News from NAICU

Late last year, the Student Right to Know Before You Go Act (S. 2169/H.R. 4479) was introduced by Senators Ron Wyden (D-OR), Marco Rubio (R-FL), and Mark Warner (D-VA). All three have advocated for improved student data, and the latest bill seeks to use improved technology to bypass a central federal database in order to ensure that student privacy is protected. A companion bill has been introduced in the House by Representatives Duncan Hunter (R-CA), Andre Carson (D-IN), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), and Scott Peters (D-CA).  Thomas Rooney (R-FL) is also a co-sponsor. 

David L. Warren, president of the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities, issued the following statement on the proposal:

“For the past decade, there has been a protracted debate between privacy advocates and those who support the creation of a federal student level tracking system for purposes of educational evaluation.  A solution that protects student privacy while also providing more detailed insights into certain policy questions seemed elusive, at best.  The Student Right to Know Before You Go Act has the potential to make the assessments policymakers desire, but would do so without creating a permanent federal data repository on each individual U.S. student.

“NAICU believes it is essential to protect the privacy of students and their educational records.  For over four decades, the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) has guaranteed that students retain the right to control their own educational records. Under this federal law, institutions of higher education are subject to strict privacy requirements in their role as temporary custodians of student records. Congress should not take this essential control away from students and parents.

“There are still many unanswered questions about the feasibility of the new technology and the capacity of both the Department of Education and colleges to implement the system envisioned by the Student Right to Know Before You Go Act. But Senators Wyden, Rubio and Warner, along with Representatives Hunter, Carson, Fitzpatrick, Peters and Rooney, should be applauded for looking for an alternative that prioritizes student privacy. NAICU supports further exploration regarding the cost, effectiveness and feasibility of this new approach, and believes it has the potential to solve the privacy issues that have been central to our concerns with previous proposals.” 

David L. Warren, Ph.D.
President
National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities

WASHINGTON, DC  – John B. Wilson, president and CEO of the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities of New Jersey, is the recipient of the 32nd Annual Henry Paley Memorial Award presented during the 2018 Annual Meeting of the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities (NAICU).
 

John B. Wilson, president and CEO of the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities in New Jersey, accepts the Henry Paley Memorial Award from NAICU President David L. Warren, Ph.D., North Carolina Independent Colleges and Universities President A. Hope Williams, and NAICU Director of Outreach and State Relations Robert “Bo” Newsome.

Named for the late Henry Paley, president of the Commission on Independent Colleges and Universities of New York from 1975 until 1984, the Paley Award recognizes an individual who embodies his spirit of unfailing service toward the students and faculty of independent higher education.  The recipients of this award have set an example for all who would seek to advance educational opportunity in the United States.

Wilson has had a long and distinguished career working and advocating for New Jersey's private, nonprofit colleges and universities.  A native of Jersey City, he served as director of athletics and vice president of development at Saint Peter’s University (NJ) for 16 years, and assistant vice president of Seton Hall University (NJ) for five years, directing campaigns that collectively added more than $35 million to the infrastructure of both campuses. He also is one of the founders of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference.

In 1990, he moved to the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities of New Jersey (AICUNJ) and the Independent College Fund of New Jersey (ICFNJ).

Wilson quickly became an active member in NAICU and a tireless advocate for independent education. He became a familiar face in Washington, D.C., communicating the value of the private college sector and advocating for federal support to help fund institutions and students. He has regularly led presidential visits to Capitol Hill, working to bring the private college message to the influential New Jersey delegation.

Wilson has served as a member of NAICU’s Legal Services Review Panel (LSRP) for a quarter of a century, including the past three years as chairman. The LSRP evaluates legal issues affecting independent colleges and universities, and advises members on the implications of precedent-setting litigation. Wilson has played an instrumental role in guiding NAICU’s response to legal issues concerning free speech on campus, diversity in admissions, Title IX and athletics, campus security, taxation of college property, and the general challenges of intrusive and excessive regulation. The Legal Services Review Panel was presented the Paley Award in 2014.

He also is past chair of the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities State Executives and the Policy Analysis and Public Relations Committee (PAPR), the first state executive to chair one of NAICU’s standing committees. During his tenure on the PAPR committee, NAICU identified the six key characteristics of private colleges used in its communications: Diverse, Affordable, Personal, Involved, Flexible and Successful.

Wilson was the presiding officer of The Foundation for Independent Higher Education during its 2010 merger into the Council for Independent Colleges. Recently, he was tapped to serve as the interim board chair for the Coalition for College Cost Savings. Since joining the Coalition in 2011, Wilson has served in various capacities, including vice-chair of the board.

As president of AICUNJ and the ICFNJ, Wilson has worked tirelessly to raise funds that support scholarships and academic programs at New Jersey’s independent colleges and universities. During his 27-year tenure, the organization has distributed more than $46 million to advance the futures of students through scholarships and institutional support for the operating budgets of its members. Last year alone, ICFNJ awarded $409,900 in scholarships to 129 deserving students.

New Jersey’s 14 independent colleges and universities play a vital role in the state, with an economic impact of more than $3.5 billion annually, employing more than 18,000 people, enrolling 65,000 students, and awarding nearly 14,000 degrees each year.

In New Jersey, Wilson has worked to sustain the state’s support for private colleges which includes funds for direct operating expenses, financial aid, and capital expenditures. He has worked on the passage of six higher education bond issues, including the $750 million Building Our Future Bond Act of 2013 which provided $52.5 million in state construction bonds for private institutions.

Wilson has dedicated his career to advancing the New Jersey business community by helping to provide the skilled workforce that is central to economic growth. With STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) fields projected to continue to drive New Jersey’s economic growth for the next decade or more, employers are increasingly turning to the state’s independent colleges and universities for highly-educated graduates. To foster STEM education, ICFNJ sponsors the annual Undergraduate Research Symposium at Liberty Science Center, showcasing semester-long undergraduate research projects funded through ICFNJ. Wilson’s expertise ensures that these opportunities—which are so vital to the state’s economy—are available to talented students.

Building stronger New Jersey communities also is important to him. Wilson chairs the board at Liberty Savings Federal Credit Union and is immediate past chair of the New Jersey Alliance for Action, which represents 2,500 top corporate, labor, professional, academic and government representatives working to improve the state’s economy through the promotion of capital construction and infrastructure investment. He also is active with the Newark Rotary Club, and is slated to serve as Rotary District Governor in 2018. In addition, Wilson is a member of the capital campaign committee at Marist High School, a board member at Christ the King Preparatory School in Newark, NJ, and has served as secretary of the Sales Executives Foundation, supporting the M.B.A. program at Rutgers School of Business.

A longtime volunteer with the Boy Scouts of America, he was honored with the Patriot’s Path Council Lifetime Achievement Award. Other accolades include the Saint Peter’s University Distinguished Alumni Award, the Foundation for Independent Higher Education Outstanding Service Award, and the New Jersey Alliance for Action Richard Hale Chairman’s Award. For his 25th anniversary with ICFNJ in 2016, the fund created the John B. and Joyce Wilson Silver Anniversary Scholarship to recognize the outstanding accomplishments in higher education of Wilson, and the support of his wife, Joyce.

Wilson graduated from Marist High School in Bayonne, NJ, and attended the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, before earning an undergraduate degree from Saint Peter’s University (NJ), an MBA from Rutgers University, and a law degree from Seton Hall University (NJ).


Henry Paley Memorial Award Recipients
2018    John B. Wilson, Association of Independent Colleges and Universities of New Jersey and the             
               Independent College Fund in New Jersey
2017    William E. “Bill” Troutt, Rhodes College (TN)
2016    John Bassett, Heritage University (WA), Clark University (MA)
2015    Christopher B. Nelson, St. John’s College (MD)
2014    NAICU Legal Services Review Panel
2013    Bernard Fryshman, Association of Advanced Rabbinical and Talmudic Schools
2012    Patricia A. McGuire, Trinity Washington University (DC)
2011    The Rev. Charles L. Currie, S.J., Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities
2010    Sister Kathleen Ross, SNJM, Heritage University (WA)
2009    Morgan Odell, Association of Independent California Colleges and Universities
2008    The Rev. Theodore M. Hesburgh, C.S.C., University of Notre Dame (IN)
2007    Alexander W. (Sandy) Astin, Higher Education Research Institute, University of California
2006    Clare Cotton, The Association of Independent Colleges and Universities of Massachusetts
2005    Robert N. Kelly, Kansas Independent College Association
2004    Michael S. McPherson, Spencer Foundation, Macalester College (MN)
2003    James C. Ross, Commission on Independent Colleges and Universities of New York
2002    Allen P. Splete, Council of Independent Colleges
2001    (Special NAICU 25th Anniversary Meeting recognizing all previous recipients – no new award given)
2000    Sr. Mary Andrew Matesich, Ohio Dominican College
1999    David Irwin, Washington Association of Independent Colleges and Universities
1998    Rev. William J. Sullivan, Seattle University (WA)
1997    James Whalen, Ithaca College (NY)
1996    John Frazer, Association of Independent Kentucky Colleges and Universities
1995    Richard F. Rosser, National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities
1994    Sr. Dorothy Ann Kelly, College of New Rochelle (NY)
1993    Derek Bok, Harvard University
1992    (Special Summit Meeting – no award was given)
1991    Francis "Mike" Michelini, Association of Independent Colleges and Universities of Pennsylvania
1990    The Honorable Silvio Conte, U.S. House of Representatives
1989    The Honorable Thomas H. Kean, Governor, New Jersey
1988    The Honorable William H. Natcher, U.S. House of Representatives
1987    Frank "Sandy" Tredinnick, Association of Independent Colleges and Universities in Massachusetts
1986    James Ream, Pennsylvania Association of Colleges and Universities
1985    Rev. Timothy S. Healy, Georgetown University (DC)

Pepperdine University (CA) President and CEO Andrew K. Benton, J.D., has been elected to a 19-month term as chair of the Board of Directors of the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities (NAICU).  Jo Allen, president of Meredith College (NC), has been elected vice chair.

Benton, who was NAICU board vice chair, replaces Christopher B. Nelson, president of St. John’s College (MD), who retired in June.  The NAICU Board voted on the transition during their regular spring meeting.  Benton will complete the seven months remaining in Nelson’s one-year term before starting his own one-year term.
 
NAICU Board members set the association’s agenda on federal higher education policy; actively encourage support of association priorities and initiatives; and oversee the organization’s financial administration.
 
“NAICU is most fortunate that Pepperdine University President Andrew Benton has been elected as the next chair of our board of directors,” said NAICU President David L. Warren, Ph.D.  “Andy brings 17 years of presidential leadership experience to the NAICU Board chairmanship, including a term as chair of our Accountability Committee.  His knowledge of private higher education is unparalleled, and will be of great assistance to the Association.  As new opportunities and challenges arise over the next 18 months, the Association will be well positioned for success with our new leadership team.”
 
“This seems to be an especially important time for all institutions of higher learning to work closely together and, perhaps, especially those in the independent sector,” said Benton.  “Our work is noble, aimed at the very future of this nation.  I am grateful for this opportunity to serve and I simply cannot imagine finer colleagues with whom to do so.”
 
Andrew K. Benton 
Benton has served Pepperdine University for more than 30 years. His Pepperdine career started in 1984 when he joined the Malibu, California-based university to oversee land-use opportunities. Benton went on to work as the chief of staff for his friend and the university’s sixth president David Davenport. In 1991, he was appointed executive vice president and chief operational officer of the university.
 
In 2000, the Pepperdine Board of Regents named Benton the university’s seventh President and Chief Executive Officer. The University is rated in the top tier of "best national universities" as reported by U.S. News & World Report, was named one of the trendiest colleges in the country by the Huffington Post, and was cited by Princeton Review as the nation's "most beautiful campus."
 
Benton teaches classes at the university on a regular basis and is highly engaged with student life on campus. His rock-and-roll band, The Mesa Peak Band, has played at numerous events on the campus, including an annual concert held at the end of the school’s New Student Orientation week in Benton’s backyard, which functions as an informal first introduction for new students to Pepperdine’s easygoing president.
 
A native of Lawrence, KS, Benton earned a J.D. from Oklahoma City University’s School of Law and a B.S. in American Studies from Oklahoma Christian University. For 10 years he worked with Oklahoma Christian prior to his move to Pepperdine University.  In addition to his work at Pepperdine, he is a member of numerous associations, including the American Council on Education, the Association of Independent California Colleges and Universities, the Association of Presidents of Independent Colleges and Universities and the American Bar Association. He has written numerous essays concerning the state of higher education in the United States that have appeared in the Huffington Post and elsewhere.
 
Jo Allen 
Jo Allen, Ph.D., took office as the eighth president of Meredith College (NC) on July 1, 2011. She is the first Meredith College alumna to assume leadership of the 126-year-old institution, one of the largest private colleges for women in the United States.
 
Since taking office, Allen has guided Meredith to an enviable position of strength and vitality following the comprehensive strategic plan, Meredith Forever. In the five years since the rolling plan was put in place, Meredith has exceeded enrollment and retention goals; raised more than $66 million in the silent phase of its largest fundraising campaign ever; and established StrongPoints®, the College’s signature coaching and personal advising program.
 
Prior to her return to Meredith, Allen served as senior vice president, provost and professor of English at Widener University (PA).  She also served as tenured associate professor of English at East Carolina University and tenured associate professor at North Carolina State University. In addition to her duties as a faculty member, Allen served in a number of leadership positions at the universities where she taught, including special assistant to the dean and vice chancellor, as assistant dean and interim vice provost.  A North Carolina native, Allen earned a Master’s degree from East Carolina University and a doctorate from Oklahoma State University in English literature, with an emphasis in Technical and Professional Communication. Her B.A. from Meredith was also in English.
 
Allen has made numerous contributions to the advancement of higher education. She has been the featured speaker and facilitator at numerous professional development programs and served as president of the Association of Teachers of Technical Writing, the largest international scholarly organization for technical and professional communication scholars. She currently serves on the board of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) Commission on Colleges, and previously served as a commissioner for the Middle States Commission on Higher Education and a site reviewer for the American Bar Association.
 
Allen has published and presented in more than 200 regional, national, and international scholarly venues, focusing on communication, assessment, and leadership in higher education. Books written or edited by Allen include Writing in the Workplace and Assessment in Technical and Professional Communication, which won both the Council of Program’s in Technical and Scientific Communication’s 2010 award for best contribution to the work of program assessment  and a national award from the College Composition and Communications Conference.  Allen also has been a reviewer for scholarly journals and has co-edited several special journal issues of Technical Communication Quarterly.
 
In addition to NAICU, she currently serves on the Executive Board of the North Carolina Campus Compact and is the Treasurer of the North Carolina Independent Colleges and Universities (NCICU).
 
 
NAICU serves as the unified national voice of private nonprofit higher education. With more than 1,000 member institutions and associations nationwide, NAICU reflects the diversity of independent higher education in the United States. Since 1976, the association has represented private nonprofit colleges and universities on policy issues with the federal government, such as those affecting student aid, taxation, and government regulation. Our member institutions include major research universities, church-related colleges, historically black colleges, art and design colleges, traditional liberal arts and science institutions, women’s colleges, two-year colleges, and schools of law, medicine, engineering, business, and other professions.
 

Andrew K. Benton, president and CEO of Pepperdine University (CA),  will offer testimony on proposals for improving transparency in higher education before the House Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Development on May 24, 2017 at 10:30 a.m.
 
The hearing, Empowering Students and Families to Make Informed Decisions on Higher Education, is billed as offering Members of Congress the opportunity to discuss improving transparency in higher education, as well as ensuring federal student aid programs are effective and student privacy is protected. The hearing is part of an ongoing effort to strengthen federal higher education policies to better serve students, families, and taxpayers.
 
In addition to leading Pepperdine, Benton also serves as the vice chair of the NAICU Board of Directors.
 
Also testifying at the hearing are:  Mark Schneider of the American Institutes for Research, Jason Delisle of the American Enterprise Institute, and Mamie Voight of the Insititute for Higher Education Policy.
 
The hearing is expected to be broadcast via a live webcast available through the Committee’s website.

 

May 23, 2017 -- Today the Trump Administration sent to Congress its FY2018 budget proposal, slashing $3.6 trillion in federal spending for entitlement and domestic discretionary programs, including $150 billion in federal student aid over 10 years.  David L. Warren, president of the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities, issued the following statement on the budget proposal:
 
“The Trump Administration’s budget proposal announced today is an unprecedented raid on the federal student aid programs, shredding highly effective programs used by low- and middle-income students seeking to realize their share of the American dream through earning a college education. Reducing access to college for the next generation is both shortsighted and foolish.”
 
“Cuts to the federal student loan programs, both at inception as well as repayment, will drive up the cost of college for the very students who struggle today. Gutting the Federal-Work Study program, which rewards hard working students who seek employment opportunities while in school, removes a key source of income necessary to make ends meet for many students. Cutting the Perkins Loan and SEOG programs is
penny-wise and pound foolish, since both programs require colleges to have “skin in the game” by matching federal funding with institutional funds.”
 
“For more than 50 years, the federal government has partnered with students and their families to meet the costs of earning a college degree. This partnership has paid dividends over and over to the nation in the form of innovation, research breakthroughs, and economic growth.  These investments have been critical to producing the quality of life Americans enjoy today. “
 
“We as a nation must continue to invest in our young people to ensure the nation remains a global economic leader. Investments in our human capital are critical to our future success.  I call on Congress to reject the President’s budget to ensure student aid funding flows to students and empowering them to choose to attend the college that best fits their needs.”
 
David L. Warren, Ph.D.
President
National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities
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