A simple, flexible approach of planning for small colleges is presented after which action can be patterned. Alternative methods are described for carrying out the important activities found in most processes designed to generate a long-range institutional plan. A rationale for planning is offered along with a discussion of what planning can do…

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)

At Trinity Christian College, a small, independent institution, the college librarian is also the manager of the college bookstore. The result of this situation is cooperation between the library and bookstore with regard to shelving needs, student work schedules, bargain book sales and book orders. (JMD)

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)

Disciplinary groups of faculty in small liberal arts colleges hold significantly different perspectives on teaching-learning goals and approaches for achieving them. The pattern of differences identified seems more complex than attitudinal dichotomies previously advanced by researchers studying faculty views across diverse types of institutions.…

A small college's system of comparing its faculty salaries to those in similar schools is described. The approach taken was to define a rather large group of schools similar to Principia College and then average the salaries in colleges of similar size and selectivity, since those features correlate strongly with many institutional…

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)

A research study examined the computing strategies of colleges and universities with enrollments of 5,000 or fewer. The management/governance structures were studied and responding institutions indicated that the concept of collegiality was prevalent in setting overall computing policy. (MLW)

Washington College, a small liberal arts college on Maryland's Eastern Shore, revitalized its fund-raising program, adding an aggressive marketing strategy and a new emphasis on major gifts. They used a three-step process: assessed their situation, solidified their development program, and used that to support a big-gift campaign. (MLW)

Essays by Marv Weiss and Bruce Bryden; Jerry Young; D. Kent Sharples; and Kermit Lidstrom and Jordis Conrad identify issues and problems of particular concern to small, rural colleges, including student retention, faculty recruitment, image building, and the colleges' role in economic development. (DMM)

The movement to reform college athletics programs has been least well implemented in the institutions at which it was aimed, those sponsoring the largest and most expensive programs. Some blame the institutions for lack of courage in making changes that would restrict their competitiveness. (MSE)

Reports on the economic development activities of 237 small rural southeastern colleges. Reveals that most of the colleges provided basic skills training, career/vocational counseling, job placement services, short courses for company employees, and skills upgrading. Highlights the activities of colleges highly involved with rural economic…

Administrators at small colleges are devising innovative policies to compete with recruiters from corporations and large universities to attract computer-science professors and hold on to them. Williams College offers higher salaries, while Middlebury College pays computer-science instructors as administrators on 11-month contracts. (MLW)

A common perception is that the leadership problems facing the presidents of small, independent liberal arts colleges are simply a subset of those facing larger schools, but small colleges operate in a unique economic environment that offers opportunity as well as peril. The president's involvement is required at every level. (MSE)

A study to provide some measurable benchmarks of the advancement process at small colleges is described. Data are presented on budgets, spending per function, professional staff, chief advancement officer, support staff, recruitment costs, fund-raising revenues and costs, and developing institutions. (MLW)