Abstract
This article analyzes the decision by a small liberal arts college to terminate a long standing intercollegiate debate and forensics program despite strong institutional tradition and prior administrative support. It argues that the decision emerged from converging personal, departmental, and institutional pressures rather than from deficiencies in funding, staffing, or attitudes. At the personal level, the director of forensics faced an unsustainable conflict between full time teaching responsibilities, full time program direction, and the delayed completion of doctoral work. Departmentally, rapid growth in the communication major and the expansion of organizational communication created competing demands that could not be met with existing faculty resources. The analysis shows how the department weighed the broader academic benefits of strengthening organizational communication against the narrower extracurricular benefits of sustaining forensics. Institutionally, administrators initially resisted termination due to perceived public relations value and concerns about losing a distinctive program. The article details how arguments about financial loss, limited recruitment impact, and the projected growth of organizational communication ultimately persuaded administrators that termination would better serve institutional goals. It concludes by identifying criteria faculty, departments, and administrators should evaluate when considering whether to discontinue forensics programs in resource constrained environments.
Recommended Citation
Settle, Peter L.
(1985)
"Small College Debate: A Termination Decision,"
Association for Communication Administration Bulletin: Vol. 54, Article 29.
Available at:
https://stars.library.ucf.edu/aca/vol54/iss1/29
