For over a decade, educators, government representatives, entrepreneurs, social scientists, economists and journalists have espoused a constant drumbeat on the critically important skills and habits of mind that students will need to possess not just to survive, but also thrive in a rapidly changing and highly competitive world. Each commentator,…

Study abroad is often treated in terms of individual student outcomes, and has recently been discussed as potentially detrimental to smaller language programs--in that student participation in semester- or year-long programs subtracts from enrollments in upper-level courses. In this article, the promotion of study abroad in a small German program…

This study examined the homepages of the libraries of 175 smaller bachelor of arts institutions, coding for the presence of 98 design elements. By reporting and examining the frequency of these features, the authors noted what is and is not common practice at these libraries. They found that only fourteen elements were present on at least half of…

In autumn, most colleges' football fields are covered with a thick carpet of grass or artificial turf and are adorned with yard lines. But the football field at Paul Quinn College was carved up by plowing and planting. This past fall, portions of the college's gridiron were covered with sweet potatoes, watermelons, peppers, rosemary, and sugar…

In ten years, Alaska Pacific University has moved from a totally decentralized administration of its adult online program to a very centralized structure. Drastic changes in funding sources and student needs have compelled the university to take new approaches. As the learning landscape continues to shift for adults, online learners, and Alaska…

This ethnographic project explored the extent to which the campus culture at a small liberal arts college was open to student experiences and expressions of the spiritual and the religious. The authors found that despite the college's reputation for valuing diversity and a commitment to social justice, students shared a narrative of religious…

The purpose of this study is to determine the effectiveness of the learning community program at a small liberal arts college on educational outcomes as measured by differences in semester GPA between learning community participants and non-participants, as well as differences between types of learning communities, time of participation in…

Bridging the gap between theory and practice has been a priority with universities and colleges of nursing. A mechanism for bridging this gap has been the establishment of faculty practices. Faculty practices have provided nurse practitioner faculty opportunities to mentor students, augment income, implement evidence-based research, provide…

It is gratifying to see that the two Modern Languages Association (MLA) reports, "Foreign Language and Higher Education: New Structures for a Changed World" and "Report to the Teagle Foundation on the Undergraduate Major in Language and Literature," address important issues regarding the improvement of language teaching in the…

Scarcely a week goes by without a headline about the unsustainability of higher education as we know it, under threat from new models, for-profits, or online education. Most threatened are small liberal arts colleges--with commentators predicting the demise of colleges with fewer than 1,000, or even 1,500 students. Are these trends inevitable, or…

This mixed methods study was designed to determine the type and quality of pre-college career guidance experiences of college freshmen and the impact of those experiences on student performance and retention. This study was limited to first time freshmen at a small private university in Tennessee. The population was 46% male and 54% female from 6…

Many small institutions face difficulties, and the person who bears the brunt of dealing with those challenges is the college president. While each situation is unique, presidents can learn from the experiences of others, and at the very least, commiserate with each other regarding the challenges they face, especially when their institutions are…

First-generation college students, students whose parents have not earned a four-year degree, are not new to higher education, but their increasing presence at private, four-year institutions requires careful attention from administration and faculty. The rising costs of higher education combined with the nation's recent economic decline have made…

This article describes a qualitative study that involved two small private universities, examining their process of transformation from institutions headed toward closure to institutions that underwent a successful turnaround. The primary questions that guided the study included the issues and circumstances that led to the need for a turnaround,…

The Association Supporting Computer Users in Education (ASCUE) is a group of people interested in small college computing issues. It is a blend of people from all over the country who use computers in their teaching, academic support, and administrative support functions. Begun in 1968 as the College and University Eleven-Thirty Users' Group…