Institutes

Overview

We offer a number of professional development opportunities for faculty and staff on CCCU campuses, including a variety of leadership development programs, the New Faculty Institute, New Presidents Institute, Board Governance Institute, and Council for Collaboration in Doctoral Education.

Leadership Development Institutes

We have offered Leadership Development Institutes every June since 1998 with the goal of equipping and encouraging individuals identified as having potential for future senior-level administrative leadership in Christian higher education—especially women and leaders of color. Each institute includes a personalized year-long development and mentoring program for every participant. Of the nearly 500 leaders who have participated in these institutes, more than 50 have moved into cabinet-level positions, including 32 provosts and 12 presidents.

Upcoming Institute:

Previous Institutes:

  • Multi-Ethnic Leadership Development Institute (M-E LDI) | This institute offers training for emerging leaders of color from all CCCU campuses. This most recent M-E LDI was offered in June 2024. More information from the event can be found here. Information regarding the next M-E LDI gathering will be shared here when it becomes available.
  • Effectiveness in Leadership: Strengthening the Inner Life of the Executive Leader | Amid the added pressures and demands that all leaders have faced over the past two years, the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities invites women presidents and chief academic officers to focus on rest and renewal of body, mind, and spirit, and to connect with Christ and colleagues in meaningful ways. The main “agenda” of each day is to offer a time for renewal, building life-giving relationships, and providing opportunities to hear God speak through reflection, solitude, and Spirit-led guided sessions. Current issues facing today’s higher education leaders will be the focus of informal guided evening discussion sessions.
  • Advanced Leadership Institute (ALI) | This institute provides training to both women and men who have completed a previous leadership institute or who are in an advanced leadership role within their institution.
  • Women’s Advanced Leadership Institute (WALI) | This institute provides training to women who have completed a previous leadership institute or who are in an advanced leadership role within their institution.

Advancing Women in Leadership

Over the decades and across most sectors of societies worldwide, women continue to be significantly underrepresented in senior-level leadership roles. Recognizing the ongoing need to support the professional advancement of more women into leadership, the CCCU appointed a designated task force to oversee the Advancing Women in Leadership conference, which was first hosted in 2016 and is now held annually each March.

Learn More

Position Specific Institutes

  • New Faculty Institute | Held periodically, our New Faculty Institute offers new professors on our campuses the opportunity to grow as Christian teachers and scholars and to introduce them to the broader community of Christian higher education professionals.  Dates for the next NFI are being determined.
  • New Presidents Institute (NPI) | This three-day program provides an excellent orientation to newly elected presidents or those serving in interim presidential roles. The next NPI is scheduled to take place during the summer of 2024. More details will be made available as the logistics for this gathering are confirmed.
  • Board Governance Institute (BGI) | This three-day summer program provides an opportunity for CCCU presidents and their board chairs to learn together, alongside peers from a number of other institutions, about best practices in governance specifically for Christian colleges and universities. The program allows the president and board chair to learn good governance principles, understand the unique yet complimentary roles each plays in the continued health of their home campus, deepen their personal relationship so they can work together well, and develop specific ideas for follow-up when they return to their home campus. The next BGI will take place during the summer of 2024. More details will be made available as the logistics for this gathering are confirmed.