Briar Cliff University Receives Grant from the Council of Independent Colleges

(Sioux City, Iowa - October 8, 2026) Briar Cliff University has received a $19,775 Professional Development Award from the Council of Independent Colleges (CIC) through the Network for Vocation in Undergraduate Education (NetVUE) to support faculty and staff formation centered on vocation, discernment, and the University's Catholic Franciscan Mission.

The one-year grant will fund a series of professional development seminars and a common reading initiative designed to help faculty and student-facing staff incorporate vocation-centered advising and teaching into their work. Participants will explore how Briar Cliff's Franciscan heritage informs education and how those principles can help students discover lives of purpose, service, and leadership.

"Our Catholic Franciscan mission calls us to educate the whole person," said Dr. Brian Peterson, Provost and Vice President for Academic and Student Affairs at Briar Cliff University. "This award allows us to deepen our understanding of our role as educators so we can better guide students towards what they want to do after graduation and become who they are meant to be."

The initiative includes three seminars throughout the academic year, focused on discernment, the Franciscan understanding of vocation, and how vocation is expressed across academic disciplines. The learning experience will continue through faculty reading groups and existing Franciscan formation programming.

About 25 faculty and student-facing staff members are expected to participate in the project. The development through the program will be incorporated into advising, first-year experiences, and Briar Cliff's Core Values Curriculum, helping students connect their academic studies with their personal values, career aspirations, and sense of purpose.