USD Magazine, Fall 1999

Caught between large public universities and for-profit colleges, liberal arts institutions face a new century where staying true to their roots of a value-based, holistic education is complicated by the increasingly market-driven world of education.

BY SUSAN HEROLD

I f Dr. Mark Greene of television's ER were to make a prognosis of the nation's liberal arts colleges and universities in the next century, he'd need a lot more than a Chem 7 and a batch of chest films. He'd be flying in that hotshot George Clooney for a consult. As the calendar prepares to flip to 2000, scores of pundits and practitioners are debating the future of smaller institutions of higher learning, predicting that private liberal arts schools will need to work a lot smarter and harder in the coming years to maintain their identity - and their high-caliber students - in the increasingly market-driven world of education. Not only will they have to avoid being squeezed out by public universities, with their lower, taxpayer-subsidized tuition and variety of professional programs aimed at career-minded students, they face the emergence of for-profit institutions which cater to working professionals by building curriculum and classes around 9-to-S work schedules. Consider this diagnosis offered up in the Winter 1999 journal of the Association of American Colleges and Universities, which was dedicated entirely to the issue of liberal arts institutions: "All face escalating costs, increasing competition and relatively meager capital resources," Paul Neely, a trustee of Williams College and publisher of the Chattanooga Times, writes. "Without large endowments, economics forces them toward a larger scale, undermin– ing the smallness that is part of their social and pedagogical attraction." Enough to call a Code Blue? Hardly, say experts, as long as liberal arts institutions hold true to the core of their success - personalized instruction with an emphasis on thinking and creativity - while using flexibility and ingenuity to improve that education. "The days of just sitting back in higher education are long gone, especially in the era of the for-profit school," says Fred Galloway, former director of federal policy analysis for the American Council on Education. "Education today is about finding your niche in the market, knowing what your mission is, and doing a great job with that mission." Keeping true to its mission of a liberal arts teaching university

with a strong emphasis on developing the "whole person" is the foun– dation of the University of San Diego's plan for the next century. But that doesn't mean university leaders are resting on their laurels. Rather, they're examining the university's strengths and weaknesses and developing plans to take advantage of those strengths. "It's similar to a corporate business plan," explains Vice President and Provost Frank Lazarus. "One of the disadvantages we have is we are located between two giants: The University of California San Diego, a top research institution, and San Diego State University, one of the ten biggest 'multiversities' in the country. They can bring immense resources to an issue, which we can't. "Yet our advantage is, because of our size, we can move much faster than they can," Lazarus adds. "We can discover and cultivate a market before they can. To use a sports analogy, not only do we have a quick first step, we have a strong pivot move." One example of that flexibility is the university's new master's degree in executive leadership, put together in just over a year by the business faculty and The Ken Blanchard Companies. The program will be team taught with USD faculty and Blanchard professionals, and targets working managers and USD alumni with weekend classes and hands-on experiences. Lazarus says the region abounds with underserved populations seeking higher education, such as Navy personnel and the growing bio-tech community. And by linking with the other independent insti– tutions in California, which number more than 100, USD can further its partnership and networking power, as well as have a significant role in the public debate on education, which has been dominated by state universities. "We need to make decisions that implement our mission, and not go into areas that are not genuine to who we are," Lazarus says. "We have a gorgeous campus, and we attract traditional students and a faculty dedicated to those students. It becomes a question of marketing yourself to them."

1990

Fall - Enrollment reaches 5,858.

Fall- Law School enrollment reaches 1,100 students, 43 per– cent women.

Juna 4 - Thousands of students killed in Peking's Tiananmen Square.

Dae. 21 - Bomb blows apart PanAm 747 over Scotland. 1989 January - Capital campaign publicly announced; $21 million already committed. Spring - Three new fraternities, two new sororities added to Greek system, with 600 participants.

' Fu. 11 - Nelson Mandela freed after 27 years in a South African prison. August - USD ranks fourth in U.S. News & World Report regional university survey.

Saplemhlll' - Manchester Family Child Development Center

Nn.11- German government resigns; Berlin Wall demolished.

opens for preschool children of

faculty, staff and students.

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