Among the problems faced by unorthodox colleges are prevention of stagnation and attracting faculty members who share the institution's vision of undergraduate education. Representatives of 16 colleges at a "Meeting of Innovative Colleges" suggest that innovative programs have often taken on institutional lives of their own, making…

When Duke University (North Carolina) adopted a five-year plan in 1988 to double the proportion of black faculty, it lost almost as many as it gained. The new 10-year plan will focus on support and retention as well as hiring. The new plan has critics but more support than the last. (MSE)

Duke University's affirmative action plan for faculty, unveiled in the late 1980s, has had limited success. Critics blame this on a small pool of minority doctorates and in-house resistance. Success has been greatest in the history department. The school has been more successful in attracting African-American graduate students. (MSE)

Scholars who are members of racial and ethnic minority groups are being actively recruited, feeding resentment and concern among White faculty, who feel squeezed out. However, minority professors find that, although the situation has improved for some, the trend does not extend to all minority faculty. (MSE)