Meeting the Challenge: - The Council of Independent Colleges

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John R. Thelin From the 1960s to the 1980s, the small colleges often reduced or abolished their course requirements in religion and moral philosophy. the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities, founded in 1976. In an earlier era, the religious identity of the colleges had been defined by formal features, such as legal ownership, control of governance, and financial dependence. By the end of the 20 th century, however, that identity was more often characterized by a historic commitment, a shared mission, and an enduring commitment to a particular faith and set of values. An underappreciated phenomenon of the period that began in the early 1970s was the self-scrutiny small independent colleges applied to their campus operations as they rethought the interconnections of form, function, and philosophy. No less than a managerial revolution enabled these colleges to collect the data they needed to make thoughtful decisions after careful deliberations. A number of colleges underwent rigorous reviews in order to redirect the campus from inertia to energy. The transformations could permeate an entire campus—ranging from admissions, financial aid, fundraising, and alumni affairs, to purchasing and the maintenance of buildings and grounds. Even the traditional academic calendar was scrutinized. Could the college save substantially on its energy consumption by starting the first semester earlier in late August, and ending it earlier in late December Did closing the library between midnight and 8:00 a.m. necessarily squelch learning Which educational practices promoted student retention—or avoided wasted time and effort Scores of such questions, combined with systematic data, allowed every campus constituency to reconsider academic business as usual. Among CIC members, institutional decisions about financial and enrollment concerns took markedly different forms. Mount Holyoke College, for example, gained national publicity in the 1980s for a strategy to increase its pool of academically strong applicants by raising tuition and increasing its need-based financial aid awards. Muskingum College of Ohio took an opposite tack in the 1990s as it opted to reduce its tuition charges in order to increase the number of applications. Each approach worked for that college. Ironically, small colleges are often stereotyped as captives of inertia and tradition when, in fact, they behave quite differently. Managerial changes have been accompanied by remarkably enterprising initiatives. This has been especially evident in development and fundraising, as presidents and development officers have worked hard to tell the story of the small college to alumni, donors, and foundations. One result is that independent colleges were especially effective in keeping college affordable during the 1980s and 1990s, both by containing expenses and by providing generous student financial aid. 31
Small by Design: Resilience in an Era of Mass Higher Education Hallmark programs like the Pell Grants and other federal financial aid programs brought the independent colleges and universities into the mainstream of government efforts to increase student aid and student choice simultaneously. Thanks in large measure to the collective efforts of independent colleges—through such groups as the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities—the large-scale federal financial aid programs started in the 1970s proved that sound public policies could include private institutions as full partners. Notable exceptions included Hillsdale College in Michigan and Grove City College in Pennsylvania, which gained renown for taking strong, deliberate stands to assert their institutional autonomy by refusing federal funds. Innovation and Inspiration Having survived the financial crises of the 1970s, small independent colleges embarked on three decades of enterprising developments. CIC’s members have maintained their diversity and distinctiveness in an era when the pressures of mass media encouraged homogenization of the entire culture, including higher education. Faced with a changing national population of prospective students and persistent economic pressures—including more competition from community colleges and for-profit institutions—many independent colleges and universities added master’s degrees and other graduate programs in the 1980s and 1990s. More and more often, they also found ways to cooperate with each other, sharing programs and resources, even as they competed for students and the attention of donors and the public as a whole. Pioneering efforts at collective purchasing, sharing of technology and other administrative services, and online courses serving groups of campuses emerged—among other places in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and among colleges in the Southeast. Independent colleges and universities do not constitute a homogeneous sector of American higher education. There has always been great diversity among the colleges. Though some institutions enjoy national prestige, every institution shapes itself in terms of local and regional constituencies. Berea College in Kentucky continues to offer tuition-free, liberal arts education to low-income students from the Appalachian region. Whittier and Mills Colleges in California transformed their traditional curricula in the liberal arts to respond to the changing demographics of gender and ethnicity in the surrounding communities, attracting a strong representation of students of color. The College of Wooster in Ohio distinguishes itself through a prominent independent study program. The 32
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Page 10 and 11: Preface Richard Ekman The Council o
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Morris College / Sumter, SC / 1908
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Illinois / Augustana College / Auro
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Mississippi / Millsaps College / Ru
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Rhode Island / Roger Williams Unive
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Arkansas / Arkansas’ Independent
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Alexander W. Astin and Calvin B.T.
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John William Oliver, Jr., James Hod
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Meeting the Challenge: - The Council of Independent Colleges

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