Washington College, a small liberal arts college on Maryland's Eastern Shore, revitalized its fund-raising program, adding an aggressive marketing strategy and a new emphasis on major gifts. They used a three-step process: assessed their situation, solidified their development program, and used that to support a big-gift campaign. (MLW)

A common perception is that the leadership problems facing the presidents of small, independent liberal arts colleges are simply a subset of those facing larger schools, but small colleges operate in a unique economic environment that offers opportunity as well as peril. The president's involvement is required at every level. (MSE)

The behaviors and subsequent situations of two sets of colleges that experienced severe financial difficulties in the mid-1970s were examined. One set made a dramatic recovery; the other set did not. The more resilient group pursued a combination of adaptive and interpretive strategies. (MLW)

This monograph contains eight paper that explore the role and value of information officers, focusing on: (1) results of a nationwide survey of educational institutions that examined the percentage of SCDE's represented by public information officers and the type of representation offered; (2) deans' perspectives on the usefulness of information…

A sociotechnical systems model used by John Brown University is described that is useful for analyzing the complexities of change in an organization and for describing the many elements involved in change. (Author/MLW)

Small and medium-sized institutions are seen as likely to experience major organizational change during the next few years in three areas: contracting out, academic franchising, and reacting to declining instruction. Colleges need to explore interinstitutional cooperation, new educational media, structural innovation, productivity improvement, and…

Strategies employed by Hood College to bolster its enrollment and survive are discussed. They include eliminating some underenrolled or duplicative courses, launching new programs of study, adoption of a core curriculum, making planning an integral part of every department, improving budgeting, improving student services, and professionalizing…

The perception that a college has an excellent academic program is seen as a judgment about the whole college, not just about a few departments. To maintain this judgment, the administrator of a small college must exercise balance in allocation of resources to departments and academic support areas. (Author/MLW)

Essential requisites for managing institutions in a retrenchment economy include: a clear-cut institutional mission, effective student recruiting, adequate self-knowledge, and competent and dynamic leadership. Practical implications of these conditions for administrators and institutional researchers are discussed. (Author/SF)

Many small, private colleges lack the resources to develop a planning, management and evaluation (PME) system and the result is planning becomes a neglected function. An in-depth study by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for the Detroit Institute of Technology is described. (MLW)

Center College of Kentucky's "central myth," or self-understanding, articulated strategically, became the basis for planning and decisions responsible for significant institutional achievement. (MLW)

A small liberal arts college's program of home visits for recruitment and admissions was evaluated. Forty students and several parents receiving home visits were classified by grades and eventual enrollment in the college, then surveyed. Results indicate the visits were the reason most applied. However, other factors were more strongly related to…

A survey of institutional researchers at 243 New England colleges and universities examined respondents' (N=127) views on the current and projected roles of institutional research. Results document limited resources particularly in small institutions. Also, a majority of institutional researchers reported that they were engaged extensively in…

This handbook was designed to offer a low-cost, local, and practical approach to working with re-entry women college students. It is intended for use by staff in small colleges (under 1,000 students) where women's centers and on-campus child care are rare and where the needs of re-entry students have not been adequately addressed. The information…

A survey of one college's freshman and transfer students was used to test a five-component model of college choice behavior. It looked at the relationships between students' perceived decision influences (recruitment strategies) and student gender, residency status, and religious affiliation. (MSE)