This study explored the extent to which nontraditional physical activity courses and student experiences reflect a pleasure and participation sports model. The theoretical framework for this qualitative study was based on the pleasure and participation sports model (Coakley, 2017). Data via 20 observations and 20 interviews were gathered from…

This paper presents the results of a model that simulates the effects of varying preferential admissions policies on the academic profile of a set of 35 small liberal arts colleges. An underlying assumption is that all schools in the set use the same ratio of preferential to non-preferential admissions. The model predicts that even drastic changes…

This study examines the factors that influence the creation, purchase, and selection of free instructional technology. Specifically, this study uses the RIPPLES Model to examine the perceptions and reflections of instructional technology directors and staff members with regard to the Resources, Infrastructure, People, Policies, Learning,…

Colleges and universities have spent significant financial and human resources deploying and promoting educational technologies, including Learning Management Systems (LMS). A large body of research now exists on the impact of technology on student learning, including the roles of blended learning, hybrid classes, and distance learning. Yet,…

This research explores the factors that affect persistence decisions of undergraduate students at a small, private, liberal arts college. Pre-institutional commitment, the commitment to a specific higher education institution by a student prior to arriving on campus for the first academic term, is examined for its effect on student persistence…

With the support of a grant from the Sloan Foundation, nine computer scientists from liberal arts colleges came together in October, 1984 to form the Liberal Arts Computer Science Consortium (LACS) and to create a model curriculum appropriate for liberal arts colleges. Over the years the membership has grown and changed, but the focus has remained…

This paper deals with issues of identity--lately, many institutions of higher education, especially small and medium-size colleges, seem to be confused in terms of function. Pointing out that all institutions seem to have been encouraged to balance their scholarship in terms of Ernest L. Boyer's prescribed functions of research discovery,…

Centre College in Danville, Kentucky, used strategic planning to affirm its size and mission. Size alone is not seen as an adequate measure of the flow of institutional resources and commitments. The price of being small and the price of expansion are discussed. (MLW)

This paper examines the opportunities of combining teaching, research, and service and highlights the inherent challenges of such an approach. By offering evidence on how professors at small liberal arts colleges can combine their research, teaching, and service responsibilities in ways that enrich student learning, the paper takes a role in…

Some of the ways in which small educational institutions have adjusted their priorities to a changing environment are examined. Two models of strategic management--the adaptive strategy model and the interpretive strategy model--are discussed. Current perceptions of admissions directors and academic deans in North Carolina were investigated. (MLW)

Flexibility, diversity, and efficiency can make small colleges "the educational entrepreneurs" of the nation. By using interdisciplinary programs, independent studies, adjunct professors, and some creativity, they can develop exciting and valuable programs that anticipate the needs of society. (MLW)

A case study of the campus-wide governance system at Carleton College is presented. Problems addressed in the last eight years include faculty evaluation, tenure, administrative problems, curriculum development, minority needs, career awareness, and educational finance. The governance process is analyzed and a recommended model is described. (JMD)

An advising model used by Marymount Manhattan College is described. The heart of advising is the faculty: faculty care about students, design major requirements and course content, communicate the rationale for required courses, help students see alternatives in courses of study, and provide them with options. (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 study at Franklin and Marshall College to determine why research does not appear to have the beneficial effect on teaching that so many have assumed it does is discussed. It is thought that scholarship makes a professor more knowledgeable and that a more knowledgeable professor makes a better teacher. (Author/MLW)