Purpose: The purpose of the study was to develop a strategic planning model for specific application in small, private liberal arts colleges. A preliminary review of literature indicated both a lack of and a need for such a model.Procedure: The study was conducted in four stages. The first stage was to review selected literature on strategic planning and models of planning in educational and business settings. The intent of stage one was to develop a theoretical framework for the strategic planning model.The second stage of the study was to design and develop an initial model entitled, Small College Strategic Planning Model (SCSPM). In developing the model, concepts and theories from the literature were blended with subjective insights gained from thirteen years experience as an administrator in a small, private liberal arts college.In the third stage, the model was tested for validity by a panel of experts in the field of planning and higher education. The intent of the procedure in stage three was to utilize the wisdom of recognized expert practitioners for refinement of the theoretical model. Such a perspective was included in order to improve the workability of the model and to assure appropriate application to small colleges. Input was received from six experts in private interviews.The fourth stage consisted of revising the initial model based on findings from interviews with planning experts. The revised model incorporated suggestions and ideas which were common to members of the panel as well as unique ideas judged as valid improvements for strengthening the model.Model: The model was based on the theories and concepts of strategic planning and consisted of five major phases: Phase I Pre-Planning; Phase II Foundations for Strategic Planning; Phase III Situation Analysis; Phase IV Strategic Decision-Making; and Phase V Strategic Implementation and Actions. In Phase I the issues of organizing and preparing for planning were addressed. In Phase II a procedure for identifying educational values and existing institutional goals was presented. Phase III included a structure for analyzing the external and internal environments of an institution. Phase IV incorporated several tasks which enable a college to gain closure in identifying key strategic variables. Phase V prescribed a method for transferring strategic plans to annual operational plans. Proper implementation of each phase in sequence is intended to provide a small college with a workable strategic plan, supported and implemented by major constituents of the college.

Small private colleges represent a unique and important element of diversity within American higher education. Their small size, heavy dependence on tuition, and limited resources, have caused them to be repeatedly identified as singularly threatened with enrollment declines. Despite these predictions the evidence indicates that most of these colleges survived the 1980s and many thrived. This study had two major goals. The first was the characterization of institutions within the population during the 1980s with regards to environmental characteristics, institutional attributes and academic strategic actions. The second was the description of the relationships between these variables and enrollment changes in the 1980s. The population was composed of Liberal Arts I and II colleges with independent ownership and average Fall, 1980 enrollment between 100 and 1000. This study utilized data from two primary sources; a questionnaire distributed to academic officers, and several self-reported, public domain sources. The survey was distributed to all 294 institutions in the population with 219 returned (74% completion rate). Basic descriptive statistics were used to characterize the population. A list of statistically and substantively significant variables were identified using a set of criteria for causal inference. Factor analysis was utilized to develop factors from the significant variables and these factors were entered into a multiple regression model to explain variance in enrollment growth. These colleges were located in highly populated areas shared with many institutions offering two- and four-year degrees. Nearly three-fourths of the academic programs at these institutions were classified as liberal arts in 1989. The 1980s saw an increase in the number and proportion of professional programs and the number of programs for "non-traditional" students. These colleges added Associates and Masters degrees, and increased the number and proportion of graduate students. The selectivity of nearly 90% of these institutions was minimally or moderately difficult in 1989 and 84% were church-related. Two categories of environmental characteristics were related to enrollment changes in the 1980s. The first was the size of the immediate community, and the second was the level of local competition. Community size was the only environmental factor which substantively explains any of the variation in 1980s enrollment change. Four factors were identified which characterized the relationship of institutional attributes and enrollment changes in the 1980s. These factors were; the age of students, the balance of professional and liberal arts programs, and two variables related to institutional image. Collectively, three of the four factors explain ten percent of the variance in 1980s enrollment change. Eight factors characterized institutional actions influencing enrollments. These factors include adult programs and policies, institutional student selectivity, internal activities focused on traditional student pools, non-traditional student support and recruitment, non-traditional program development, changes in institutional policies (calendar and directed studies), addition of graduate programming, and increase in transfer students. Collectively, factors one, two, three, five, and eight explain over 30% of the variance in 1980s enrollment change. When all fourteen of these factors were entered into a multiple regression model, the six factors that loaded were; student selectivity, traditional student responses, nontraditional programming, transfer students, average student age, and community size. These factors explained nearly 35% of the variance in 1980s enrollment change. These findings indicate that the greatest influences on enrollment change in the 1980s were related to non-traditional students. Those institutions which showed increases in non-traditional programs, non-traditional students, and average student age, showed the greatest increase in enrollments. Those institutions located in rural regions and those which reported the use of more traditional institutional responses to enrollment challenges (e.g. freshman advising programs) showed lower enrollment gains. Finally, higher levels of student selectivity co varied significantly with enrollment rates.

The purpose of this study was to investigate why small, private, four-year liberal arts colleges implement off-campus credit programs. The focus of the research was to determine the factors responsible for offering off-campus programs in some institutions, while in others, no attempts were made to offer similar programs. Survey research was the primary method used in the study. Twenty-five colleges which were members of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) and which had off-campus programs were paired with an equal number of non-participating colleges based on size, tuition costs and affiliation. Data were gathered from NCES and SACS reports, current college catalogs and from self-designed questionnaires. A response rate above 90 percent was recorded for the mailed questionnaires. The Chi-Square test of relationship, T-test, and ANOVA techniques were used to analyze the data. All analyses were evaluated at the .05 level of significance. Data analysis for participating colleges suggested: (1) Off-campus programs were relatively new, with a majority (87 percent) having been established over the past ten years; (2) Small, private, liberal-arts colleges were adapting their missions to allow them to serve a new clientele. (3) The primary leadership within the colleges for the initiation and continuation of off-campus programs were the presidents, deans and the governing boards. A declining enrollment was indicated as a primary reason for going off campus; and (4) The groups being served most often off campus were managers, public school teachers, ministers, accountants, law enforcement personnel, and those seeking a Baccalaureate degree. The analysis of the data between the participating and non-participating colleges showed: (1) The participating colleges experienced more growth than the non-participating group. This modest growth could be traced to off-campus enrollments; (2) Both groups of colleges had a similar curriculum, but a statistically significant difference existed for the degree in education. The participating colleges had a larger number of institutions with a degree in education; (3) The participating colleges' mission statements evidenced a more serious commitment to serving the broader community through educational opportunities than did the non-participating group; (4) A statistically significant difference existed between the two groups regarding the sources of revenue, Federal appropriations, grants and contracts and total revenues. The non-participating group received more revenues from these non-tuition sources; (5) A statistically significant difference existed for the expenditure categories of academic support, library support, and operations and maintenance; and (6) No statistical difference was found between the groups for faculty or transportation characteristics or in the number of competitors for off-campus credit programs. / Ed. D. / incomplete_metadata

This study identified and examined individual, group, institutional, and other factors and conditions associated with the founding and development of private higher education institutions designed to serve religious groups, women, black Americans, native Americans, and Hispanic Americans. A number of distinct influencing social conditions were identified. Distinctness was due to different group needs and circumstances during certain American historical periods. Common social conditions found included need for culturally sensitive institutions, pervasiveness of religious interests in founding attempts, social exclusion and discrimination, population growth and urbanization, democratic opportunity, federal government pervasiveness, and social consciousness change. Fifty-four specific factors associated with the founding and development of institutions were identified. Analysis revealed many complex interrelationships among social, individual, group, institutional and other miscellaneous factors and conditions existing in collegiate institution founding and development efforts. These factors created many variables that could affect the success of the institutions. Forty-two of the fifty-four factors were judged to be important elements for those contemporarily considering founding collegiate institutions. General conclusions: (1) Institutions best able to deal with the many complex factors were most likely to succeed. (2) The more support and (3) confidence institutions could generate, the better their chances for survival. (4) Institutional and community cohesion were important in achieving permanency. (5) Many institutions were created because of perceived socio-economic, political, cultural, and educational inequities. (6) Social groups addressed higher educational needs after increased awareness of their social conditions. (7) Sociocultural differences existed in group approaches to provision of higher education. (8) Regarding effectiveness in founding, groups ranked as follows; religious groups, women, black Americans, native Americans, and Hispanic Americans. (9) Religious denominations were very involved in founding efforts for three of the groups studied, minimally involved with native Americans, least involved with Hispanic Americans. (10) Religious affiliated institutions generally served socio-economic and religious needs of constituents; this was not evident with the Roman Catholic Church and Hispanic Americans. (11) Educated leadership was essential in founding efforts. (12) High dissatisfaction with existing institutions prompted private founding attempts.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI)