From the Firing Line: Adaptation from the Administrator's Perspective

Researchers examining educational organizations have a distinct advantage; their detachment permits them to look beyond the immediate situations that constitute the arena for practicing adminstrators. The actors in the drama being observed cannot be detached; they are responsible for the continued well-being of their organizations and must be occupied with the immediate concerns of a specific organization at a particular time. What may seem only interesting variations on a theme to the researcher becomes for practicing administrators a critical element in their own decision making and in their ultimate success or failure. To understand more adequately the hopes and fears surrounding the American liberal arts college in the 1980s, one needs some mix of detached observation and participant response; each set of perceptions needs to be checked against the other. In the preceding pages, we have provided a number of data-based snapshots of the state of the liberal arts college. These articles have been written from the perspective of researchers who are seeking to sort out, organize, and find meaning from data drawn from surveys and considerable on-site observation. Extrapolating from their data bases, the researchers have made their judgments regarding present and future viability of the free-standing liberal arts college. Many of their observations have been tested against the extant literature and in discussions at professional meetings with their colleagues. But the