DOCUMENT RESUME

ED 059 689 HE 002 857 TITLE Cluster and Upper DivisionColleges: New Organizational Forms in HigherEducation. Board, Atlanta, Ga. INSTITUTION Southern Regional Education PUB DATE 71 NOTE 8p. EDRS PRICE MF-$0.65 HC-$3.29 *Educational Innovation; DESCRIPTORS *Cluster ; Colleges; *Experimental. Colleges; *HigherEducation; Innovation; *Upper DivisionColleges

ABSTRACT Institutions of highereducation presently and in the future will be confrontedwith the problem of offeringdiversified programs to thestudents they are supposedto serve. All institutions one-sided emphasis on are becoming moreand more alike due to a increased enrollment ratherthan accommodating thatpriority to increased program quality.. Apossible solution to thisproblem is the creation of cluster and upperdivision colleges. Each typeof would offer the atmosphereof a small college butwould, at the same time, offer the varietyof resources available atlarger institutions. Another majorbenefit is a small collegeatmosphere, which encourages e,xperimentationand offers alternatives to traditionalism as a means ofcombating the homogenizationof . The cluster collegeand upper division patternsof organization have yet to bethoroughly evaluated, andthey deserve serious consideration by highereducation planners. (HS) state systems of highereducation has created a need for different types of organization.This growth has also produced a number ofchanges in the kinds of OF HEALTH, educational experiences whichinstitutions of higher DEPARTMENT U.S.EDUCATION &WELFARE education have been able to offertheir students. EDUCATION OFFICE OFHAS BEENREPRO- FROM DOCUMENT RECEIVED students enrolled THIS EXACTLY AS ORIG While more than one out of six DUCE() ORGANIZATION OR VIEW OROPIN in 1937 attended a THE PERSONPOINTS OF in higher education institutions INATING IT NECESSARILY DO NOT EDU- by 1967-68 IONS STATED OFFICE OF college enrolling less than 500 students, OFFICIAL REPRESENTPOSITION ORPOLICY. only about one out of 50 studentswould be able CATION to reflect nostalgically aboutcollege days at "Old Siwash" where, with less than 500students, most if not all students knew eachother and most students were provided with a commonexperience. Southern Regional Education Board But the image of "Old Siwash"is not appropriate Issues in Higher Education for the majority of individuals whoattended college Number 2/1971 in the 1930s. Even in 1937,five out of ten students were enrolled inhigher education institutionswith 2,500 or more students. By 1968,eight of ten stu- dents were attending institutionsof this size, and with the emergence of the"multiversity" an insti- tution enrolling 2,500, 5,000,10,000 or even 15,000 students was not consideredparticularly large. In American higher education isrenowned for its diver- enrolled 20,000 or more reports of higher 1968 some 60 institutions sity. Yet, as a number of recent students. (Figure 1.) education have noted, ourcolleges aud distribution of have become extraordinarilysimilar. Increases in Figure 2 indicates changes in the both size and function have led tothe multiplication institutions in the United Statesby size categories of activities, with increasingconfuzsion of institu- for the academic years 1937-38and 1967-68. Just tional priorities. Students havebeen forced to make a choice, in thewords of the Newman Report on Higher Education, "not betweeninstitutions which offer different modes of learningbut between insti- Cluster and Upper tutions which differ in the extent towhich they con- form to the model of the prestigeuniversity."' In this regard a previous issue of this series,"The Changing Division Colleges transformation of Four-Year Colleges," noted the FORMS four-year state colleges in the Southinto multipur- NEW ORGANIZATIONAL pose state universities. IN HIGHER EDUCATION One means of encouragingeducational diversity is by creating new organizationalforms to perform within the last decade, the averagesize of colleges specialized functions. Thus thisdiscussion focuscs and universities has incre:seddramatically from upon two relatively newarid distinctive organiza- 1,828 students in 1960 to 3,146students in 1969. tional forms in higher education: thecluster college Disturbances since those at Berkeleyin 1964-65 have and the upper division college.These forms have caused intAny within and without thehigher educa- evolved primarily in response to problemsassociated tion community to wonder if thelarge is with the size of individualinstitutions, and to in- manageable and how well, with itsdepersonalization creased upper level enrollmentcwithin a state system and bureaucratization, it cancontinue as a construc- of higher education. tive force in today's society. Unlimited expansion, if it was ever deemedde- The Increased Size of Institutions sirable, ic no longer regarded as good initself. Uni- coordinating Perhaps more than any other factor,the rapid growth versity trustees, state higher education the last 30 to 35 boards and state legislators areincreasingly interest- of higher education enrollments over limitations in years both withinindividual institutions and within ed in employing enrollment ceilings or should be fundedfor actions year andthat no institution order to curb growth.Consider the following the 1,000full-time-equivalent region: growth that exceeds both within andoutside the SREB figure. Moreover, any excessgrowth that occurred to be deductedfrom the growth In Texas, the formerchairman of theUniversity in a given year was that within the permitted in thefollowing year. of Texas Boardof Regents noted next five years, morethan half of thestate-sup- lawmakers haveexpressed con- their enroll- In Florida, some of ported institutionswill have to limit the size andadministrative structure out that withoutenrollment cern over that they want ments. He pointed and the universities andhave indicated limitations, the Universityof Texas at Austin to establish amaximum size 1980 reach the Board of Regents the University ofHouston would in to keep themfrom becoming and 50,000 students respec- for the universities enrollments of 80,000 too large to manage. tively. university The debate overhow big a college or Maryland Council forHigher From an economicstandpoint, In Maryland, the and Gen- should be continues. Education recommendedto the Governor Harris and ClarkKerr have sophomore ad- Peter Drucker, Seymour eral Assemblythat freshman and enrolling less than1,000 stu- of Maryland atCollege noted that institutions in terms missions to the University dents are of necessityhigh-cost operations Park should remainstatic and Towsonand Mor- expenditures. Somemarginal cost more dormi- of per student gan StateColleges should build no institutions expandinto the have increased savings are apparent as tories until smallerstate colleges 1,500-2,000 enrollment range. their enrollments. With regard tolarger institutions,although little appointed by the Browne, Ex- In Illinois, aspecial committee empirical evidence isavailable, Arthur Illinois Board of HigherEducation to investigate Wisconsin Coordi- size ecutive Director ofthe State of issues related to thequestions of institutional Higher Education,suggests that recommended that nocollege or uni- nating Council for and capacity the optimum sizeis in the rangeof 12,000-15,000 allowed to plan for agrowth of recommends maximumenroll- versity should be students per students. Clark Kerr more than1,000 full-time-equivalent

FIGURE1 1959-60 and 1967-68 of Various Sizes,U.S., 1937-38, Percentage of StudentsAttending Institutions

1959-60

1967-682,

Under 500 Students 11111,000-2,499 Students MN 500-999 Students ill 2,500 and Over

(Atlanta: Southern RegionalEducation Board, 1971), p. 1. SOURCE: Donald J. Reichard,Compul Site: A Selective Review

4111 2 FIGURE 2 Percentage of Institutionsof Various Sizes, U.S.,1937-38 and 1967-68

27%

1967-68 1937-38

Under 500 Students 11111 1,000-2,499 Students 11111 500-999 Students MI 2,500 and Over

manageable colleges, depart- ment ranges of 2,000 to5,000 for community col- university up into more ments or divisions seemto have escaped eventhe leges, 5,000 to 10,000 forcomprehensive colleges and university administratorsthemselves. While the num- 10,000 to 15,000 for universities. ber of academic departments aswell as research The problem which mosthigher education insti- bureaus and institutesincreases, knowledge (as itis tutions have yet to face isthat of growing large conveyed to the student)becomes more and more have pointed gracefully. All too often institutions fragmented. with great pride to their rapidgrowth (for example, from 5,661 to 21,000 students atKent State Univer- sity or from 2,064 to 11,000students at SUNY at THE CLUSTER COLLEGE rather than the Albany in the course of 10-15 years) the unity of knowledge increased quality of their academie programs. In an attempt to preserve with the problems of great voluntarily set and deal more effectively Only infrequently have institutions and small size, theAmerican university has in recent ceiling and plotted a methodof reach- an enrollment years rediscoveredthe concept of collegialorganiza- ing that enrollment whichallows for adequate aca- the clustering of colleges faculties, and acqui- tion. The concept stresses demic planning, recruitment of around one university centerand is often associated sition of libraries and otherfacilities. Thus Towson University in the mid- announced intention to with the founding of Oxford State (Maryland) College's twelf th century. set and stick to anenrollment ceiling of 8,500 by increasing enrollment at the rateof about five per- To date, as Jerry Gaff notesin The Cluster College, cent per year over a seven-yearperiod was unusual in there have been manyvariations in cluster college that it would, in the wordsof its president, James L. organization, Arch twopredominant organizational Fisher, "enable the collegeto expand its program- forms emergingthe federated orcooperative college ming in an orderly fashionwithout the overwhelm- approach and the subcollegeapproach. A federation ing problems attendantwith exponential growth is a close association of two or morecolleges which experienced on manycampuses." are geographicallycontiguous and which share, to a significant extent, their educational resources.Fed- It often appears thatthe bases for dividing the 3 3 erated colleges have corporate independence and are versity Goals and Governance. The report recom- not to be confused with mergers such as Carnegie- mended: Mellon or the poking of coordinate institutions such Large institutions should create programs and fa- as Harvard and Radcliffe. Subcollegeorganization, cilities that provide the option of a more intimate by way of contrast, is characterized by the presence scale; this can be accomplished at some places of smaller, semi-autonomous colleges within a single, through creating a variety of small colleges within larger university. the larger campus, or through other, more modest The Claremont Colleges in were the ven tu res. first to adopt the federated form of cluster college Finally, a recommendation of the Scranton Com- organization in 1925, followed shortly thereafter by mission on Campus Unrest stated: the establishment of the Atlanta University Center of Higher Education in 1929. Survival, economy, the Very large universities should seriously consider desire for a more personal environment, a greater decentralization of their current sites or geograph- chance for innovation, a remedy for isolation and ical dispersal of some of their units ....The idea advancement of coeducational opportunities have of cluster collegessmall units whose definition of been stressed as important motivating factors in the purpose is shared by students andfaculty mem- establishment of federated cluster colleges. Through bers with common interestsseems particularly the federated approach, colleges attempt to obtain promising. the benefits of large size in terms of additional re- retain- The types of students and faculty members which sources and possible economies of scale while the subcollege pattern or organization attract have ing small size and expressing a distinctive educa- generally been quite different from their counterparts tional philosophy. in the larger, traditional, "parent" universities. Sub- The subcollege pattern of cluster college organiza- college students have been described as "more in- tion appeared initially in 1959 with the establishment clined toward intellectual involvement and more of Mon tieth College at Wayne State University. It likely to de-emphasize the vocational and certifica- strives to create smallness out of bigness. Subcollege tion aspects of college than are their peers in tradi- advocates stress advantages thought to be associated tional institutions." At the same time, cluster college with a small, personalized learning environment; a faculty "were found to be more open to challenging distinctive educational philosophy; opportunities for conventional approaches to liberal education and innovation and experimentation; and/or access to more apt to indicate the importance ofinterdisci- the services and resources of the larger university. plinary courses and faculty contact across discipli- Organizationally, some universities have chosen to nary 1 les than faculty in traditionalsettings." divide the entire institution into subcolleges as at The fed,leated or cooperative college approach ap- Santa Cruz or San Diego while elsewhereas at greater Wayne State and Hofstrathe intent is to provide pears to offer possible economies of scale and access to services than would beobtainable by an experimental units. individual college. However, the subcollege pattern The cluster college movement appears to be win- of organization, as long as it enjoys a lower faculty/ ning more general acceptance. Figure 3 does not in- student ratio than the larger "parent" institution, dicate all institutions which have adopted one form will require higher per student expenditures. One or another of cluster organization. However, it does must be able to afford to be small. give some idea of the growth of the cluster college Cluster college curricular organization typically movement. Within the SREB region, the University of Virginia's plans to create a number of affiliated focuses upon interdisciplinary areas of knowledge residential colleges recently won the editorial en- such as humanities, social science, or natural science. At times the curricular offerings are characterized by dorsement of the Richmond Times Dispatch which how knowl- noted that the cluster college form of organization: a "problems" approach. Regardless of edge is organized, the instructional process is often ...would certainly appear to be compatible with characterized by independent study, student-initiated Jefferson's original "living-learning" design of U. seminars, tutorials, community government, inter- Va., and it is a scheme more and more universities personal relationships with students and faculty, may want to adopt in an attempt to avoid the or by variations in residential andacademic year impersonality of massive growth. arrangements. Another endorsement of the cluster college con- Cluster, particularly subcollege, organization re- cept appeared in the report of the Assembly on Uni- quires a degree of autonomy from the regulations of

4 FIGURE 3 Representative Colleges with Subcolleges

Institution Location Control ayne State University Detroit, Michigan Public esleyan University Middletown, Connecticut Private University of the Pacific Stockton, California Private University of California, Santa Cruz Santa Cruz, California Public Private Goddard College Plainfield, Vermont Private Hofstra University Hempstead, New York Michigan State University East Lansing, Michigan Public Public Oakland University Rochester, Michigan University of California, San Diego San Diego, California Public Private Fordham University Bronx, New York University of Michigan Ann Arbor, Michigan Public *City University of New York, Kingsborough New York, New York Public Western Washington State College Bellingham, Washington Public RutgersThe State University New Brunswick, New Jersey Public of New Jersey Private Colby College Waterville, Maine Grand Valley State College Allendale, Michigan Public University of Nebraska Lincoln, Nebraska Public Redlands, California Private Redlands University Private St. Edward's University Austin, Texas Private St. Olaf College Northfield, Minnesota Public Sonorna State College Rohnert Park, California University of Vermont Burlington, Vermont Public Public *DeAnza College Cupertino, California *Chabot College Public (Planning stage) Hayward, California *San Joaquin Delta College Public (Planning stage) Stockton, California Public *Cypress College Cypress, California Public *Pima College Tucson, Arizona Public *College of Dupage Glen Ellyn, Illinois nwayear canes

time the sub- peter tially viable alternativesfor dealing effectively the larger university. At the same is the fact that college is dependent upon the larger universitywhich with size. Most important, perhaps, faculty and policies by which it focuses primary attention uponproviding high governs the supply of experiences at a subcollege faculty are promoted. If strong assurances quality undergrahate education time they are es- time in which graduate educationand basic research of support are not present at the college and uni- tablished, subcolleges may fall victim tothe general have dominated the interests of tendency to oppose innovations oranything out of versity faculties. the ordk.ary. More must be known inregard to the various impacts which subcollegeshave upon the THE UPPER DIVISIONCOLLEGE larger university. Within the last few years another newtype of higher Despite evident difficulties,however, the cluster college college in its varied forms does pose anumber of education institution, the upper division created kins, Stanford andthe University of Chicago juniors and seniors aswell as university that work offering instruction for pressures tosubtract from the occasional master's anddoctoral programshas re- liberal, or preparatory,"leaving only nine such which was "general, ceived increasedattention. At present only that which was"truly university"in nature. institutions exist in thecountry. Fiveadditional of the first publicjunior college instruction The establishment colleges have tentativeplans to begin in 1902 permittedthis specializa- (Figure 4) at Joliet, Illinois, within the next two years. tion of function. creating a The upper divisionpattern is aimed at to carry out aspecialized By 1960, there wereonly four upperdivision col- different type of institution of junior functionthat of providingjunior, senior and per- leges in the U.S. Thegrowth in number in 1961 to 933 in1968) and in haps some graduateinstruction for ageographically colleges (from 678 increase in the the number of juniorcollege students (from748,619 defined population.A substantial has helped to es- number of junior andsenior enrollmentswithin a to 1,954,116 inthe same period) higher education due tothe vastly tablish a substantialpool of institutionsand students state system of division colleges maydraw. expanded numberof communitycollege graduates from which the upper factor in the recentestablish- Thus, for example, theUniversity of WestFlorida, has been the prime opened in 1967,has ment of upperdivision colleges. an upperdivision college which drawn 82 percent ofits students as directgraduates Originally, the upperdivision college wasthe log- community colleges inFlorida and four-year from accredited ical outcome ofbisecting the traditional nearby states. Thisinstitution has alsoadopted many college into its"preparatory" and"university" com- with the subcollegepattern establishment of theheavily research- of the features associated ponents. The Johns Hop- of cluster collegeorganization. oriented graduateinstitutions such as

FIGU RE 4 Upper DivisionColleges Control Location Planning Stage State University ofNew York Utica, New York Public at Utica Park Forest, Illinois Public Governors StateUniversity University of Texas ofthe Odessa, Texas Public Permian Basin. Public Florida Jacksonville, Florida University of North Miami, Florida Public Florida InternationalUniversity

Baccalaureate Fort Wayne, Indiana Private Concordia Senior College Troy, Michigan Private Walsh College Pasadena, California Private Pacific Oaks College

Graduate Degree Staten Island, NewYork Public Richmond College Pennsylvania State University, Middletown, Pennsylvania Public Capitol Campus Springfield, Illinois Public Sangamon State University Pensacola, Florida Public University of West Florkla Boca Raton, Florida Public Florida Atlantic University Los Angeles, California Public Otis Art Institute

6 the upper division col- evaluate his own educational objectives.Thus he is In practice, it has fallen to four-year program lege to play a unique role inthe higher education not automatically locked into a of the 50-70 percent of which may hold little interest for him butwhich system by serving the needs have something to "career" program communityjunior college grad- must be completed if he is to uates who choose to continuetheir education. The show for his efforts. upper divisioncollege often provides a commuter- Due to the relatively high costsassociated with oriented setting where communitycollege graduates small class size and greater diversityin program of any age have an opportunityto earn a bacca- offerings, it would seem that the idealsize of an laureate or higher degree. upper division college should besomewhat greater than in traditional four-year liberal artscolleges. Problems of articulation betweeninstitutions are Florida Atlantic University has estimatedits op- lessened considerably when a numberof community timum size to be about 5,000 students.A flow of colleges in close proximity serve as"feeders" for a 5,000 students through an institution in twoto three single upper division college. Similarly,three-year years, as opposed to four orfive years in traditional master's programs which enable a studentto pro- senior institutions, means that upperdivision col- ceed from his junior year to amaster's degree with- leges should be located near large centersof pop- out changing institutionshelp to improve the ar- ulation. ticulation between graduate and undergraduateedu- college experience Robert A. Altman, author of TheUpper Division cation. By separating the four-year formed into two separate units of two yearseach, additional College and executive secretary of a newly in the educa- association of upper division colleges, notesthat entrance and exit points are created complicated tional system. The student is forced tocontinuously planning for upper division colleges is

FIGURE 5 Cluster and Upper DivisionColleges in the U.S.

Cluster Colleges (Subcolleges) * Cluster Colleges (Federated) Upper Division Colleges NOTE: Circled Planning stage Green .rn Public Black ... Private

7 i r 7 clientele in the variousregions of the and direct flow new type of by an inability to assumea constant the junior year, state. of students fromthe sophomore to college situation. "feeder" system oflocal com- which normally occursin a four-year In states where a munity colleges exists oris being developedand a transfer students, ifthey have publicly supportedbaccalaureate Community college their education in a small number of needs of all the financial meansto continue institutions fail toequitably serve the residential setting, areoften attracted bythe glamour higher education planners maywish time it is diffi- areas of a state, of upper of the largeruniversity. At the same to seriously considerthe establishment where, or how manygraduates cult to predict when, will seek division colleges. of so-called terminal or"career" programs Failure to attractenough students SUMMARY . four upper was the main reasonwhy three of the division patternsof existence in 1960have since The cluster college and upper division colleges in organization have yet to besubject to thorougheval- become four-yearoperations. uation. They appear tohave great potentialfor division college is in open bringing change to anincreasingly rigid systemof The fact that the upper and for imple- competition for studentswith all other public higher education. Theyoffer opportunities state means that distinctive educational private institutionsin its region or menting programs based on careful not to neglectthe needs philosophies as well asopportunities for dealingeffec- it must be especially college oc- created by great orsmall of its clientelelargelyproducts of junior tively with the problems and technical programs.This size. As alternatives totraditionalism and as means cupational, vocational educa- emphasis uponpreparation for the of combating thehomogenization of higher suggests greater opposed division college patterns Bachelor of Science inTechnology degree as tion, the cluster and upper deserve the seriousconsideration of to degrees in theliberal arts as a likelydevelopment of organization in the future. higher education planners. initiative To date, Florida hastaken the greatest SELECTED REFERENCES division colleges.Florida chose in establishing upper Robert A. Altman,The Upper DivisionCollege (San not to vastlyincrease the size ofits existing publicly granting institutionsthe Francisco: Jossey-Bass,Inc., 1970). supported baccalaureate and College University of Florida,Florida State University, Jerry G. GP.ff andAssociates, The Cluster the University of SouthFloridain order to accom- (San Francisco:Jossey-Bass, Inc., 1970). incrasing number ofcommunity Review modate a rapidly Donald J. Reichard.,Campus Size: A Selective Instead, a decision wasmade to Board, 1971). college graduates. could serve a (Atlanta: SouthernRegional Education create a new typeof institution which

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