The effectiveness of existing contingency planning efforts at five community colleges, three colleges, and five universities during the Mount St. Helens eruptions in 1980 in Washington state was assessed. Planning efforts in the areas of institutional policy, academic policy, business office, physical plant, residence halls, financial aid, and…

Case studies and historical notes are presented to suggest that the seemingly clear and familiar categories (including "college,""university,""public," and "private") carry legacies of complicated origins and connotations. According to conventional wisdom and popular belief, the typical state university is…

It is posited that examination of the financial problems of private institutions must go beyond the readily available statistics on enrollment and surpluses or deficits into how private colleges compete and what is happening to their competitive position vis-a-vis the public institutions. Attention is directed toward: (1) the change in reputation…

A conference of primarily black college presidents and of heads of foundations and agencies, which are devoted to the strengthening of black colleges and higher education for blacks, focused on the role of black colleges beyond 1975, discussing critical issues confronted by black colleges, including legal, economic, education, leadership, and…

The president of an independent university asks why, in the face of a decline in the private educational sector in the United States, this sector cannot be left unmonitored but well supported in order to make its contribution to American society. His answer, or argument, is twofold. First, the tide appears to be running against the private sector…

In the spring of 2004, the Arcadia University launched MyArcadia, the campus web portal. MyArcadia gives students, faculty, and staff access to online courses and departmental web sites. The portal is also the main source for campus announcements and event listings, and provides a single sign-on link to campus email. This report gives a detailed…

This paper examines expenditure patterns at higher education institutions in recent years, in light of the spiraling cost of higher education. It utilizes data from the U.S. Department of Education's Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), begun in 1986, and the Higher Education General Information Survey (HEGIS), which goes back…

This paper addresses the evolution of the kinds of challenges that deans have met over time and examines perceptions of today's deans concerning their ability to deal effectively with current challenges. A sample of deans (n=695) in the colleges of education, business, liberal arts, and nursing at 360 public and private institutions was surveyed…

This paper, which examines mentor relationships of academic deans, is part of a study conducted by the Center for Academic Leadership at Washington State University between October 1996 and January 1997. The study sample consisted of 1,370 deans (response rate 60 percent) at 360 public and private institutions, and the survey gathered information…

Higher education, and trustees in particular, must be "bridge builders" among academe, government, and business communities. Trustees must also be the mediators and a reconciling force when the public and independent campuses lose sight of their common cause. (MLW)

The faculty's primary function in the private, liberal arts college is to foster its own and the students' independent judgment, not to provide an educational smorgasbord. It should focus on the original subject matter of the liberal arts (reading, writing, speaking, listening, and reasoning about truth, goodness, and beauty) and promote dialog.…

Saint Francis College (SFC), in Pennsylvania, is a private, Catholic, coeducational institution of 1,200 full-time undergraduates. Over 55 percent of the student body is enrolled in pre-professional majors; majors in the traditional liberal arts now account for only 13 percent of the student population. Faculty some time ago began to question…

This study compared the salary differentials of college chief executive officers (CEOs), college presidents, and the five highest-paid employees at 190 private colleges and universities. The pay differential in total compensation for CEOs and the highest-paid professor at liberal arts institution was significantly higher than that at…

This testimony discusses the future of higher education funding in California, focusing on the need to move from a system of "free" state higher education to one in which individuals receive the degree of financial aid that they need. It argues that tuition at state universities should be raised to help provide more financial aid to…

This paper describes the methodology used by The College of St. Rose (New York) to identify peer institutions (similar small private liberal arts colleges) as part of a comparative compensation survey. To identify peer institutions, researchers used a hybrid approach involving both objective identification of institutions and administrator…