Al Akhawayn University's President has been nominated to the Board of Directors of the American Council of Independent Colleges (CIC). This is the premier organization worldwide that advances excellence in universities focused - beyond skills - on the success and fulfillment of the student as a human, on ways to think, to develop, and to be an active citizen and participant in the development and betterment of one's society.
CIC was founded in 1956; its members are nonprofit independent colleges and universities. The mission of the CIC is threefold:
- support college and university leadership;
- advance institutional excellence; and
- enhance public understanding of the contributions of this type of higher education to society. (CIC website)
On this occasion, Al Akhawayn's President, Amine Bensaid, said: "indeed, it is as much a confirmation of Al Akhawayn's predilection and accomplishments as it is a matter of great pride for me to serve on the Board of the leading US organization devoted to advancing universities that, like Al Akhawayn, have a distinctively holistic approach to higher education. We seek to really make a difference through our vocation to inspire and empower our students for individual transformation, and to strive for impact."
CIC offers support, training resources, and programs to over 600 independent colleges to improve their educational effectiveness. Some of the programs CIC offers in order to help in this regard include an annual "Presidents Institute," devoted to best practices in university leadership and ways to tackle the latest challenges our universities are facing; the "Senior Leadership Academy," which seeks to prepare senior leadership for universities; the "CIC Online Sharing Consortium," where faculty members of different institutions can share online courses; "Humanities Research for the Public Good," which supports student research on social issues done in collaboration with community-based organizations; and "Deliberation & Debate: Advancing Civil Discourse through Courses for First-Year Students," which are workshops for faculty members to help them learn how to encourage discussion and debate for their first-year students.
In addition, CIC also funds leadership development courses, such as the Presidents Governance Academy, Institute for Chief Academic Officers, Workshops for Department and Division Chairs, and the Presidential Vocation and Institutional Mission Program. It offers grants and scholarships, such as Program Development Grants; State Council Grant Programs, such as Scholarship Challenge Grants, First Opportunity Partners Grants, and National Venture Fund Grants; and the CIC/SAGE Scholarships Program. Further, CIC funds programs that offer leadership development, internationalization and exchanges, among other efforts, through partners such as the American Academic Leadership Institute, the Mexican Federation of Private Institutions of Higher Education (FIMPES), and the New York Times.