Differentiating COPLAC institution costs from those at other colleges and universities

COPLAC institution costs and funding are often compared with public universities with different missions and larger enrollment. In some ways our focused missions create efficiencies and in other ways the closer interaction among students, faculty and staff give our campuses costs that are like private liberal arts colleges. The presentation will identify how structure influences costs and creates advantages and disadvantages in public discourse over student costs and institutional costs. The panel will identify strategies for discussing these differences with external constituencies. The panel will also identify how current economic trends are likely to affect COPLAC campuses differently than other public higher education. Finally, the panel will consider how tuition at COPLAC institutions should be derived.

A Public Liberal Arts Education: What Difference Does It Make for Scientists, Teachers, Public Servants, and Health Professionals?

This presentation considers the impact of a public liberal arts educational program upon students' preparation for their chosen career(s). Using the background of the rapidly changing environment presented in "Did You Know: Shift Happens" the Midwestern State University Provost and Deans will discuss the challenges inherent in preparing students for one or more careers in a future that as "mature" educators, we cannot imagine. Each Dean will describe the strategies used in his or her college to integrate the liberal arts content into specific degree plans and lessons learned through this process.

Save the World on Your Own Time

We plan to take Stanley Fish's new book, Save the World on Your Own Time, as the prompt for a stimulating round-table discussion of the value of a liberal arts education and the particular value of the public liberal arts institution. What, we ask, is the relationship between our shared commitment to shaping engaged students and Fish's argument that, for the sake of students and higher education, professors should park their political commitments at the classroom door?

Steps to Sustain and Expand Fund Raising in a Tough Economy

A presentation/workshop for leaders of state liberal arts colleges to help focus fund raising efforts in a tough economy Participation in this session will help develop your framework for how to:

• identify philanthropists and match college needs
• determine an appropriate infrastructure for development
• proportion your time allocation to development
• engage a portfolio of prospective donors
• spread the word about development on campus
• stimulate teamwork to maximize engagement
• set realistic standards for managing return on investment

Through this interactive presentation, you will gain insights about best practices in development at peer institutions.

The Place of Continuing Education on a COPLAC Campus

While a COPLAC school's core enterprise is undergraduate, liberal arts education delivered to full-time residential students; as a public university, COPLAC schools have additional constituencies to serve, and a broader public mission to uphold. Continuing Education serves as the "Public Arm" for a COPLAC institution and adds value to the University's core enterprise while also supporting its public mission in a number of ways that are unique to the school.

This panel discussion will be co-led by Robert Baker of Keene State College and Dr. Shelly Gimenez of Eastern Connecticut State University. The discussion will focus on the uniqueness of each school's approach to Continuing Education and how it adds value to its home institution. Explored will be similarities and differences, best practices in each of our schools and in other COPLAC schools. Emphasis will be placed on the interpretation of "Public Mission" for each continuing education unit within a COPLAC school. Time will be allocated for question and answer. It is hoped that the audience will share what is happening within their respective institutions. Within the context of this workshop, one outcome can be new collaborative relationships.