Examines the problems confronting the English department of a middle-sized, nonurban baccalaureate institution caught in the economic recession. (RB)

Examines the role of the English department chairman as a spokeman for his faculty and a representative of the university. (RB)

Urges that English departments can help university administrators rediscover the many contributions their faculties and courses can make to the institution at large. (MM)

Reports on the results of a 1983-84 survey of college departments of English to determine curricular practices in college English departments. (HOD)

English departments must become involved in the training of teachers of writing at every level rather than concentrating exclusively on literary scholarship. (HOD)

Suggests that the reform of English departments where overburdened composition teachers teach underprepared students must begin with a sense of historical perspective examining the genesis of the freshman writing course and the large numbers of college students who must enroll in it. (TB)

Reviews current department efforts to emphasize the service functions of English. Suggests that the search for students must be tempered with the demand for quality in instruction and performance, whether the pursuit be of literacy or of literature. (MM)