• D3Playbook
  • Posts
  • The 7 Trends Shaping Small Colleges

The 7 Trends Shaping Small Colleges

Tennis Pairings, Golf Selections, Lacrosse Rankings

Author

Steve Ulrich
May 02, 2023 • Estimated Reading Time: 13 minutes

MAY 2, 2023 | written by STEVE ULRICH

Everything you need to know about NCAA Division III
delivered to your inbox 5x per week.
Send tips to [email protected] and via DM.

» Happy Tuesday 

» Looking For Records Help? Contact us for ways we can help you with your historical records - school or conference.

TOP STORY
1. The 7 Trends Shaping Small Colleges

Washington & Jefferson College

by Mary B. Marcy, Chronicle of Higher Education

“The question of how many small colleges will close has become something of a cottage industry over the past decade, and the intensity and frequency of these predictions only increased during the pandemic. But as Chronicle reporter Lee Gardner recently pointed out, a catastrophic die-off of small colleges has been predicted for well over a decade, and has not come to pass.

The more pressing question is how small colleges are managing ongoing austerity, and how they are using new approaches — some of them risky or controversial — to meet difficult circumstances. There is more to be learned from how these campuses are coping with their challenges than there is from post-mortems of closed institutions.

What is the state of the small college today? As president emerita of a small university, I now work as a consultant to campus leaders and policymakers, and over the past few years I have noticed seven emerging trends that are having an outsize effect on these institutions.”

» Situational Awareness: “Some of these trends are beyond the control of academic leaders, and some are strategies employed to meet the changing environment. They are all key to understanding the new reality of the small college today.”

» Money, Money: “Finances at most small tuition-dependent colleges are quite stressed. Austerity budgets were generally in place even before the pandemic, and rising discount rates and stagnant net tuition revenue has only amplified the problem.”

» Magnifying Conflict: “The national political and cultural dialogue has become more heated and more divided over the past few years, and higher education is increasingly at the center of it. For small colleges, the stress of change and threats to survival add an intensity to the mix. Small campuses are by their nature highly personal, interactive spaces. This can be a great strength, but such intimacy can also magnify conflict.”

» The Final Word: “The pandemic may not have been to the small college ecosystem as the meteor was to the dinosaur, but most small colleges do face tremendous challenges. The essential question they contend with is whether they can evolve effectively enough and rapidly enough to adapt, rather than be lost amidst the changes”

A MESSAGE FROM MORNING BREW

Get smarter in 5 minutes with Morning Brew (it's free)

There's a reason over 4 million people start their day with Morning Brew - the daily email that delivers the latest news from Wall Street to Silicon Valley. Business news doesn't have to be boring...make your mornings more enjoyable, for free.

TENNIS (W)
2. Serving Up A Trip To Orlando

The field is set for the 2023 NCAA Division III women’s tennis championship that begins on May 14 in Orlando, Fla.

Chicago Sectional
Grinnell (15-7) vs. Luther (19-10) | winner vs. #1 Chicago (19-0)
Carleton (20-0) vs. Concordia, Wis. (16-6)
UW-Whitewater (14-5) vs. Northwestern (19-8)

Carnegie Mellon Sectional
North Central, Ill. (21-7) vs. Hope (13-6) | winner v. #14 Carnegie Mellon (19-5)
#32 Kenyon (18-4) vs. Otterbein (15-6) | winner vs. #18 New York U. (11-2)

Middlebury Sectional
Hartwick (16-2) vs. Lebanon Valley (15-3) | winner vs. #4 Middlebury (14-3)
Drew (18-2) vs. Hunter (12-0) | winner vs. #28 Skidmore (12-7)

MIT Sectional
Colby-Sawyer (12-7) vs. UMass Boston (12-2) | winner vs. #6 MIT (15-3)
Stevens (10-9) vs. Husson (10-1) | winner vs. #15 Johns Hopkins (18-4)

Texas-Dallas Sectional
#29 Whitman (13-5) vs. UT-Dallas (12-6) | winner vs. #2 Claremont-M-S (22-1)
#3 Pomona-Pitzer (13-8) vs. #16 Trinity, Texas (16-4)

Amherst Sectional
Endicott (12-7) vs. Farmingdale State (12-5) | winner vs. #9 Babson (15-1)
New Paltz (12-4) vs. St. Mary’s, Md. (10-4) | winner vs. #8 Amherst (12-4)

Wesleyan, Conn. Sectional
Allegheny (18-4) vs. Pitt-Greensburg (18-1) | winner vs. #5 Wesleyan (17-1)
TCNJ (15-4) vs. Cairn (10-5) | winner vs. #33 Mary Washington (10-9)

Washington and Lee Sectional
#22 W&L (18-6) vs. NC Wesleyan (12-9) | winner vs. #7 Emory (11-6)
#12 Sewanee (17-5) vs. Piedmont (19-2)
#13 Case Western Reserve (14-5) vs. Transylvania (15-3)

GOLF (W)
3. Getting The Call

The NCAA Division III women’s golf committee announced 29 teams and six individuals that will participate in the 2023 NCAA Division III Women’s Golf Championships.

Twenty-four conferences have been awarded automatic qualification and the remaining five teams were selected on an at-large basis from conferences and the independent institutions. Six individuals, not from selected teams, also were selected for the championships.

The championships will consist of both team and individual competition conducted concurrently. Following 54 holes of competition, the field will be cut to the top 15 teams and top six individuals not on one of those teams to compete the final day. In the team competition, the low four scores from each team for each day will count in the team’s total score.

The five at-large selections were Redlands, Emory, Washington U., Carnegie Mellon, and Claremont-M-S. The six individuals were Sarah Hsu (oglethorpe), Kyra Venne (Saint Catherine), Catalin Yturralde (Williams), Sarah Kmiecik (Mary Hardin-Baylor), Peyton Sichol (Hamilton) and Greta McArthur (Bethel)

A MESSAGE FROM THE GIST

Sports, sans mansplaining

The GIST is a forever-free newsletter that provides a refreshing female perspective on the most important headlines in sports. They’re inclusive, progressive, and not afraid to talk about anything—even the sexist bs 👀

TENNIS (M)
4. Florida Bound

The field is set for the 2023 NCAA Division III men’s tennis championship that begins on May 13 in Orlando, Fla.

Tufts Sectional
Baruch (14-4) vs. Farmingdale State (14-3) | winner vs. #2 Tufts (20-1)
#21 Swarthmore (14-3) vs. #37 MIT (15-10)

NC Wesleyan Sectional
St. Mary’s, Md. (11-3) vs. Drew (16-4) | winner vs. #7 Emory (16-5)
#16 NC Wesleyan (16-10) vs. #25 Washington and Lee (17-5)

Washington U. Sectional
Carthage (18-5) vs. Covenant (18-6) | winner vs. #3 Washington U. (17-6)
#29 George Fox (12-9) vs. Greenville (22-7) | winner vs. #12 Sewanee (20-4)

Claremont-M-S Sectional
#6 Claremont-M-S (19-4) vs. UC Santa Cruz (7-8)
#8 Trinity, Texas (16-6) vs. Concordia, Texas (17-4)

Johns Hopkins Sectional
Chris. Newport (10-8) vs. Allegheny (17-4) | winner vs. #4 Middlebury (15-3)
#33 RPI (13-6) vs. Lebanon Valley (17-3) | winner vs. #10 Johns Hopkins (18-4)

Williams Sectional
Nichols (13-9) vs. Houghton (15-6) | winner vs. #11 Bowdoin (15-4)
Stevens (14-6) vs. Salem State (10-2) | winner vs. #5 Williams (14-4)

Case Western Reserve Sectional
Kalamazoo (11-7) vs. Ohio Northern (13-7) | winner vs. #1 CWRU (28-4)
Transylvania (9-9) vs. Mary Washington (9-10) | winner vs. #14 Denison (25-3)

Gustavus Adolphus Sectional
Grinnell (17-7) vs. Luther (18-7) | winner vs. #9 Chicago (15-5)
#23 UW-Whitewater (16-5) vs. MSOE (14-9) | winner vs. #13 Gustavus (24-10)

LACROSSE (M)
5. Playing For A Trophy

photo by Matt Oharen

Conference hardware is on the line this weekend as the regular season draws to a close in Division III men’s lacrosse.

  1. Tufts (17), 16-0

  2. Salisbury (1), 16-1

  3. RIT, 16-1

  4. Christopher Newport, 15-1

  5. Middlebury, 15-1

  6. Dickinson, 13-3

  7. Gettysburg, 12-3

  8. Amherst, 11-4

  9. Washington and Lee, 13-4

  10. York, 12-5

» Conference Tournaments to Watch: NESCAC (1-Tufts, 5-Middlebury, 8-Amherst, 16-Williams); CLC (2-Salisbury, 4-Christopher Newport); Liberty (3-RIT, 15-St. Lawrence, 17-Union, 18-RPI); Centennial (6-Dickinson, 7-Gettysburg, 14-Swarthmore); ODAC (9-W&L, 11-Lynchburg)

LACROSSE (W)
6. Title Time

Ally Tobler, TCNJ (photo by Jimmy Alagna)

It’s conference championship week in Division III women’s lacrosse. The NESCAC semifinals feature four teams in the national top 12, while the Centennial and MAC Commonwealth events each have two teams in the top 11 of the rankings.

  1. Middlebury (23), 16-0

  2. Washington and Lee, 16-1

  3. William Smith, 16-0

  4. Wesleyan, Conn., 14-2

  5. Salisbury, 12-3

  6. TCNJ, 13-3

  7. Tufts, 13-3

  8. Gettysburg, 14-3

  9. York, 14-3

  10. Franklin & Marshall, 13-4

» Conference Tournaments to Watch: NESCAC (1-Middlebury, 4-Wesleyan, 7-Tufts, 12-Colby); Centennial (8-Gettysburg, 10-F&M); MAC Commonwealth (9-York, 11-Messiah)

NEWS
7. Lightning Round ⚡️

🗞 News. The NCAA has asked a California federal judge to deny class certification to hundreds of college athletes suing it for name, image and likeness (NIL) rights, insisting that member have “substantial differences” in their circumstances that can’t be represented in one class.

🗞 News. What started as a friendship among three highly regarded administrators in college sports led to a first-of-its-kind organization in 4AAPI, the Asian American & Pacific Islander Athletics Alliance. 4AAPI looks to be a mechanism to bring those growing numbers together, especially during May, which is recognized as AAPI Heritage Month. 4AAPI has held virtual networking and educational opportunities in years past and plans to build on those this month.

🎂 Happy Birthday. Cake and candles for Kaylynn Tran, assistant volleyball coach, MIT; Stu Fritz, head baseball coach, Hope; Frank Rossi, producer, In The (D3FB) Huddle; Kyle Kwiat, assistant wrestling coach, Ohio Northern.

Do you know of someone celebrating an upcoming birthday? Drop us a line at [email protected]

TRANSACTIONS
8. Comings and Goings

📬 Thanks for starting your day with us.
What did you think of today's newsletter?
 Please invite your friends to sign up for D3Playbook

Copyright © 2023, D3Playbook.com All rights reserved.Tuesday

Reply

or to participate.