DECATUR, Ill. — Millikin University has been awarded a $23,000 Professional Development Award from the Network for Vocation in Undergraduate Education (NetVUE), a program of the Council of Independent Colleges (CIC), to support the development of faculty and staff initiatives that deepen students’ understanding of vocation and purpose.
The grant, made possible through the support of Lilly Endowment Inc., is one of 43 awards distributed nationwide in 2025, totaling $889,000. It will allow Millikin to build a shared campus philosophy of vocation – helping students reflect on meaning, calling, and purpose in their lives – while laying the foundation for long-term integration of vocational exploration into the Millikin experience.
“This grant gives us the opportunity to clarify what vocation means at Millikin and to weave that idea of purpose-driven learning into every student’s experience,” said Dr. Brandon Cockburn, Associate Dean and Director of Student Success and one of the grant’s authors. “While career exploration is part of what we do, vocation is about something deeper – helping students discover where their passions and purpose align with the world’s needs.”
Dr. Cockburn collaborated with Dr. Andrew Smith, Dean of the College of Arts & Sciences, and RJ Podeschi, Dean of the Tabor School of Business, to develop the proposal. Together, the team designed a professional development plan that includes faculty and staff workshops, retreats, and the creation of new classroom modules that introduce first-year students to the concept of vocation within their disciplines.
“The idea is to move the conversation beyond just career planning,” Cockburn said. “We want faculty and staff to be part of that process early on, helping students make meaningful connections between what they study and the kind of impact they hope to make in the world.”
The grant will support eight Millikin participants — four faculty members and four staff members — who will work in faculty-staff pairs to design and test vocation-based modules within first-year courses across Millikin’s four colleges. A pilot of these modules is expected in Spring 2026, with presentations of early outcomes planned for Millikin’s Opening Faculty Workshop in August 2026.
Millikin joined NetVUE in January 2025 after learning about the organization’s work through peer institutions in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW). Cockburn credits that connection for inspiring Millikin’s new direction.
“After seeing how other colleges in our region were benefitting from NetVUE’s programs, we realized this was a perfect fit for Millikin,” he said. “Our mission already emphasizes purpose and Performance Learning, so this grant helps us intentionally strengthen that connection across campus.”
As part of the grant, Cockburn and his colleagues will attend the NetVUE National Conference in March 2026 to share their progress and learn from other institutions advancing similar initiatives. The team also plans to build upon this initial award by applying for NetVUE’s next tier of grants, such as the Vocation Across the Academy or Program Development awards, to expand the work even further.
“We see this as the first step in rebuilding and reimagining how Millikin approaches career and vocation,” Cockburn said. “It’s not just about creating a center or a service — it’s about embedding conversations about calling, meaning, and purpose into every corner of campus life.”
More about CIC and NetVUE
The Council of Independent Colleges (CIC) is an association of nonprofit independent colleges and universities, state-based councils, and higher education affiliates that supports college and university leadership, advances institutional excellence, and enhances public understanding of independent higher education’s contributions to society. CIC provides members with ideas, resources, and programs that help institutions improve their leadership expertise, educational programs, administrative and financial performance, and institutional visibility.
The Network for Vocation in Undergraduate Education (NetVUE) is a program of CIC. The purpose of NetVUE is to increase the capacity of independent colleges and universities to support their undergraduate students as they explore and discern their many callings in life. The process of vocational reflection is an interdisciplinary endeavor, bringing together theological, philosophical, ethical, historical, and affective approaches and implementing the theoretical reflections of these fields in vocation-related practices. Campuses are encouraged to support students in this work through academic departments, pre-professional programs, and campus offices.
