Institutions of higher education increasingly have adopted high-impact practices (HIPs) as a means to increase student retention and engagement. Yet, the growth and assessment of these practices have primarily focused on a student's first and final years, which can contribute to a second-year slump. Administrative data from a small, 4-year liberal…

If the book in common is truly an institutional endeavor, campus stakeholders (i.e., faculty, staff, and administrators) should feel some sense of ownership during the development phase of common book programs. Faculty, staff, and administrators play a crucial role in student development, and to ignore the voice of those campus stakeholders would…

This practice-based approach argues service learning can teach social justice in parks & recreation management education. The US parks system creation and history is rooted in injustice. Use of US parks and park service employment remain inequitable today. Significant work must be done in the provision of recreation and park services to all…

Small, private colleges in the United States provide students with close-knit and individualized college experiences. However, these institutions are increasingly vulnerable to closures, mergers, and acquisitions due to economic downturns, enrollment challenges, and many other internal and external factors. Compared to their larger public and…

With high school populations declining throughout New England and in several other regions of the country, it's only natural to be concerned about the fiscal challenges confronting the nation's private colleges and universities. Forecasts by prominent higher education experts increasingly suggest that many, if not most, small private institutions…

This qualitative study, using an ethnographic study design, examined small, private university faculty relationships, experiences, interactions, and perceptions of the community college transfer student. Sachs University faculty were interviewed to provide an insider view of the students' relationships with faculty, as well as the faculty…

Poor retention and completion outcomes cast doubts about the ability of higher education to provide a return on the money, time, and resource investment. Accountability for the quality of higher education has been an increasingly significant national issue in higher education over the past decade. As pressures for accountability increase, so does…

The purpose of this qualitative comparative case study is to explore the similarities and differences of the lived experiences and satisfaction of undergraduate business management majors attending a small, private, liberal arts institution and those attending a large, public, research university. Through the utilization of document analysis and…

Little is known about the extent to which higher-education faculty members required help and resources transitioning back to face-to-face teaching and learning both during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Problems have included (a) determining the best resources and technologies for faculty members to use in the classroom in order to ensure that…

This paper describes relationships between tuition discounting (TD), net tuition revenue, and other institutional characteristics at four-year, liberal arts institutions. TD, a practice whereby institutional grants are used to subsidize a student's educational expense, has become a common practice at four-year institutions. TDs impact on…

Small, private, liberal arts colleges are in a time of crisis. Many of these colleges are undergoing significant changes as a result of the external forces driving declining enrollment and increasing operating costs. At the same time, the average age of college presidents is increasing and average tenure is decreasing. In response, this intrinsic…

A small college in the Midwestern United States has a prior learning assessment (PLA) program that has never been evaluated from the perspective of the faculty and staff. The problem is that campus leaders have a limited understanding of faculty and staff knowledge and their role in the PLA program. The study was approached from an appreciative…

Recognizing that higher education settings vary considerably, librarians at Gettysburg College sought to better understand textbook spending behaviors and the effects of costs on our students. We adapted the Florida Virtual Campus 2016 Student Textbook and Course Materials Survey to suit the context of our small, private, liberal arts college.…

Students acting as co-creators of academic material is growing in popularity as a pedagogical approach in higher education. With student engagement and persistence consistently being emphasized for student and institution well-being, educational praxis must foster engaged, high-retention student cohorts. This exploratory research uses a…

Higher Education is facing an increasingly competitive marketplace with high tuition prices, consumers are pushing back on rising tuition prices and choosing community and state colleges. A shortage in the traditional college age student population, has compounded the enrollment problem at small, private colleges. Most private colleges are…