IUPUI hosting minority conference

CIC program enlarging pool of candidates for faculty positions

By Trisha Turner

More than 100 representatives of one of the nation's most prestigious fellowship programs are visiting the IUPUI campus this weekend (Oct. 23 25) for a 20th anniversary celebration.

The Committee on Institutional Cooperation (CIC) Predoctoral Fellowship Program will mark two decades of serving students during "Honoring the Past, Striving toward the Vision: 1978-1998," a conference uniting current and past CIC fellows, at the University Place Conference Center and Hotel. IUPUI Chancellor Gerald L. Bepko and George Walker, IU vice president for research and dean of the University Graduate School (RUGS) at IU, are among speakers. Research presentations and a "town hall" discussion of minority faculty in academe also are scheduled.

For two decades, the CIC has sponsored a fellowship program to enhance the opportunities of employment in academe for outstanding minority candidates.

Based in Champaign, Ill., the CIC is an academic consortium of Big Ten universities, plus the University of Chicago. IUPUI is involved in the organization's minority access panel, which is coordinating the three-day event.

The fellowship program began as an effort to enlarge the number of minority candidates with doctoral degrees competing for university faculty positions. Outstanding minority students are selected for the honor and receive opportunities to attend conferences and network with others in the academic community. Fellowships provide a stipend and tuition payment.

In the history of the program, 216 CIC predoctoral fellows have earned their doctoral degrees. Another 365 currently are CIC fellows.

Sheila Cooper, IUPUI graduate office director and associate dean of the IU Graduate School, said IUPUI's involvement in the CIC minority access panel was a factor in the decision to conduct the milestone event on the IUPUI campus, as was the fact that both IU and Purdue are CIC members. Additionally, the Lilly Endowment Inc., a major contributor to the Predoctoral Fellowship Program, is based in Indianapolis.