EXAMINING THE PROCESS OF CLOSING PUBLIC COLLEGES: THE CASE OF THE TORRINGTON CAMPUS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT

Many higher education planners predict that a number of colleges and universities will close between now and the year 2000. Declining enrollment and reduced levels of financial support in a highly competitive environment may threaten the existence of many small public and private institutions, especially those with marginal program quality and diversity.;In the public sector, the statutory responsibility for determining which institutions should close and how the closure process should be administered gradually may be shifted out of the hands of institutional boards and state legislatures and into the hands of state higher education coordinating boards.;This paper examines the public college closure process in Connecticut, focusing on the role of the state's higher education board in orchestrating the closure of the Torrington campus of the University of Connecticut. What happens when a public university campus is earmarked for closure and how is the decision to close made among competing educational, political, and legal interests? This is the central research question behind this case study and through its exploration some useful insights surface on when to consider closure, how to develop policies and procedures to effect closure, and what happens during the closure process.;The analytic method includes extensive document and historical record analysis, intensive interviewing and participant observation. The author served as the state's assistant commissioner of higher education while researching and writing the paper.;The paper concludes that (1) state boards should consider closure only in the context of a state plan that carefully examines the viability of all small institutions, (2) a mix of quantitative and qualitative criteria should be used in making closure decisions, including criteria that measures student achievement as one indicator of institutional success or failure, (3) state boards should consider an assessment of their closure recommendations by expert consultants from other states before finalizing the closure decision, and (4) state boards should be cognizant of the political risks of recommending closure and should attempt to secure the support or neutrality of governors and key state legislators before launching the college closure process.