Rider joins Council of Independent Colleges, unlocking new opportunities for students and staff

By Samantha Clark

Rider joined the Council of Independent Colleges, an association of colleges and universities across the United States, on March 26 in an effort to expand its tuition opportunities. 

Founded in 1956 to help private, nonprofit academic institutions with their quality of education, visibility and performance in administration and financial departments, admittance into the CIC allows the university to continue their commitment to excellence in higher education and student success. 

Rider President John Loyack and Senior Vice President and Chief of Staff for Student Experience Mary-Alice Ozechoski are not strangers to the CIC, as all of the previous institutions they worked at were also members, supporting the idea that it is a universal assistant for private independent colleges that face shared issues. 

“There’s a ton of research that [the CIC] are doing that I think helps inform our work,” Ozechoski said. “As a small institution, we don’t have the capacity to do all of that research … so I think that component is really critically important.”

Rider’s membership in the association will provide staff, faculty members and their families with educational opportunities and benefits outside of the university through the CIC Tuition Exchange Program, a process that will launch on Aug. 1. 

The tuition exchange offers tuition-free enrollment to full-time employees, their spouses and dependents at the other 420 colleges in the council, spanning across 47 states and several countries. 

Not only does Rider’s admittance into the CIC provide benefits for university workers, but also students. With the tuition exchange program comes the introduction of new academic opportunities to Rider students through the association’s online
course-sharing agreement. 

Provost and Senior Vice President of Academic Affairs Kelly Bidle said, “The CIC offers an online course sharing consortium which provides opportunities for students to take individual courses at member institutions.”

By providing the ability to take individual courses at the institutions involved in the tuition exchange, the alliance exposes students to a broader selection of specialized courses, as the options will stretch past what Rider currently offers. 

In addition, the association provides grant programs, belonging and inclusive learning, artificial intelligence readiness groups and education networks for graduate and undergraduate students. 

The council promises support to independent universities and their students by providing access to these wide range of resources, which applies to students in any field, ranging from the arts and humanities to business and technology.

The university’s role in the council also extends their value proposition for current and prospective Rider students, which is one that promises adequate preparation for professional success, lifelong independent learning and responsible citizenship.

Ozechoski said, “We know that we teach and serve many first generation college students, so creating an environment where those students feel welcome and seen is perfectly in line with the CIC’s mission, as well as Rider’s mission.”