Bedford Selected for National Leadership Development Program

Bryn Athyn, Pa – Bryn Athyn College is pleased to announce that Chief Academic Officer and Dean of Academics, Allen Bedford, Ph.D., is one of 24 senior-level administrators in higher education nationwide selected by the Council of Independent Colleges (CIC) to participate in the 2017–2018 Executive Leadership Academy.

Individuals chosen for the yearlong program are vice presidents or cabinet officers in higher education who aspire to the presidency of an independent college or university. Bedford will participate in two seminars in Washington, DC; the opening seminar will take place July 20–22, 2017, and the closing seminar will be held June 18–20, 2018. He also will engage in readings, webinars, and a mentoring program. In addition, he will develop and follow an experiential learning plan focused on specific areas of presidential responsibility.

The Academy is designed to prepare provosts and other vice presidents to serve as effective college presidents. “Competition for the available places in the program was intense,” said CIC President Richard Ekman. “The review committee found the nomination materials to be most impressive. They (and I) believe that Bedford has the potential for highly effective leadership as a college or university president.”

Bedford earned a doctoral degree in chemistry from Temple University in 1997, after completing his master’s work there two years prior. He earned a Bachelor of Arts from Bryn Athyn College in 1989, and has worked for the institution as a faculty member and administrator for 27 years.

“Allen has done an outstanding job in building our academic programs as well as diligently managing academic quality at all levels. He has demonstrated great skill in learning and applying accreditation practices, education certifications, and federal/state compliance mandates/reporting requirements. He has become an invaluable leader and an individual that I highly depend on,” said Brian Blair, president of Bryn Athyn College.

Fifty-nine percent of participants in the first Executive Leadership Academy cohort (2009–2010) have since advanced in the higher education ranks, and 24 percent of participants in a recent cohort (2015–2016) have already “moved up” in the ranks. “These indicators suggest that CIC is helping to meet the leadership needs of higher education by offering highly effective leadership development programs for modest fees to member institutions,” Ekman said.

The Academy is co-sponsored by CIC, the American Academic Leadership Institute (AALI), Academic Search, Inc., and the American Association of State Colleges and Universities. Linda M. Bleicken, president of AALI, will direct the program.

For more information about the Executive Leadership Academy, visit www.cic.edu/ExecutiveLeadershipAcademy.

CIC EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP ACADEMY PARTICIPANTS, 2017–2018

Allen Bedford, Bryn Athyn College (PA)

Eric Bolger, College of the Ozarks (MO)

Bryan Coker, Goucher College (MD)

John Dolan, Simmons College (MA)

Julie Edstrom, University of Great Falls (MT)

Kerry Fulcher, Point Loma Nazarene University (CA)

Matthew Giordano, Villa Maria College (NY)

Carl Girelli, Randolph College (VA)

Anna Gonzalez, Lewis & Clark College (OR)

Larry Guerrero, University of the Southwest (NM)

Patricia Hammer, Hollins University (VA)

Calvin Hill, Springfield College (MA)

Wayne Knox, Huston-Tillotson University (TX)

Sarah Kottich, College of Saint Mary (NE)

Gerald Longjohn, Cornerstone University (MI)

Douglas Palmer, Walsh University (OH)

William Pieczynski, Nichols College (MA)

John Pyle, Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota (MN)

Hannelore Rodriguez-Farrar, Dominican University of California (CA)

Thomas Sanders, East Texas Baptist University (TX)

William Sheehan, Culver-Stockton College (MO)

Scott Sheffield, Brevard College (NC)

Charles Smith, Wiley College (TX)

Tarek Sobh, University of Bridgeport (CT)

* * *

Founded in 1877, Bryn Athyn College is a small, private, coeducational, liberal arts college dedicated to a New Church approach to education. The curriculum pairs rigorous academics with spiritual inquiry, and emphasizes critical thinking, quantitative reasoning, public presentation, and experiential education. Located on a beautiful 130-acre campus just 15 miles north of Philadelphia, Bryn Athyn College offers NCAA division III athletics and is home to a diverse, coeducational student body.

The Council of Independent Colleges (CIC) is an association of 768 nonprofit independent colleges and universities and higher education affiliates and organizations that has worked since 1956 to support college and university leadership, advance institutional excellence, and enhance public understanding of private higher education’s contributions to society. CIC is the major national organization that focuses on providing services to leaders of independent colleges and universities as well as conferences, seminars, and other programs that help institutions to improve educational quality, administrative and financial performance, and institutional visibility. CIC conducts the largest annual conferences of college and university presidents and of chief academic officers. CIC also provides support to state associations that organize programs and generate contributions for their member colleges and universities. The Council is headquartered at One Dupont Circle in Washington, DC.

Headquartered in Washington, DC, the American Academic Leadership Institute (AALI) is committed to the broad development and support of leadership in higher education by creating and implementing programs and other forms of assistance that enable academic leaders in various administrative positions to be successful in their roles and to advance to higher positions of responsibility. AALI prepares leaders for private and public higher education through programs operated in partnership with CIC and AASCU. The Becoming a Provost Academy, with AASCU, and the Senior Leadership Academy, with CIC, prepare mid-level administrators for vice presidencies. The Executive Leadership Academy, conducted with both AASCU and CIC, prepares vice presidents for presidencies. AALI is supported by Academic Search, Inc.

Academic Search, Inc. is an executive search firm dedicated to serving higher education institutions and related organizations and is the only search firm in the nation with a formal relationship to a premier leadership development program. Based in Washington, DC, it is the wholly owned subsidiary of the American Academic Leadership Institute (AALI). This relationship strengthens the ongoing commitment by Academic Search to leadership development as well as the identification of outstanding candidates for positions. Academic Search provides substantial financial support to CIC’s signature leadership programs, including the Executive Leadership Academy and Senior Leadership Academy, through grants by AALI.