Planning for land management of small private educational institutions : an analysis of TVA's technical assistance to selected schools

In recent years small colleges and universities nationwide have experienced rising operation costs, declining revenues, and in some instances, reduced enrollments. One potential source of revenue for meeting operational expenses is excess property which small educational institutions might own. Small schools which might have excess landholdings, however, do not usually maintain a land management and development capability as part of their administrative skills, and have not generally viewed excess property as a resource which they can utilize to help meet their financial needs. Also there is a general absence of literature on land management and planning which is directed toward educational institutions, and an apparant lack of information which would be of assistance to school administrators in establishing an active land management function for managing and planning of excess landholdings the schools might own.

Some small private educational institutions are beginning to recognize the opportunities which utilizing and planning for their excess landholdings might have and have sought technical assistance from outside agencies for help in determining how best to manage and plan for their surplus real estate. Three small private educational institutions in East Tennessee, which have excess property and no administrative staff responsible for ongoing land planning and management, have sought technical assistance from the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA). TVA provided various types of technical assistance, in the form of planning expertise and staff capabilities to Lincoln Memorial University in Harrogate, Tennessee, The University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee; and Maryville College in Maryville, Tennessee.

The purpose of this thesis was to explore and evaluate the adequacy and effectiveness of the technical assistance which TVA provided to these three small private educational institutions and to outline a series of recommendations to assist other small educational institutions in establishing an ongoing process of land planning and management for excess landholdings which the schools might own.

Data collection techniques used in this thesis included a literature review; case studies of the three schools, which focused on their setting, resources, specific needs, and the types of assistance they received from TVA; and structured interviews with the TVA personnel involved in the studies and their primary contacts at the schools. This information was analyzed by the author along several lines: an evaluation of the type of assistance which TVA provided to the schools, the effort TVA exerted in assisting the schools and the use of TVA's assistance by the schools, and of the strengths and weaknesses of the technical assistance which TVA provided.

The conclusions of the analysis of the data were structured around several questions which were answered as a result of the thesis and focused on the most useful aspect of TVA's technical assistance to each school, the overall impact of the assistance, and the reasons for the success or failure of each study in impacting the schools.

Finally, recommendations were made to small private educational institutions that might own excess landholdings and wish to manage and plan for their use and to TVA regarding their future involvement in providing technical assistance to small educational institutions.