2008 Woodie Awards
Taylor leads at conference in Washington, D.C.
Issue date: 2/23/07 Section: News
|
Southwest Baptist University President Dr. C. Pat Taylor was one of the 15 CCCU presidents leading the special session.
On Thursday, Feb.1, the CCCU hosted a New Presidents Orientation Workshop, a session for the spouses of new presidents and a New Presidents Orientation Dinner at the Hyatt Regency on Capitol Hill, where the Presidents Conference was held this year.
Fifteen new presidents attended the sessions, including presidents from campuses in Australia, the Netherlands, Russia and South Korea.
A team of eight Resource Leaders included CCCU President Paul Corts, Abilene Christian University President Royce Money, LeTourneau University President Alvin "Bud" Austin, Messiah College President Kim Phipps, Northwestern College President Alan Cureton, Point Loma Nazarene University President Bob Browe, Southwest Baptist University President Taylor and Union University President David Dockery.
Topics covered in the panel discussions were:
•Overview of the Council's history, purpose and mission accentuating the Council's role in serving member institutions and especially presidents.
•The value of peer networking and professional development programs.
•The availability of CCCU resources such as assessment, salary studies, financial ratios, grants, consultation, the Governance Institute, etc.
The benefit of CCCU's BestSemester student programs to individual institutions.
•Background on the role and objectives of the Presidents Conference.
Cureton and Taylor gave personal perspectives on aspects of the Presidents Conference that they have found particularly helpful, and Corts gave an overview of current issues and themes that are currently in the forefront of CCCU's Washington advocacy work. He described how the Council serves the membership as a voice in the Washington education establishment and how the Council helps individual colleges when they have special legislative, legal or public policy type issues.
There was also time for questtions and answers from the new presidents.
Dr. Alexander Negrov, president of CCCU affiliate Saint Petersburg Christian University in Russia, attended the new president orientation sessions.
"I am a president of a very small educational institution in Russia and have been greatly encouraged to meet many leaders of Christ-centered higher education," said Negrov. "It was an inspiring and encouraging learning experience for me. The CCCU conference has inspired me to think that in our institution, we must not interpret our mission narrowly to be simply one of teaching and learning, research and community engagement. We must take a broader view. We must be an engine for spiritual change and transformation. It was also clear that our challenge lies in not only envisioning the dream and creating the hope, but also in delivering on the promise."
The CCCU is a higher education association of 182 intentionally Christ-centered institutions around the world. There are now 105 member campuses in North America and all are fully-accredited, comprehensive colleges and universities with curricula rooted in the arts and sciences.
In addition, 77 affiliate campuses from 24 countries are part of the CCCU. The Council's mission is to advance the cause of Christ-centered higher education and to help its institutions transform lives by faithfully relating scholarship and service to Biblical truth.
Be the first to comment on this story