When officials at tuition-driven Fisk University raised the veil of secrecy a few years ago surrounding the university's financial condition, the details they laid out were less than encouraging. The Nashville-based university, home of the historic Jubilee Singers, was losing several million dollars a year and had not received any major private…

In autumn, most colleges' football fields are covered with a thick carpet of grass or artificial turf and are adorned with yard lines. But the football field at Paul Quinn College was carved up by plowing and planting. This past fall, portions of the college's gridiron were covered with sweet potatoes, watermelons, peppers, rosemary, and sugar…

Many small institutions face difficulties, and the person who bears the brunt of dealing with those challenges is the college president. While each situation is unique, presidents can learn from the experiences of others, and at the very least, commiserate with each other regarding the challenges they face, especially when their institutions are…

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…

This article reports that the credit crisis tying global financing systems into knots has left hundreds of colleges scrambling for cash to pay their bills and to cover the spiking interest on their debts. While it is still unclear to what extent the federal government's new $700-billion bailout package will help unwind the credit tangle, the…

The Great Books hold a special place in scholarly and academic lore in America. Study of the Great Books and liberal education in general were the foundation of a college education since the colonial times, but yielded to electives and other academic trends during the early portion of the twentieth century. By the 1930s, several men sought to…

This article discusses how colleges and universities are taking drastic measure for difficult times. Hit hard by the global financial crisis, colleges are cutting their budgets in ways that prompt fears about access and retention for minority students. Schools are considering layoffs, unpaid furloughs for faculty and staff, hiring freezes and…

Higher productivity must become internalized in college institutional cultures and recognized as a strategic issue for long-term reasons of educational quality and robust survival. The primary challenge is not downsizing but right-sizing for available resources, mission, and quality standards. The concept of selective excellence must prevail. (MSE)

Private colleges that have prospered have done so by enhancing revenue, not by decreasing expenses. The private college president of today is becoming more a salesperson, delegating operational duties to subordinates while focusing on fund-raising and public-image concerns because of the chronic need for more money. (MLW)

Techniques used by private colleges to survive fiscal crises are reported. Included are: common factors contributing to financial problems, the means perceived by presidents to be most useful in crisis planning, and the implications of the findings for overall higher education planning and management. (MSE)

Many small liberal arts colleges nationwide are facing unprecedented challenges in finances and demographics. Unless they have name recognition, a sizeable endowment, or especially strong academic offerings, most struggle to attract students from outside their regions. To survive, colleges have been urged to expand adult education and distance…

The author lampoons twenty-first-century academic priorities. Using a fictional campus facing state-mandated budget reductions, the author parodies a system that retains high-salaried administrative and public relations positions, special-interest majors, athletic programs and junior/ad-hoc faculty, while relinquishing admissions staff, library…

Demographic and financial problems at Fairleigh Dickinson University were perceived in traditional business terms and a plan was formulated to cut expenses quickly by unloading personnel. A struggle over the role of faculty in governance has been waged since. (MLW)

This article proposes a conceptual decision-making framework for college and university offices of institutional research during times when budgetary retrenchment and reallocation of resources is necessary. Key issues the office should consider include understanding the institution's purpose, strategy selection, evaluation activities, student…

An interview with Marie McDemmond, president of Norfolk State University (Virginia) and the first woman to head a Virginia public university, examines her response to the university's hidden fiscal crisis, her conception of shared leadership, her experience as a woman administrator, controversies over her spending choices, and administrative…