Proceedings of the 1981 Creative Responses Conference, which explored approaches to the rapidly changing realities of postsecondary and higher education, are presented. The following major addresses and authors are included: "Hard Times: Constraints or Opportunities," Dale Parnell; "Leadership in the Challenge of Global Competition," George B. Brain; "Education--The Future, the Federal Role, and the Funds--A Projection," Jennifer Wellborn. Additionally, the following workshop summaries are presented: Adult learners--transitions, tasks, and trigger events; the value of a liberal arts education in the world of work; education in 1984; multicultural education: a positive response to changing educational realities; applying research and development products to educational and administrative problems in higher education; meeting the community's economic needs--a model program for contracting with business and industry; liberal skills and cognitive mapping, internationalizing the curriculum, microcomputers in higher education: the state of the art; creative responses to "artesians,""attritors," and other troublesome critters or what works in student retention; marketing: developing an institutional strategy; and small group action planning and large group feedback. The conference was designed to encourage action planning that could enable effective adaptation of potential responses to the realities of different campuses. (SW)