute, George Dehne of George Dehne & Associates kept with the forward-looking theme of the conference with his vision of higher education in 20/20, including the changing demographics of students and what colleges and universities need to do to stay competitive.

Natalie Johnson, second from left, of Wagner College with a group from The University of Scranton visiting the Chinese Scholars Garden in Snug Harbor on Staten Island.

From the Institute’s “base” at Wagner College in Staten Island, many conference participants took full advantage of the free ferry ride to Manhattan. Also, NAC&U organized educational expeditions to the Lower East Side Tenement Museum, Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty, and a tour of Staten Island.

Photos from the Summer Institute are posted on the NAC&U Facebook page.

Next year’s Summer Institute will take place at North Central College in Naperville, Illinois. Officials from North Central agreed that their work was cut out for them as Wagner College provided such a memorable experience—the comprehensive, educational program; creative meal planning (authentic hot dog carts at lunchtime!); and sweeping views of the NYC skyline; to name a few highlights. Located just 29 miles west of Chicago, however, North Central is certain to put its own regional flair on next year’s conference.

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Purposeful Collaboration in Music City

One of the many roundtable discussions at the Summer Institute

Among the fresh-faced freshmen orientees and statuesque basketball camp participants, the 138 attendees of ANAC’s Summer Institute enjoyed the lovely Belmont University campus and its two-mile proximity to downtown Nashville. Belmont president Robert Fisher and his wife, Judy Fisher, provost Dan McAlexander, associate provost Marcia Mcdonald, and director of Belmont’s Teaching Center, Kim Boggs, created a warm and welcoming atmosphere for this dynamic three-day gathering, themed “Designing for Learning.” At the Summer Institute, held annually, integrated teams of administrators and faculty from across ANAC’s 21 member organizations come together for an information exchange that is rare in higher education today. Participants not only meet individuals from other institutions but become better acquainted with members from their own campuses as well.

By day, the Institute was a lively gathering of conversations focused on the ANAC mission – to purposefully integrate liberal arts education, professional studies and civic engagement. Combining these facets of campus and community (both local and global) allows students to graduate with a deep understanding of their professional roles and aspirations as well as their responsibilities as global citizens.

The Bill and Carole Troutt Theater was the site for the first plenary address. Susan Painter, PhD, design psychologist and urban and university campus planner at AC Martin Partners, discussed how campus development can affect how well students adapt to college. After hearing her suggestions for campus design, roundtables of attendees met to discuss their campus development challenges and successes. Afterwards, a pre-dinner poster session allowed participants to informally showcase exemplary programs. 

Breakfast on the terrace at Belmont

On the second day, 12 ANAC presidents met for several hours to discuss common challenges they face in their roles. Spouses of presidents also met that morning to discuss issues they face in their roles. Roundtables, led by representatives from the 21 ANAC schools, generated more discussion on the advantages and challenges of creating truly integrative teaching and learning campuses. Discussions included helping students to successfully transition both into and out of college, designing curricula that foster integrative learning, encouraging entrepreneurship, supporting faculty and staff and meeting the needs of communities. That afternoon Barbara Walvoord, PhD, professor emerita at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana, delivered the second plenary address on “Assessing General Education in the New American College” and led a workshop on “Teaching Well, Saving Time.” Nine different affinity groups met later that afternoon: Career Services, Enrollment Services, Sponsored Programs, Student Affairs, Provosts, Library, Associate Provosts, Business Deans, and Arts & Sciences Deans.

Belmont alumna and adjunct instructor of music, Tammy Rogers King, performs with her band, The SteelDrivers

To close out this year’s Summer Institute, Stuart Dorsey, PhD, president of the University of Redlands, delivered an excellent overview of the range of fiscal, demographic and regulatory challenges that may await ANAC institutions. He and his team warmly welcomed everyone to next year’s Summer Institute to be held June 24-26 at Quinnipiac University. We hope to see you there!

Elon University hosted the 2007 ANAC Summer Institute. It was the largest institute in ANAC history, with over 160 participants from 22 institutions.

The Institute featured best practices in teaching and learning with a particular emphasis on pedagogies that build on ANAC’s tradition of integrating liberal arts and professional education to prepare students to be global citizens. Participants also explored way that they blur traditional classroom boundaries, bringing together curricular and co-curricular programs to connect students with communities across town and around the world. Special sessions for senior administrators in the areas of Enrollment Management, Executive Assistants to Presidents, Institutional Research, and Student Affairs were also held.

The 2007 ANAC Summer Institute had three excellent plenary speakers:

1. George Kuh directs the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE), is Chancellor’s Professor of Higher Education, and leads the Center for Postsecondary Research at Indiana University;
   
2. Randy Bass is a Senior Scholar at the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, and Executive Director of Georgetown University’s Center for New Designs in Learning and Scholarship;
   
3. Barbara Jacoby is Senior Scholar at the University of Maryland’s Stamp Student Union, and is a prominent voice in national dialogues about civic engagement and service-learning.

Materials from many of the concurrent sessions can be found at the Elon web site as well as press releases from the institute. Answers to the ANAC Quiz, played at the institute, are available here. Questions about the Institute can be directed to Peter Felten at Elon’s Center for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning (pfelten@elon.edu, 336-278-5100) or to Lynette Robinson, Executive Director, ANAC (lrobinson@anac.org, 617-418-5613).

Roberts Jones explains global educational challenges in addressing Institute

Jerry Berberet thanks colleagues in farewell as executive director.

Mary Deane Sorcinelli describes professional development touchstones in Institute remarks.

Institute speakers Bobby Fong (president, Butler University), Roberts Jones (president, Education and Workforce Policy LLC), and Mary Deane Sorcinelli (associate provost, University of Massachusetts), respectively, portrayed a vision for ANAC’s future, sketched the international competitive landscape facing American higher education, and traced the historical evolution and current focus of faculty/staff professional development programs. Institute discussions especially explored collaborative opportunities for academic and student affairs to enhance the learning outcomes of student academic and student life experiences.

The Institute also featured an evening with tributes, gifts, and farewells to Jerry Berberet who retired August 31, as ANAC’s founding executive director. 

The Institute planning committee comprised Chair Devorah Lieberman, Provost at Wagner College; local coordinator Francine Navakas, Associate Academic Dean at North Central; IRep chair Gerry Francis, Provost at Elon University; and Cheryl Ney, ANAC provost-in-residence.