Join the Council of Public Liberal Arts Colleges
All COPLAC member colleges and universities have a separate institutional identity and
public governance structure. Each has clear institutional mission statement indicating
a commitment to the liberal arts as a core activity beyond a strong general education
program. Evidence of this commitment to the liberal arts reaches beyond top leadership
to the faculty and students. Additionally, COPLAC campuses are small to medium
size, usually less than 5000 students. Currently, our smallest campus enrolls 800
undergraduates while our largest enrolls 7000. The median size is just over 3000.
Benefits of membership in COPLAC include:
- Faculty networking and development programs including exchanges, summer workshops, and joint research projects.
- Opportunities for senior leadership at student-centered, public liberal arts collegesand universities to collaborate and promote a unique sector in higher education.
- Student opportunities including regional undergraduate research conferences,a web-based undergraduate research journal, campus exchanges through the National Student Exchange, and shared summer study abroad programs.
- Theme-based annual meetings in June at a member campus and senior administrators working meetings at AAC&U.
- Faculty, administrative and professional area distribution lists for information sharing and project collaborations.
- Annual comparative data profile for benchmarking and advocacy.
- Assistance with institutional and program reviews through peer visits.
- The combined strength of an emerging sector in higher education for communications, student recruitment and advocacy with local, state, and national audiences.
For additional information on the application process, contact Bill Spellman, at spellman@coplac.org.