Learning Resources

Abstract: This is the 21st in a series of profiles documenting experiences with the use of instructional technology at two dozen colleges and universities. A look at what has been learned at these places may benefit others considering new ways to teach. This report describes an alternative system for delivering televised instruction to off-campus locations, that is, via videotapes that are carried by private courier and shipped through the mail. Colorado State University, one of perhaps 20 institutions that have chosen the "bicycling of tapes" over other TV technologies, was the first in the nation to do so and, with the scale of its present operations, leads the field. The reasons for this preference and the use of this method to share resources with other schools and extend services to business and industry are discussed.

Abstract: As more and more colleges and universities confront the threat of financial exigency, they are seeking ways in which to maintain or increase student enrollments. One area of possible growth is the summer session, which has often been relegated to a minor role in an institution's planning and programming. This article, which is based on the author's 1975 study of the summer sessions at Bowling Green State University, suggests ways in which planners, administrators, and faculty may analyze their summer enrollments, consider new programs, and utilize interdepartmental and community resources to effect desired changes.

Abstract: This is the 20th in a series of profiles documenting the experiences of two dozen colleges and universities with the use of instructional technology. A look at what has been learned at these places may benefit others considering new ways to teach. This report describes Golden West College, which was conceived, designed, and built around the use of technology as an intrinsic element in teaching and learning. Despite the hazards endemic to such innovation, today it is one of the most successful "mediated" colleges in the country. Indeed, the know-how acquired in its 10 years of operation is serving as the base for a spin-off institution. The new college will have virtually no campus and will deliver instruction to remote learners via TV and correspondence.

Abstract: According to the author, the offices of admissions and student financial aid have long been excluded from the institutional planning process. In an era of projected enrollment declines and increased competition for changing student markets, the author argues that these offices will have to assume a new and critical role in planning for future survival. The article has been adapted from the author's remarks at workshops sponsored by the Consortium of Small Private Colleges in March 1976.

Abstract: This is the eighteenth in a series of profiles documenting experiences with the use of instructional technology at two dozen colleges and universities. A look at what has been learned at these places may benefit others considering new ways to teach. Since we can learn from failures as well as from successes, the mission of this series would be unfulfilled if the profiles described only success stories. Florida Atlantic University was one of the first universities in the nation planned around the use of instructional media. Because there were no models for guidance, the university had to bravely proceed while learning from its own trials and errors. We are grateful for FAU's willingness to share the kind of infornation about those trials and errors that some institutions might prefer to play down. The author of this profile, a research associate at EFL has written widely on education, and is both project director and editor of this series. These reports are supported by a special grant to EFL from The Ford Foundation.

Abstract: Private liberal arts colleges and universities continue to educate a significant percentage of American students, in spite of the recent growth in public higher education--and to sustain for the whole academic community the tradition of preserving boundaries between government and academia. Now the survival of these instiitutions is threatened by economic factors beyond their control. In 1974 the Task Force of the National Council of Independent Colleges and Universities sought means of reducing tuition costs to students in the private sector and of thus ensuring the vitality of a pluralistic system of higher education in the United States. The following article is a discussion of the public-private dialogue in the light of Task Force recommendations. It has been adapted from an address delivered by Steven Muller (a member of the Task Force) at the Southern Regional Education Board meeting in 1975, as first published in the 1975 SREB series "Financing Higher Education", No. 26. Dr. Muller, president of the Johns Hopkins University, was selected chairman of the board of the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities, formed earlier this year.

Abstract: The following account of planning's evolution at The American University emphasizes the importance of building flexible working relationships among the various representatives of the university community and the planning staff, in support of " the faculty-student relationship...at the core of the learning process. " A sound data base and a planning model based on the staff's clear perception of goals and mission, make a foundation from which members of an institution can address the problems that both "increase the need for planning [and] complicate its development." This article has been adapted from Dr. Cleary's remarks at the National Conference on College and University Planning at the Johns Hopkins University, January 1976, at which the Society was cosponsor.

Abstract: This is the nineteenth in a series of profiles documenting the experiences of two dozen colleges and universities with the use of instructional technology. A look at what has been learned at these places may benefit others considering new ways to teach. This report describes instructional development activities conducted through a consortium. Collegiate consortia are certainly not new, nor is instructional development. The combination, however, is unique. In offering this story, we break one of the ground rules established for these profiles: to report on projects that have been in place long enough for the results to be in, so that readers may profit from their successes and failures. The program described herein is a fledging, but it is a concept so potentially useful to small, poor institutions that it merits setting aside that rule. The author of tis profile serves as associate director of the Commission on Instructional Technology, and also has written widely on education and the arts. The reports in this series are supported by a special grant to EFL from The Ford Foundation.

Abstract: The author finds that in the last decade important changes have occurred not only in higher education's "planning environment" but in general attitudes toward planning as well, and that a sound plan for the future seems likely to become a top priority in both foundation and corporate funding decisions. There are several key areas of the new order, discussed here by the author, to be considered in trying to gauge the future of a college or university. In addition, as the planner's job grows in complexity, there is a corresponding increase in responsibility for preserving the quality and vision of an institution's programs and policies. This article has been adapted from the author's remarks at the National Conference on College and University Planning, held at The Johns Hopkins University in Janurary 1976.