Abbreviation | LVAIC |
---|---|
Formation | 1969 |
Type | Nonprofit |
501(c)(3) | |
Legal status | Tax-exempt nonprofit |
Purpose | Facilitate standardization and collaboration between colleges and universities in the Lehigh Valley |
Headquarters | 116 Research Drive |
Location | |
Region served | Lehigh Valley |
Fields | Education |
Membership | 6 (in 2024) |
Chairman | Father James Greenfield |
Chairwoman-elect Dr. Kathleen E. Harring Treasurer Mark F. Reed Assistant Treasurer Audra J. Kahr Secretary Diane R. Dimitroff Dr. Elizabeth M. Meade Dr. Nicole Hurd Dr Joseph J. Helble Dr. Bryon L. Grigsby Janet L. Baker | |
Main organ | Audit Committee |
Affiliations | Pennsylvania Association of Nonprofit Organizations |
Revenue | $892,749 (in 2023) |
Expenses | $1,011,447 (in 2023) |
Funding | Contributions, Program Services |
Website | lvaic |
The Lehigh Valley Association of Independent Colleges (LVAIC) is an academic consortium between 6 independent Colleges in the Lehigh Valley: Lehigh University, Lafayette College, Cedar Crest College, Moravian University, DeSales University, and Muhlenberg College.
The LVAIC was founded in 1969 following a meeting of the six presidents of its member institutions. [1] [2]
Moravian promotes the LVAIC and its programs, mostly due to the school's close collaboration with Lehigh through the program. [3] Due to the similarity of the school's schedules, and their close proximity, LVAIC allows many Moravian students to take classes at Lehigh that would otherwise be unavailable at Moravian. [3]
In 1984 the LVAIC created the Lehigh Valley Center for Jewish Studies to create a central Jewish studies institution to develop and administer courses across LVAIC member schools. [4]
In 2011 the LVAIC offered joint study abroad programs, sending students from various member schools to Italy as part of an Italian language class. [5]
In 2012 the LVAIC partnered with Lehigh university with a $275,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce to support entrepreneurship in the Lehigh Valley. [6]
In 2016 the LVAIC website would be totally redesigned by the Allentown based KDG group to better represent the LVAIC online, and make the website easier to use for students. [7]
In 2017 the LVAIC partnered with the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to hold an art competition where students from the 6 member colleges could compete in an art consortium to "explore life" in the Lehigh Valley with a prize of $950,000. [8] Lafayette would win the grant which would be used to build their William C. Buck Hall. [9]
In 2019 the LVAIC announced a minor in documentary story as a joint program between Lehigh Lafayette and Muhlenberg which would be cross listed with studies in American history, alongside German Chinese and English to promote a cross-disciplinary program. [10] [11] [12] Additionally, the LVAIC announced a partnership with LANta to allow Lehigh and Lafayette students use their buses for free. [13]
In 2020, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the LVAIC received criticism due to none of its member schools freezing tuition which became a standard practice for other schools in the northeast with some of the schools even increasing tuition instead. [14]
In June 2024 the LVAIC announced that they would be naming Janet Baker, the executive director of Institutional Effectiveness at Cedar Crest College, as their new executive director. [15]
The core function of the LVAIC is to enable students from its member colleges to attend a course offered at another member college that isn't offered at their own. [2] For example, Muhlenberg offers Italian language courses, but Moravian does not. A Moravian student can register with the LVAIC and take Muhlenberg’s Italian class while still being a full-time Moravian student. [2] The LVAIC handles the registration and transfer of credits for no additional cost for the student, besides the cost of textbooks and supplies. [2]
Each member college's president is a member of the LVAIC's board which promotes the colleges interacting and sharing resources with each other. [2]
The LVAIC hosts the annual Bridging the Gap Student Leadership Conference which is supported by a Coalition of Diversity Administrators from the member schools. [16] The Conference started life as an effort by the LVAIC to reduce The Rivalry tensions between students of color. [16]
The LVAIC also organizes the subsidiary the Lehigh Valley Research Consortium (LVRC) which runs inter-collegiate research programs. [17] The LVRC publishes a yearly State of the Lehigh Valley which studies the economic and cultural health of the valley. [18]
In 2009 the LVRC financed a study that highlight the increasing number of Hispanic students in the Lehigh Valley's primary and high-schools noting 22 percent of students enrolled in the Lehigh Valley were classified as Hispanic, compared to a statewide rate of 7 percent. [19]
In 2013 the LVRC filed a report that the Lehigh Valley was especially lagging in post great recession rebuilding and job growth noting a serious decline in individuals from the Valley seeking a higher education. [18]
In 2014 the LVRC filed a report that the Lehigh Valley had a higher proportion of STEM jobs, at 19% compared to the northeast's 16%, of the total workforce, and that many of these STEM jobs do not need a college degree. [20]
In 2019 the LVRC named Christine Carpino, an assistant professor of history, literature, and languages at Cedar Crest College as its director. [21]
In 2022 the LVRC worked with Lafayette College and Moravian University to research elder care solutions to develop strategies for a local retirement community. [17]
Institution | Location | Founded | Undergraduate enrollment | Endowment | Colors |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Lehigh University | Bethlehem | 1865 | 5,911 | $2.20 billion | |
Lafayette College | Easton | 1826 | 2,729 | $1.063 billion | |
Cedar Crest College | Allentown | 1867 | 953 | $41.5 million | |
Moravian University | Bethlehem | 1863 [a] | 2,075 | $177 million | |
DeSales University | Upper Saucon Township | 1964 | 2,398 | $102.9 million | |
Muhlenberg College | Allentown | 1848 | 2,225 | $308 million |
In addition to the 6 full time member institutions, a number of colleges are also associated with the LVAIC and some of its programs, including: [23] [b]
Lehigh University (LU) is a private research university in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, United States. The university was established in 1865 by businessman Asa Packer. Lehigh University's undergraduate programs have been coeducational since the 1971–72 academic year. As of 2022, the university had 5,911 undergraduate students and 1,781 graduate students.
Northampton County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 312,951. Its county seat is Easton. The county was formed in 1752 from parts of Bucks County. Its namesake was the county of Northamptonshire in England, and the county seat of Easton was named for Easton Neston, a country house in Northamptonshire.
Allentown is the county seat of Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is the third-most populous city in Pennsylvania with a population of 125,845 as of the 2020 census and the most populous city in the Lehigh Valley metropolitan area, which had a population of 861,899 and was the 68th-most populous metropolitan area in the nation as of 2020.
Emmaus is a borough in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, United States. As of the 2020 U.S. census, it had a population of 11,652. Emmaus is located in the Lehigh Valley, the third-largest metropolitan area in Pennsylvania and 68th-largest metropolitan area in the nation.
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Bethlehem is a city in Northampton and Lehigh Counties in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania, United States. As of the 2020 census, Bethlehem had a total population of 75,781, making it the second-largest city in the Lehigh Valley after Allentown and the seventh-largest city in the state. Among its total population as of 2020, 55,639 were in Northampton County and 19,343 were in Lehigh County. The city is located along the Lehigh River, a 109-mile-long (175 km) tributary of the Delaware River.
The Middle Atlantic Conferences (MAC) is an umbrella organization of three intercollegiate athletic conferences that competes in the NCAA's Division III. The 16 member colleges are in the Mid-Atlantic United States.
Moravian University is a private university in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. The institution traces its founding to 1742 by Moravians, descendants of followers of the Bohemian Reformation under John Amos Comenius.
Lafayette College is a private liberal arts college in Easton, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1826 by James Madison Porter and other citizens in Easton, the college first held classes in 1832. The founders voted to name the college after General Lafayette, a hero of the American Revolution.
The following is an alphabetical list of articles on people, places, and things related to Pennsylvania in the United States.
Muhlenberg College is a private liberal arts college in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1848, Muhlenberg College is affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and is named for Henry Muhlenberg, the German patriarch of Lutheranism in the United States.
The Lehigh Valley is a geographic and metropolitan region formed by the Lehigh River in Lehigh and Northampton counties in eastern Pennsylvania. It is a component valley of the Great Appalachian Valley bounded to its north by Blue Mountain, to its south by South Mountain, to its west by Lebanon Valley, and to its east by the Delaware River and Warren County, New Jersey. The Lehigh Valley is about 40 miles (64 km) long and 20 miles (32 km) wide. The Lehigh Valley's largest city is Allentown, the third-largest city in Pennsylvania and the county seat of Lehigh County, with a population of 125,845 residents as of the 2020 census.
Penn State Lehigh Valley is a commonwealth campus of Pennsylvania State University located in Center Valley, outside of Allentown in the Lehigh Valley region of Pennsylvania.
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The Rivalry is an American college football rivalry game played by the Lafayette Leopards football team of Lafayette College and the Lehigh Mountain Hawks football team of Lehigh University. It is the most-played football rivalry in the nation and is the longest uninterrupted rivalry game.
Catasauqua High School is a public high school serving grades 9 through 12 in Northampton, Pennsylvania in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania. As of 2023-24, the school had 447 students, according to National Center for Education Statistics data.
The Lafayette Leopards football program represents Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania in college football. One of the oldest college football programs in the United States, Lafayette currently plays in the Patriot League at the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision level.
The Lehigh Mountain Hawks football program represents Lehigh University in college football. Lehigh competes in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision level as members of the Patriot League. The Mountain Hawks play their home games at Goodman Stadium in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Tom Gilmore was the team's head coach from 2019 to 2022; he resigned following the 2022 season with a cumulative Lehigh coaching record of 9–27. Lehigh has won 13 Patriot League championships, the most recent of which was in 2024.
The Association of Independent Colleges and Universities of Pennsylvania (AICUP) is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) located in Harrisburg. It is an organization of independent nonprofit colleges and universities. Founded in 1995 through the affiliation of three existing educational organizations, it is made up of 85 independent higher education institutions.