Small private colleges should not succumb to the view that being as inexpensive as public colleges is the only way to compete. By doing some aggressive marketing, these institutions can enjoy a significant edge and thrive in what promises to be a difficult decade. (Author/MSE)

The educational and financial health of private colleges and universities in the coming years, it is suggested, will depend on the competence of those who are chosen to serve as trustees and regents. The National Commission on Trustee Selection's 14 recommendations for improvements in the selection process are provided. (Author/MLW)

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)

Olivet College's marketing plan included survey of students, alumni, townspeople, and doners and analysis of the college's customer appeal, prices, and product mix. The author reports that the marketing objectives are being met and discusses the rationale and problems of applying business marketing principles to education. (JT)

Vassar College's first "young trustee," elected soon after her graduation for a 4-year term, describes her unexpected role: instead of representing students she represented a fresh point of view and argues for a broadening of board perspectives through broader-based board membership, e.g. a college teacher, a welfare mother, a 50-year…

Three terms are defined: lifelong learning, lifelong training, and lifelong education. Lifelong learning is discussed, including: adult learning, a "serious business"; adapting programs to meet the needs of adults; expertise of private colleges with liberal arts traditions; community colleges; trustees' role; constraints; and state, regional, and…

The independents have performed a historic function in establishing institutional independence, suggests this university president, and they will continue, under their independent boards, to guard the principle. They save taxpayer money and will continue to do so even though a margin of state aid is necessary. (Author/LBH)

Issues, such as admissions and tuition, that once were institutional prerogatives are seen now as having to be addressed more collectively. The need for states to have independent boards and staffs sensitive to educational values, but with the public-interested-oriented perspective is argued. (MLW)

The experiences of Wellesley College (Massachusetts) with developing a long-range plan for institutional survival in the 1990s illustrate the value of two strategies: devising a planning process that reflects the institutional culture, and spending time early in the process to gain broad agreement on basic financial principles and planning…

Four principal processes are described: academic planning and budgeting; facility planning and capital budgeting; fund-raising priorities; and academic appointments. Trustees are mainly concerned with the first two. Academic planning and budgeting is a year-round process, with a succession of stages that facilitates effective board participation.…

Small, independent colleges are endangered the most by public misconceptions of their role, value, and stability. New understanding of these colleges' financial and other support needs must be reflected in public policy if they are not to become a lost national resource. (MSE)

Endangered small, private colleges can take steps toward survival, including mission clarification, expanding services to existing and potential clienteles, introducing management by objectives, and developing public relations and fund raising. Long-range options include avoiding the postsecondary mainstream and striving for efficiency of…

Noting that institutional trustees have less authority as a result of the collectivistic trend, the author forcasts continued growth of statewide higher education agencies and discusses the problems of statewide coordination. He suggests ways in which local boards should cooperate with state agencies to bring about improvement in governance. (JT)

The president of Bloomfield College, New Jersey, reviews (1) general problems posed by the tenure system as conventionally interpreted at about 85 percent of our colleges and universities; (2) several alternatives to conventional tenure; and (3) some special problems facing small, private liberal arts colleges in financial exigency. (JT)

An argument against state aid is offered by a chancellor in the public sector, who suggests that the independents are not badly off financially and that state aid would damage their independent status. The private colleges would also be competing for legislative favor and the principle might be extended to lower education. (Author/LBH)