The flava:
Small, private institutions can often offer a familial atmosphere that just isn’t possible at larger schools. But Saint Joseph’s is only the latest in a string of college closures, particularly among small, private schools in rural areas.
And it won’t be the last.
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Houston Austin Paris Palestine Yanush Beaumont Irving Richardson Texarkana Harlingen Dallas Abilene Yellowpine Commerce Amarillo Lubbock
ReplyDeleteItaly Fairyland Okra Rainbow Glory Osage Tyler.
ReplyDeleteHouston Unity Galveston Sabine!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteWhat they said!!! Have a wonderful day!
ReplyDelete(I don't have the patience you guys have!)
Happy belated, Cal!
ReplyDeleteAs for the article, some places are, indeed, sadly, going to disappear, and, as with any dying institution, they will do the least harm to those who rely on them (for an education, and/or for work) if they do it in an orderly manner. That may mean *not* holding out hopes for a Sweetbriar-like resolution (I know a few Sweetbriar grads, and they're lovely people, but/and also, how do I put this? privileged. Okay, rich, or at least very comfortably middle class. Much more so than your average graduate of a struggling Catholic college, I suspect.)
As for the other ideas, specialization seems like a good one, until you realize that means making most of the current school into "service" departments/divisions, and keeping only the majors for which there is real "demand" as real majors (which might work, if you could figure out what those majors will be for the next several decades). I suspect that's often just a slower route to closing, with the pain spread over a longer time.
Mergers sound more promising to me, though that may be because I haven't thought them through as much. I'm sure the internal politics would be hell, and somehow the people who would lose their jobs would be administrative support staff more than administrators.