The perception that a college has an excellent academic program is seen as a judgment about the whole college, not just about a few departments. To maintain this judgment, the administrator of a small college must exercise balance in allocation of resources to departments and academic support areas. (Author/MLW)

Essential requisites for managing institutions in a retrenchment economy include: a clear-cut institutional mission, effective student recruiting, adequate self-knowledge, and competent and dynamic leadership. Practical implications of these conditions for administrators and institutional researchers are discussed. (Author/SF)

Many small, private colleges lack the resources to develop a planning, management and evaluation (PME) system and the result is planning becomes a neglected function. An in-depth study by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for the Detroit Institute of Technology is described. (MLW)

The Atlanta University Center, Inc., a consortium of six institutions (Clark, Morehouse, Morris Brown, Spelman, Atlanta University, and Interdenominational Theological Center) represents the world's largest nucleus of Black private higher education. Its background and the problems faced in dealing with each institution's desire for autonomy are…

Analysis of data on 2,508 matriculates to the University of Alabama School of Medicine found that graduates of small local colleges were more diverse than other students in gender and race; had similar academic performance; and were more likely to come from a rural background, to drop out, or to locate to rural areas after graduation. The need for…

Considers ways in which telecommunications can ameliorate the staffing crises of small colleges. Describes West Virginia Northern Community College's efforts to serve remote instructional sites using an interactive telecommunications system. Reviews the college's problem, the design and installation of equipment, and selection and training of…

Center College of Kentucky's "central myth," or self-understanding, articulated strategically, became the basis for planning and decisions responsible for significant institutional achievement. (MLW)

Many small private colleges are gaining in enrollments because of aggressive marketing tactics, more long-term planning, and innovative educational programs designed to appeal to nontraditional students. (MSE)

A study of 291 freshmen from "invisible" colleges and 239 from 6 prestigious colleges and universities and their parents investigated how the 2 sets of families with obvious different college preferences had made their choice. Geography, parental influence and approval, the "second choice" concept, and institutional…

A small liberal arts college's program of home visits for recruitment and admissions was evaluated. Forty students and several parents receiving home visits were classified by grades and eventual enrollment in the college, then surveyed. Results indicate the visits were the reason most applied. However, other factors were more strongly related to…

Surveyed college administrators, faculty, support staff, and students (total n=211) to assess retention efforts at small college. Found both differences and similarities among groups. Findings suggest that progress has been made in improving retention efforts. Results revealed that respondents did not always perceive close relationship between…

Explores the ways in which multiculturalism is institutionally produced in a small liberal arts college. States that administrative concerns with multiculturalism are shaped by the market in students; academic multiculturalist concerns are shaped by the market in textual production. (CMK)

Liberal arts colleges occupy a unique place in the landscape of higher education. Whether defined, as David Breneman has, as an exclusive group of about 200 schools that award a large percentage of their degrees in traditional liberal arts fields, or as a more inclusive group of baccalaureate institutions, liberal arts colleges focus on…

This chapter provides an overview of the challenges to and strategies for successful staffing in a small college student affairs division.

This research was conducted in order to examine whether libraries are maintaining consistent and complete subject authority control and creating syndetic reference structure for popular topics. A descriptive study of 15 private liberal arts college libraries was conducted to determine whether the Library of Congress (LC) prescribed "see"…