Most small colleges face difficult decisions during the 1980s regarding their institutional identity and educational goals. Forces acting upon college administrators today tend to favor comprehensiveness at the expense of distinctiveness. Society will be served better by an array of distinctive small colleges, each having a character of its own.…

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…

Institutional advancement is defined as the craft of securing understanding and support from internal and external constituencies for all the programs and activities of the college, and selling is seen as the means for achieving institutional advancement goals. The making of friends who become donors is discussed. (MLW)

Austin College's approach to raising large amounts of capital funds with severe limits on number of staff, size of budget, and available time is presented. Some suggestions on locating prospects, cultivating donors, involving the president and trustees and thanking donors are provided. (MLW)

The rationale and history behind the merger of the University of Tasmania and the College of Advanced Education in Southern Tasmania are explained. The merger will expand a small regional university into a more comprehensive institution serving a broader clientele. The problems of such a change are discussed. (MSE)

A new system instituted by Aquinas College is described. It retains tenure as one possibility for a newly hired faculty member, although each faculty job-opening would on a case-by-case basis be placed either on tenure track or rolling contract track. (MLW)

The General Motors Institute (GMI), a fully accredited college of engineering and management that is a wholly owned subsidiary of the General Motors Corporation, is considered the West Point of the auto industry. Its five-year cooperative program of work and study is described. (MLW)

Presents a sample of documents in the ERIC junior college collection dealing with small urban/rural community colleges. (MB)

Discusses the practice of purchasing paperback books for small college libraries. Price, availability, and shelf life are considered, and it is concluded that budget-conscious collection development librarians should adopt the practice if they have not already. (Author/LRW)

The interactive approach is recommended for strategic planning of long-range development of colleges with enrollments of less than 2500 students. Discussed are how to conduct environmental and competitor analyses; how to develop an organizational mission statement and institutional goals; and the evolution of leadership through the strategic…

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)

Presents results of a survey of how small liberal arts colleges manage their art collections. The current role of some academic libraries as art managers and the potential for librarians expanding this role are discussed. As trained collection managers, academic librarians are well positioned to manage campus art collections. (Contains 20…

Surveys journalism educators at small liberal arts schools, reporting demographic information, curricular and advising data, professional activity, attitudes and objectives, and job satisfaction. Concludes that most journalism educators at small liberal arts colleges are rather satisfied. (SR)

By merging and sharing operations with other institutions, small colleges can cut a variety of administrative costs. Interest in mergers is especially strong at private liberal arts colleges but has included two-year and vocational schools. Such partnerships can extend the life of a college or even promote growth. (MSE)

Describes how to create good physics programs in small colleges. (PR)