Speech teachers in small colleges often feel frustrated because of their course load and other heavy demands made on their time. Because their departments are small, they have few colleagues in their discipline to work with, and this--plus time constraints--makes it difficult for them to remain professionally active. One way they can extricate themselves from the sense of pressure and isolation this situation generates is to join a professional group such as the Small College Committee of the Speech Communication Association. This committee provides its members with a network of colleagues with whom to interact, share ideas, and so on. This approach appears to work, but it is difficult to demonstrate it clearly and objectively. Research is needed to define small college speech departments, to gather objective data on their programs and their faculties, and to assess the progress of both so that professional organizations know how to respond to their members' specific needs. Monitoring of 25 colleges and universities in the midwest has provided some answers and has suggested some other areas where help is needed. (Extensive tables containing general information about the schools monitored, detailed data about their speech and drama faculty and curricula, and a copy of the questionnaire used to gather information are included.) (RBW)