Faced with challenges around the efficiency of resources and minimizing expense, Independent College Enterprise was inspired by the notion of schools working together to pool resources for purchasing and maintaining an integrated student information system (SIS). The ultimate benefit from this collaborative idea was to minimize administrative expenses on each campus. Independent College Enterprise was formed in 2001 by enlisting five founding schools and today, the membership consists of Alderson Broaddus University, Bethany College, Davis & Elkins College, Stillman College, University of Charleston, West Virginia Wesleyan College, Wheeling University, and William Peace University.
 

Independent College Enterprise solutions consist of a student information system, Ellucian Colleague, student and employee portals, self-service applications, mobile apps, document imaging, and reporting tools from various enterprise vendors. The hardware and software are maintained in the Independent College Enterprise data center located on the campus of the University of Charleston – a founding member of the consortium. Seven full-time staff members maintain the systems and staff a helpdesk to support institutions’ use of these systems. While the colleges share servers, software licenses, and technical personnel, each school has exclusive access to its own data.