ement and maintenance of a balanced budget; and
Expansion and diversification of sources of revenues (JU, n. d., "Goals and Objectives"; JU, 2001).
In the analysis of the actions and behaviors of the University of America, the same four categories will also be used as a framework to identify the implicit values of the institution:
Compromised quality of academic life:
With its revision of its core curriculum to encompass interdisciplinary course and engaged learning in 1999, as well as experiential learning requirements in 1997, the University of America has acted in accordance with its value of providing a liberal education that coheres with its values in this area (JU, 1999a). However, during the last two decades, there were times when the institution departed from the liberal arts tradition in its effort compete with other major institutions by offering the same types of courses (Daigle, 2004; Filaroski, 2004)
The quality and the commitment of the faculty are reflected in the educators' active participation in every aspect of the institution's programs and reform efforts. These included the redesigning of the core curriculum, the modification of pedagogical strategies and the integration of information technologies (JU, 1999b).
On the one hand, the University of America increased the quality of the learning environment by building new physical facilities such as "the new orthodontics school, student housing, an arts annexà" (Filaroski, 2003). The institution also invested millions of dollars in computer technology to ensure that the institution's IT infrastructure matched those of other higher education institutions (JU, 1999c; Kaye, 2001).
On the other hand, the institution's administrators have failed to offer sufficient decision-making powers to both the students and faculty. The ouster of President Harlow and CFO Wiley in 2004 was the result of the faculty's unhappiness over the administrators'...