A Hospice Program for Schools?
This item from Inside Higher Ed about St. Joseph's College in Indiana closing brings up an important--and probably timely--question: when is the right time to "pull the plug" on a school? I have joked on occasion that there should be a sort of hospice program for schools; that is, a humane and systematic way to wind things down without unnecessary and unproductive drama. As in medicine, I don't thing we spend enough time as an industry thinking about end-of-life issues for institutions, such as how to see it coming in time to humanely transition faculty and students to other places, or how to preserve as many assets as possible that might be contributed to a like-missioned school.