The materials in this compendium are intended to assist counsel and administrators at institutions of higher education faced with the need to consider and plan for program closures. Some materials also deal with the closely related issues of financial exigency, faculty reductions, and reductions in force. Section I offers the following papers:…

The report addresses the problems being faced by the state of Alabama's postsecondary educational system during the current recessionary period, and to be expected in the years ahead, and makes recommendations on how these financial burdens can be dealt with while simultaneously increasing educational quality. The report explains that Alabama's…

A University of Maryland at College Park administrator offers his perspective on a recent retrenchment process that resulted in program closings. He describes the dialog between administration and faculty and credits the faculty with important support and participation in difficult decision making. (MSE)

This book approaches college and university budget reduction mandates as an opportunity to reexamine and recast outdated, inefficient processes and to increase administrative effectiveness and efficiency in supporting the academic missions of teaching and research. The book uses a road-map metaphor to tell the downsizing story and to advance the…