Liberal Arts Colleges in the South: Case Study Analysis of Recent Strategic Decisions

The September 2014 issue of Business Officer includes an interesting article by Michael Horan, "The Upside of Strategic Discipline."  The article focuses on issues faced by Sewanee: The University of the South and Oglethorpe University during the past decade.  The September issue is not currently visible on the NACUBO web site so you will need to find a campus business officer or other administrator who has a subscription.

Horan uses a case study approach and identifies a number of key lessons.  I particularly appreciate his conclusion that the "...lack of an 'endless good argument' between all of the stakeholders can spell disaster..."

The article refers to Horan's more extensive research in his 2013 dissertation from the University of Georgia where he focused on Sewanee and two other institutions, Birmingham-Southern and Greensboro College.