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…

Drawing from a literature review and interviews with administrators at nine small, rural community colleges in Florida, this report highlights the problems of providing vocational education in Florida's small, rural community colleges. Chapter I provides background to the study and a review of the literature related to problems of providing…

Leaders at Voorhees College (South Carolina), a small historically black institution with limited finances, have used ingenuity and hard work to develop a campus computer system. Despite lack of faculty and staff sophistication in computer use, the college is gradually improving computer resources and faculty computing skills, and enterprising…

The author writes briefly of his experience as president of The Defiance College, a small college in danger of closing. He makes a plea for humane teaching and proposes that colleges losing students seek to enroll those past the age of 55 in residence courses designed to prepare them for their new stage in life. (JMD)

The final chapter of a study of the failure of four small private colleges implicates their trustees. Trustees were found to have had inadequate participation in planning and operational realities, the consequence in part, of a lack of critical information. (LBH)

The decision on the most appropriate size for liberal arts colleges should not be made on economic grounds. Analysis of literature shows that economic benefits through economies of scale are too debatable to play an important role. Fixed costs may be offset by less institutional complexity in small colleges. (Author/MSE)

The role of student affairs staff in small colleges is considered in eight chapters. Topics of discussion include: conditions facing small colleges, the small college ecology, the role of the student affairs division in providing leadership for institutional planning and research, examples of innovative programming that maximize scarce resources…

Financial problems, and even the survival, of developing institutions funded by Title III are reported. Issues include the HEW freeze on grant money and problems with student financial aid from the government. (LBH)

The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the sports-governing body for over 500 small colleges and universities, will weigh a series of major alterations in rules and procedures concerning standards for freshman athletes, separate competition divisions in all sports, an accreditation system for monitoring academic standards,…

The period of time for which a college is reaccredited, a hotly debated issue at the annual meeting of the New England Association of Schools and Colleges, is discussed. Ten-year terms have been shortened, putting a burden on institutions least able to afford the lengthy and costly process. (MLW)

Two papers concerning staff development for small/rural community colleges are presented. In the first, practices at small/rural colleges are contrasted with those at larger and more urban colleges. It is noted that (1) small colleges try to keep pace with institutional growth and development needs mostly in the area of curriculum, disregarding…

A confidential survey revealed these complaints: governing boards too often are oblivious to financial problems; multicampus boards are remote and uninterested; there is too little time to do everything; inherited staff do not always cooperate; women presidents have a special problem in the hostess role. (Editor/LBH)

Chapman College has returned from near financial collapse by renovating the campus, repaying a $4-million debt, raising its endowment from $700,000 to $25 million, recruiting new faculty, linking salaries to performance, initiating other personnel changes, and developing new programs and facilities. (MSE)

Bradford College's experience with curriculum and administrative development in a period of extreme adversity is an example of how a new concept of mission can invigorate an institution while a survival mentality can weaken it. (MSE)

A study of 43 liberal arts colleges' library budgets for the first half of the 1970s is described. The combined effects of inflation and financial crunch have led to a materials v staff struggle which could result in an improper balance between these two items. (Author/MLW)