News Announcement
For further information please contact
Cheryl L. Kight - Vice President, Marketing

Columbus, July 2007

AT&T AND THE TIMKEN FOUNDATION OF CANTON FUND MINORITY RETENTION PROJECTS AT SEVEN INDEPENDENT COLLEGES

Through funding from AT&T and the Timken Foundation of Canton, The Ohio Foundation of Independent Colleges (OFIC) has awarded grants to seven of its member colleges and universities to implement projects in 2007-2008 aimed at retention of minority students.    

Through competitive proposal submission, Baldwin-Wallace College, Kenyon College, Lourdes College, Malone College, Marietta College, Mount Vernon Nazarene University, and a collaboration involving Denison University, Kenyon College, Otterbein College, Capital University, Ohio Dominican University and Ohio Wesleyan University have received grants totaling nearly $79,000 for their proposed projects.   Recipients were required to establish campus-based programs to create a supportive atmosphere for minority students, faculty and staff and encourage, monitor and improve the academic success of minority students.

Begun as pilot programs, several retention projects implemented previously through OFIC’s diversity initiative were so successful that they have been incorporated into regular campus curricula and budgets.   The average persistence rate for program participants in 2006-2007 was nearly 95% versus 87% for the total undergraduate student body.  More than 1,500 individuals (students, faculty, staff and administrators) were directly affected by these projects.   

Both AT&T and the Timken Foundation of Canton have partnered with OFIC for many years in its mission to provide access to higher education for Ohio’s students, providing funding to support scholarships, diversity programs and faculty development. 

OFIC, a non-profit 501 (c) (3) organization, is the primary corporate and foundation solicitation organization for 35 Ohio independent colleges and universities. OFIC member colleges collectively enroll nearly 97,000 students.  For 57 years The Foundation has worked to highlight the leadership, value and excellence of independent higher education.  Through contributions raised in annual solicitations of businesses and foundations OFIC has provided unrestricted operating funds and scholarship assistance, thereby assuring continuation of excellence in independent higher education.  OFIC is governed by a Board of Trustees comprised of Ohio’s corporate leaders, as well as presidents of the 35 member colleges.

The member colleges are:  Antioch College, Ashland University, Baldwin-Wallace College, Bluffton University, Capital University, Cedarville University, University of Dayton, Defiance College, Denison University, The University of Findlay, Franciscan University of Steubenville, Franklin University, Heidelberg College, Hiram College, John Carroll University, Kenyon College, Lake Erie College, Lourdes College, Malone College, Marietta College, Mount Union College, Mount Vernon Nazarene University, Muskingum College, Notre Dame College, Oberlin College, Ohio Dominican University, Ohio Northern University, Ohio Wesleyan University, Otterbein College, Urbana University, Ursuline College, Walsh University, Wilmington College, Wittenberg University and The College of Wooster.