Full Description
Institutions of higher education are constantly facing economic challenges to their survival. Nowhere are the challenges greater than in small private colleges and universities across America. None of these colleges can assume that its stability is assured in perpetuity. No thriving college is immune from unforeseen disaster, just as no struggling college is irreversibly destined for closure. This issue presents stories of colleges in crisis and considers what makes the difference between a college that closes and one that nearly closes but manages to remain open. It offers a range of revealing, hard-won experiences of college presidents who led their campuses in times of crises. Some colleges found no way out, and their stories offer lessons that are just as valuable as the stories of colleges that reinvented themselves and survived. This is the 156th volume of the Jossey-Bass quarterly report series New Directions for Higher Education. Addressed to higher education decision makers on all kinds of campuses, it provides timely information and authoritative advice about major issues and administrative problems confronting every institution.
Contents
In memory of Martin A. Kramer, 1932 2011 1 Editors' Notes 3 Sounding a Wake-up Call Alice W. Brown Innovative Strategies: Overview of the Contents 5 Sandra L. Ballard 1. Case Study of a College that Closed: Saint Mary's College 7 Alice W. Brown Not every institution has the option of returning to an earlier mission, but when Saint Mary's College closed, Saint Mary's School, a prestigious, historic preparatory school for girls, thrived. 2. Bradford College: Requiem for a College 19 Arthur Levine A liberal arts college with strong leadership can drastically change directions with only a few decisions. 3. A College that Reinvented Itself: The Wilson College Story 27 Mary-Linda Merriam Armacost Alumnae and students can influence the survival of a college by challenging the college's trustees and working together to make unprecedented changes. 4. Case Study of Reinvention: College of Charleston 41 Alice W. Brown A private historic college can become a part of a state university system. 5. Reinventing Black Colleges in Postethnic America: The Case of Knoxville College 49 Barbara R. Hatton Integration laws that opened doors to public universities threatened enrollment at a private, historically African American college, which then reinvented its curriculum. 6. Antioch College: A Celebrated History and an Uncertain Future 65 Elizabeth R. Hayford A signature combination of on-campus liberal arts courses and off-campus work experiences inspired collaborative efforts to preserve a college. 7. Advice to Presidents of Struggling Colleges 83 Michael J. Puglisi A college president speaks from experience. INDEX 93
