This paper intends to describe the recent experience of a small, rural, two-year technical college. After four decades of success, the college had found itself in a difficult situation with a substantial loss in enrollment and diminished state and local support, coupled with low campus employee morale. In response, the college team closed ranks…

Scarcely a week goes by without a headline about the unsustainability of higher education as we know it, under threat from new models, for-profits, or online education. Most threatened are small liberal arts colleges--with commentators predicting the demise of colleges with fewer than 1,000, or even 1,500 students. Are these trends inevitable, or…

The way private liberal arts colleges choose to answer the question, "How shall we govern ourselves in the 21st century?" has a great impact on what kinds of institutions that they can and will become. The urgency of this issue is apparent in public criticism, in governance disputes on many college campuses, and in recent publications on…

The experiences of Wellesley College (Massachusetts) with developing a long-range plan for institutional survival in the 1990s illustrate the value of two strategies: devising a planning process that reflects the institutional culture, and spending time early in the process to gain broad agreement on basic financial principles and planning…

The Atlanta University Center, Inc., a consortium of six institutions (Clark, Morehouse, Morris Brown, Spelman, Atlanta University, and Interdenominational Theological Center) represents the world's largest nucleus of Black private higher education. Its background and the problems faced in dealing with each institution's desire for autonomy are…

A trustee orientation or colloquium program designed to enable representatives of various college governing and administrative bodies to meet together and share ideas is described. The proposed model was used at Emmanuel College in Boston. The college is governed by a Board of Trustees, appointed by the Corporation, which owns the college. The…

A small, Catholic college curtailed expenses without damaging programs by involving faculty, administration, and trustees in a detailed contingency planning process that resulted in a report stressing quality over quantity and outlining short- and long-term strategies for institutional planning. (MSE)

Changes made at Antioch College, Ohio, during the early years of Arthur Ernest Morgan's tenure and factors that influenced these changes are examined. In addition, variables associated with the change period, such as Morgan's leadership style, the faculty and students, and the assistance of individuals outside the college are analyzed. To provide…

The attempted closing of Wilson College in Pennsylvania, a 110-year-old liberal arts college for women, is recounted. In 1978 the board of trustees voted to close the college and preserve remaining assets for other educational purposes. A movement evolved to save the college, and subsequent litigation resulted in rulings in May 1979 that: (1) two…

This paper reviews the issues facing trustees of liberal arts colleges, including such external challenges as ideological criticism, college costs, national economic trends, and competition from other types of institutions. Trustees are urged to address such issues as external criticism of the institution, concerns of students and parents about…

An overview of the innovative curriculum and program design of Hampshire College (Massachusetts), a liberal arts college opened in 1970, looks at its educational philosophy, nontraditional curriculum structure, underlying economic assumptions, recordkeeping, administrative organization, employment policy, governance, and student life. (MSE)

This study of the origin and history of the University of Vermont College of Medicine begins with the appointment of John Pomeroy to the faculty in 1804, and traces the years that followed. Chiefly concerned with the individuals who were involved, it is a case study of the responses of one small medical school to reform movements, and its ability…

The strategic planning process developed at Hartwick College (New York) begun in 1992 is described, and the college's resulting commitment to information technology is discussed. Issues arising during the process included choice of operating system(s), winning over skeptics, software selection, development of technical support, establishment of a…

Hartwick College (New York) developed a strategic vision for its future and invested significantly in information technology to transform that vision into reality. Guided by its president and trustees, Hartwick, a small, independent liberal arts college, formed a strategic plan in phases. At a formal board retreat in 1993, with faculty, students,…