From 2016 to 2020, ten smaller schools in one regional library consortium participated in a user needs assessment project. This article documents the process for implementing a collaborative user needs assessment by utilizing the shared interest and enthusiasm of a team of librarians to create a consortial toolkit. The toolkit supplied direction…

Smaller, private, independent institutions of higher education across the United States are facing challenging times. This white paper by Edwin H. Welch, president of the University of Charleston, shares lessons gleaned from the institution's innovative efforts over almost 30 years. Welch's hope is that the experiences at the University of…

With the support of a grant from the Sloan Foundation, nine computer scientists from liberal arts colleges came together in October, 1984 to form the Liberal Arts Computer Science Consortium (LACS) and to create a model curriculum appropriate for liberal arts colleges. Over the years the membership has grown and changed, but the focus has remained…

Initiating a consulting model for librarianship in a small college library involved a transition to an organizational model that defines positions by their relationship to constituencies. As a case study of such a transformation demonstrates, such an ''outward'' looking organization has resulted in an increased number of instruction sessions,…

Small colleges can be effective in consortial arrangements because they are more independent and often less fiercely competitive than larger institutions, making better personal relations possible. The Associated Colleges of the St. Lawrence Valley in northern New York, with four member institutions, has expanded student opportunities, shared…

Guidelines have been developed for a consortium approach to teacher preparation in a small college that may need some expertise and access to teaching materials which can be provided by local school districts and other agencies. This approach to the design, management, and evaluation of the program offers the opportunity to involve the schools…

A consortium of 12 small, private liberal arts colleges in the Great Lakes region has shown that by working together, the institutions can provide major opportunities for faculty professional development through conferences and workshops. (MSE)

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…

Six papers explore the liberal arts institution's opportunities to improve teacher education to meet society's intensified demands within the limitations faced by liberal arts institutions. The many advantages such institutions can offer in preparation of teachers, the collaborative efforts institutions can engage in to improve their programs, and…

The Great Lakes Colleges Association, composed of twelve small liberal arts colleges in Ohio, Indiana, and Michigan, has been a leader in the integration of women's studies into the curriculum of its member schools. The consortial approach and the women's studies program are described. (MLW)

A consortia model for colleges within a short distance of each other is described. Particular attention is given to the components of consortial infrastructure: the policy board and the role of the deans, the consortium director, the campus program coordinators, and the students' departmental boards. (Author/MLW)

An external evaluation of the Small College Consortium (SCC) was designed to evaluate and make recommendations for linkages between the delivery of technical assistance services and progress toward institutional development. The case study component of the SCC evaluation for 1978 was undertaken as two separate but complementary analyses. The two…

The report describes the Appalachian College Assessment Project, which developed a consortium to assess cooperatively the outcomes of the general education programs of a group of private liberal arts colleges in central Appalachia. Evaluation methods included a freshman/senior essay, the Academic Profile, the Pace College Student Experiences…

Eight papers are presented from the 1995 CAUSE conference track on strategic planning issues faced by managers of information technology at colleges and universities. The papers include: (1) "Can Small Colleges Afford To Be Technology Leaders? Can They Afford Not To Be? (Martin Ringle and David Smallen); (2) "Strategic Planning Across…

This paper offers a brief history and description of a voluntary consortium of six church-related private colleges, the Associated Colleges of Central Kansas (ACCK), that is governed by a board of directors made up of the presidents of the member colleges. The schools, all within close geographical proximity, have a combined enrollment of over…