A grant from Arthur Vining Davis Foundations funds a new
professional learning offering to engage campuses in respectful
conversations that advance mutual understanding
NEW
YORK and WASHINGTON,
July 30,
2024 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Amid deepening
divisions within our nation and communities and an increasingly
polarized civic landscape on and off campus, it is more important
than ever to prepare students to engage in meaningful, trusting
dialogue with one another. In response, the Council of Independent
Colleges (CIC) today announced a new grant from the Arthur Vining
Davis Foundations (AVDF) to support the creation of a
first-of-its-kind online course and credential in deliberative
discourse.
Designed for college and university faculty, the course will
strengthen faculty, staff, and students' ability to engage with
each other in respectful ways that advance mutual understanding,
particularly when encountering meaningful differences of belief,
opinion, or thought. The offering will be developed and delivered
by the Association of College and University Educators (ACUE), the
nation's leader in quality teaching and faculty development.
"Our nation's cultural politics and partisan divide are tearing
campuses apart. Controversies over free speech, trigger warnings,
outlawed topics, international affairs, and academic programs
addressing gender, identity, and racial/ethnic studies have turned
open discussions into shouting matches and worse," said CIC
President Marjorie Hass. "We can't
think of a more pressing issue for the future of higher education
and the country than restoring a sense of common purpose through
meaningful, trusting dialogue. We are grateful to AVDF for funding
this new online course and credential in deliberative discourse to
help our member institutions and other campuses around the country
provide their faculty, staff, and students with the tools for
having constructive conversations on difficult issues."
Distributed through ACUE's presence on hundreds of campuses, as
well as CIC's membership of more than 600 independent colleges and
universities, the online course offering will:
• Allow college educators to develop the skills to facilitate
more effective conversations among students in class, online, and
on campus;
• Utilize ACUE's experience as the creator and provider of the
highest-quality courses, pathways, and certifications;
• Feature demonstration videos and scenarios so educators have
opportunities to envision themselves and their students in
situations where best practices for productive discussions are
needed; and
• Share information from leading experts, practitioners, and
peers.
"Students with diverse backgrounds and beliefs come together in
class. It's imperative that professors have the skills and
confidence to engage these differences in productive ways," said
Jonathan Gyurko, ACUE president and
cofounder. "This new credential, thanks to the generous support of
AVDF and ACUE's longstanding collaboration with CIC, will prepare
college instructors to foster the tolerant and respectful
conditions necessary for learning and mutual understanding."
This collaboration is an extension of a partnership between CIC
and ACUE, grounded in Belong: An Inclusive Learning Community, a
network of CIC member colleges and universities dedicated to making
their campuses more welcoming and inclusive. Once the new course in
deliberative discourse is finalized in Spring 2025, this ACUE
offering will be made available at no additional cost to all
members of the Belong community, providing thousands of faculty
members with access to this essential and timely resource.
About CIC
The Council of Independent Colleges (CIC) is an association of
more than 700 nonprofit independent colleges and universities,
state-based councils of independent colleges, and other higher
education affiliates, that works to support college and university
leadership, advance institutional excellence, and enhance public
understanding of independent higher education's contributions to
society. CIC offers conferences, seminars, reports, and other
programs and services that help independent institutions improve
educational quality, administrative and financial performance,
student outcomes, and institutional visibility. To learn more visit
cic.org.
About the Arthur Vining Davis Foundations
The Arthur Vining Davis Foundations were organized in 1952 and
are supported by two trusts established by Mr. Arthur Vining Davis. The Foundations aim to bear
witness to Mr. Davis' successful corporate leadership and his
ambitious philanthropic vision. Since their inception, the
Foundations have given over 4,600 grants totaling more than
$385 million to colleges and
universities, hospitals, medical schools, and divinity schools. To
learn more visit avdf.org.
About ACUE
The Association of College and University Educators' (ACUE)
mission is to ensure student success through quality instruction.
ACUE delivers the highest-quality courses, pathways, and
certifications with quick-to-implement practices that make a huge
impact on student success. ACUE Certified instructors are shown to
boost persistence and completion for students, improve faculty
confidence and engagement and help institutions meet their
strategic goals. Endorsed by the American Council on Education,
ACUE's online, cohort-based, courses are delivered through
institutional partnerships and open enrollment courses and are
higher education's only provider of nationally recognized teaching
certifications. To learn more visit acue.org.
Media Contact
Lisa Wolfe, L. Wolfe
Communications fo CIC & ACUE, 1 3129538085, lwolfe@lwolfe.com,
https://cic.edu/
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SOURCE L. Wolfe Communications fo CIC & ACUE