This book analyzes the crisis facing the American liberal arts college and offers a proposal for its reform. It argues that a college's infidelity to the ideals of liberal education adversely affects its relationship to society, its educational program, and its teachers. A definition and a defense of liberal education ideals is offered. The author…

The problems of underprepared high school graduates and college admissions standards are addressed in a historical context by a Marquette University administrator. The basic skills of listening, speaking, writing, reading, and reasoning have been identified as critical for college work. There has been a lack of consensus on the role of universal,…

Issues concerning the influence of college curricula are considered as part of a background briefing paper for a special panel of the National Commission on Excellence in Education. The objective was to examine features of contemporary college studies to determine what should be protected or changed to improve the quality of postsecondary…

On the whole, members of racial minorities and low-income groups are less likely to do well in school and in the job market. This paper contends that the integration of multicultural education into the curricula of rural colleges and universities in the south may provide an environment that allows for some degree of equal opportunity among…

Trends and projections for higher education are identified. Increased public concern about the purposes and standards of higher education has followed the publication of four major publications about higher education in the United States. Changing demographics are projected for 1983-1993, including fewer 18- to 22-year-olds, decreased full-time…

Ideas for the success of liberal arts colleges in the last decades of the twentieth century are presented by the president of Central Methodist College. In addition to considering specific concerns affecting students, faculty, the administration, and relations with the church, philosophical views concerning an ideal or successful liberal arts…

The role of Vista College, a non-campus college in the San Francisco Bay area, is discussed in this paper with respect to its provision of courses and programs in international business education. After section I describes the college and its location, students, and programs, section II makes a case for the importance of international business…

Professionalism and flexibility in learning are considered in five seminar papers. In "Recommendations for Learning," Donald Bligh offers 17 recommendations for learning, based on the final discussions of a seminar of the Society for Research into Higher Education. The principles of professionalism and flexibility are applied to course…

Major national trends and their effects on the future of education are examined. Demographic events that affected schools include the postwar baby boom and the migration from the Northeast to the sunbelt region. Factors affecting the college curriculum include: (1) enrollment projections, (2) decline in literacy, (3) decline in mathematics and…

In some colleges and universities, linguistics does not have a positive image. This is due in part to the number of students that struggle through linguistic theory that they will forget once the examination or course is over. However, instructors can make linguistics courses serving primarily nonmajors more attractive by omitting certain topics…

Activities are described that illustrate the ways new emphases on structure, liberal arts curriculum, attention to basic skills, a global approach, four-year study courses, and non-lecture pedagogy are being incorporated into college curricula across the country. An opening essay ("The General Education Reform: Accomplishments and Future Agenda")…

The effects of a conference that was designed to promote scholarly communication on gender-balancing the liberal arts and sciences curriculum are analyzed. The conference, "Southern Scholars on Women," was held at the Georgia State University, March 4-7, 1981, as part of a project funded by the Women's Educational Equity Act Program.…

An investigation of interdisciplinary sources dealing with social values and the college curriculum reveals numerous examples of a "double-bind" situation, in which mutually contradictory signals are transmitted to the student. One example is the discrepancy between the stated purposes of the community college, as contained in its catalog and…

In the two-year period 1979-80, the National Congress on Church-Related Colleges and Universities was a cooperative effort of 23 denominations to examine the issues facing their institutions of higher education. The significant papers and events appear in this and three other volumes. Contents of this volume include an overview and four other…

Based on the theory that higher education in America has been on the decline since 1953, the decadence and hopes for renewal in higher learning are examined. The following afflictions are cited as cause for the decline: (1) a purposelessness or loss of the objects of wisdom and virtue; (2) intellectual disorder: all integration and order of…