The literature on organizational culture underscores the benefits of a strong culture--its capacity to draw people together through shared values and norms. Yet, the formation of a powerful ideology also has the capacity to promote divisiveness and to alienate those who fail to conform. This study employs Frank W. Lutz's witch-hunting framework in…

The problem facing many higher education institutions is the ability to engage freshmen students during the first semester of college in order to sustain their enrollment. This study assessed the effectiveness of a freshmen learning community as a retention strategy at a small, rural, and public community college. The purpose of this ex post facto…

This dissertation was a qualitative research study regarding two small private universities and their process of transformation from an institution headed toward closure to a successful turnaround. The primary questions that guided the study included the factors and persons that contributed to the institutional turnaround, the issues and…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to address the knowledge management (KM) challenges faced by the administration of a small university which does not have a mature research culture. Design/methodology/approach: The paper follows both technocratic as well as ecological approaches to develop a sustainable KM. Strengths, weaknesses,…

At our small business college, we believe that next to serving the students, the most important thing we as librarians can do is serve as liaisons to the faculty. If the faculty is tuned in to the library, it is more likely he or she will use library resources and will teach students about them. This will provide a more effective education for the…

College students are at high risk of experiencing serious problems related to physical and social health issues that include binge drinking, sexual assault, and contracting a sexually transmitted disease. Despite research reporting that many of these incidents co-occur on campuses, university prevention programs have failed to present the…

This mixed method, single case study describes a university-community partnership between a small, suburban liberal arts college and an inner-city neighborhood located over eight miles away. The ultimate goal of the study was to improve the partnership for community and campus partners. The study does this by focusing on partnership members'…

Implementing blended accelerated learning programs or courses requires a systematic approach, not just the addition of new technologies. Small colleges face challenges when they move toward blended learning because of already-constrained resources. In this article, we will survey issues faced by small colleges in moving to blended learning,…

More than 200 schools currently use some form of the Outward Bound-adapted model of outdoor orientation (OO). Assisting students with the transition to college is a primary goal of these programs (Bell, Holmes, Vigneault, & Williams, 2008). This study was conducted at a small Midwestern liberal-arts college with a strong environmental mission.…

This report describes private colleges serving adults which since 1936 have been required to register with the provincial government of British Columbia, Canada or, since 1993, with a regulatory body created by the government. The sector has always included career colleges, but registration was expanded temporarily in the 1990s to include all…

Evidence suggests that college preparation programs successfully support students through college preparation and application process. However, most research into college preparation programs does not attend to students' collegiate experiences once they leave college preparation programs. This dissertation explored the long-term influence of Small…

The purpose of the study was first to calculate the full-time and part-time retention rates for each category of 2-year institution and to examine the differences, if they existed, between and among the three types of colleges. Secondly, the study explored the differences in the full-time and part-time retention rates of first-time students within…

This research examined how two decidedly different groups of community college presidents from across the United States viewed the competencies, characteristics, and professional skills identified by the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) (2005) as important for effective community college leadership. The two groups participating in…

Colleges and universities across the country are seeking ways to strategically position their campuses within the growingly competitive landscape of higher education. The presidents of these institutions are approaching these changes with a watchful eye on the fiscal, environmental, and human resources involved. The purpose of this study was to…

The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between technology planning and strategic planning in small private liberal arts colleges and universities that were members of the Appalachian College Association (ACA). The objective of the study was to determine if the technology initiatives were appropriately aligned to the…