Bill Rice Accepts Senior Position at the National Endowment for the Humanities
After successfully navigating the move to Chicago, Shimer’s 12th President, William Craig Rice, has decided to leave the College in September to fill a senior position at the National Endowment for the Humanities in Washington, DC. In a letter to Shimer faculty and trustees, Rice stated that “Leaving this wonderful institution has been a difficult decision,” and that he has taken “great pride and pleasure in serving Shimer, especially in instigating its historic move to Chicago.”

Shimer is currently in negotiations with an interim President who will serve until the new President is selected by the Board and Assembly of the College.

For further information, please contact John Meech at 312-235-3540



Colorado Teaching Fellows Program off to a Promising Start On Saturday, August 25, Shimer began its new Teaching Fellows Program at Truscott Elementary School in Loveland, CO. The program, with 15 Loveland-area elementary teachers already enrolled, will assist teachers in gaining the depth and breadth needed to educate students using the Core Knowledge Sequence, a content-rich curriculum based on the idea that a core of common learning is crucial for a sound elementary education. Class meets every third Saturday, for a total of seven intensive 3-hour sessions per semester.

Dr. Jim Donovan, Director of Shimer’s graduate school and the facilitator for the current session on general science, says that the feedback from teachers indicates that “they are getting--and really ‘getting’--the science background they have felt lacking. They've been both surprised and pleased that a science class could make sense, because their past experience has been of a boring lecturer listing facts and dogmas that are confusing, unconnected, and lacking relevance. Now, with a chance to ask questions and discuss the topics, they feel that it's sinking in and they're seeing the significance of the topics.”

Barb Bogart, Shimer’s Teaching Fellows Program Administrator, says that the Loveland-area teachers initially approached Shimer about the program, which made the difference in the decision to launch the program in Loveland, CO.

One teacher who attended Dr. Donovan’s first weekend class summed it up in one word: “Awesome.”

Know a Colorado elementary school teacher who could benefit from this program? Contact the Teaching Fellows Program Administrator Barbara Bogart at b.bogart@shimer.edu.



New Viewbook Offers a Window into Shimer More than 1500 prospective students from around the world have already written to Shimer for information packets for the 2008-2009 academic year. With such growing numbers of inquiries we needed to be certain we convey to these students what Shimer really is.

A year ago we asked Stein Communications, a professional design firm, to create fresh new admission materials. Designers from Stein spent several days onsite, interviewing Shimer students, faculty, and staff. Stein representatives then worked with the Shimer Admission staff to design and re-design admission materials that would give prospective students a compelling sense of what Shimer can offer.

Our hard work paid off. You’ll see the cover of the new viewbook to the right; clicking on it will allow you to download the entire viewbook. Check it out -- we think you’ll be impressed.

We’re proud of these materials, and we want to get them into the right hands. The majority of current Shimer students heard about the schools through word of mouth, from alums and others associated with the College. If you know a high-school student who is starting to think about what s/he wants in a college education, please send the prospective student’s mailing address to Elaine Vincent, Director of Admission, so she may send a viewbook to them. If you'd like to receive one yourself, send Elaine your name and mailing address. We only ask that after reading it, you put it in the hands of a prospective Shimer student.



Webmasters: Link to Shimer! Are you a webmaster, business owner, blogger, or web editor? If so, help expand Shimer awareness by linking to our website, www.shimer.edu.

Please feel free to use the logo below, or contact our website administrator, Zachary Hamm, at z.hamm@shimer.eduto receive the URL and logo.


Your continued support and dedication to Shimer College make a huge difference.