The extent to which sports build character is an increasingly contested topic, and scholarship has recently been focused on how coaches may (or may not) facilitate character development in their programs. Although existing literature examines coaches in youth sport and "big-time" college athletic programs, research on coaches in smaller…

Community colleges provide postsecondary education to millions of students in the United States each year, but their graduation rates are low. Many community colleges have implemented interventions to help students persist in college and earn degrees. MDRC has studied many such interventions; several of them improved students' academic outcomes,…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to review the literature with regard to the course leader in small and specialist higher education in the UK. Design/methodology/approach: First, the role of the course leader is explored, followed by an evaluation of the barriers to effective course management. This is then followed by a discussion of…

An outline of some of the essential differences, both in content and methods, between statistics and core mathematics is provided, along with subsequent discussion of the practical implications that these differences portend for a mathematics department at a liberal arts college. (JJK)

Presents an ideology of student affairs in small colleges, based on a sociological model of community, which includes synergy, an educational role, the centrality of values, personalism, and organic change. Commentaries and response to the commentaries on the ideology are given. (Author/ABB)

Small Canadian universities are extremely important agents of socioeconomic change for their regions. They focus on excellence in undergraduate education and applied rather than "heavy" research, filling roles the larger urban universities do not care to play in their place. They can be compared to U.S. liberal arts colleges. (MSE)

The development of speech communication curricula in two diverse small colleges--one state supported and the other a private liberal arts school--is traced in this paper. Following a description of each college, the paper discusses the problems each faced in developing its speech communication curriculum, including opposition from members of other…

In the summer of 1985, faculty at a number of small colleges met at Hope College (Michigan) to attempt to decide if there is an essential curriculum that all undergraduate communication majors should encounter, and if there is, what concepts or courses should be included. Participants at the conference selected a course approach, which resulted in…

Summarizes the findings of several studies which focused on various aspects of the small/rural community college and its students. Points to other areas that need to be examined. (MB)

A study by the National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO) analyzed tuition discount ratios for small colleges with lower tuition, small colleges with higher tuition, and large colleges/universities. It examined average tuition discount percentages, average tuition rates and enrollments, percent of students aided, and…

The decision on the most appropriate size for liberal arts colleges should not be made on economic grounds. Analysis of literature shows that economic benefits through economies of scale are too debatable to play an important role. Fixed costs may be offset by less institutional complexity in small colleges. (Author/MSE)

While the political activities of the small college and religious institution occur in a unique cultural context, they cannot be avoided. Politics and power can be best understood in ways that contribute to, rather than detract from, the work of those in student affairs in these kinds of institutions. (Author)

Examines the arguments regarding convergence between community colleges and proprietary institutions put forth by the other authors in the current volume. Concludes that the convergence between institutions is more apparent than real, but that if external pressures continue or increase, it may become reality. (MAB)

This examination of the impact of technology on the educational role of small academic libraries focuses on the information access aspect of technology. Librarians at 26 colleges in Illinois with enrollments of under 3,000 students responded to a survey which measured the libraries' access to databases through online searching and the use of…

Recent emphasis placed on the cost effectiveness of larger colleges and larger classes is criticized from the point of view that student involvement is more valuable but is difficult to achieve under such circumstances. (MSE)