A campus may expand its ability to act as a venue for conferences geared to key issues in its region and thus play a leadership role in that context. It can serve as a neutral convener to help a region or a community deal with challenging issues. It may also host national academic conferences and scholarly symposia to complement new programs on the campus or emerging areas of academic distinction. Thus the campus will build broader recognition and expanded relationships in the field, benefiting both faculty and the whole campus.

A campus may offer a wide range of noncredit programs and workshops that serve the local community and highlight the campus’s educational mission in the wider community. Noncredit programs can be refocused toward particular constituencies. They can include, for example, customized and or contracted training programs for employers. They can be designed to help professionals meet continuing professional education requirements in their fields. These programs engender working relationships with professionals and professional associations that strengthen the campus’s academic departments, assist their students, and guide the campus’s longer-term strategy. Academically oriented noncredit programs may include applied research projects in areas as diverse as artificial intelligence and near-shore fish populations.

Finally, self-support can allow a campus to expand its regional influence through diverse, major initiatives. These may go beyond what a campus with declining state funding can normally offer—art festivals; conferences; programs for children or seniors; regional economic round tables; summer session and inter-sessions; Open University and concurrent enrollment; English language and university preparation programs; employment support programs in a recession economy, collaborative programs with regional workforce agencies; joint programs with community colleges to address regional educational needs beyond traditional programs offered; and international programs and partnerships.

What is important is that a campus considers these options in light of a more comprehensive strategy. Self-support should work seamlessly with the overall campus efforts to define and guide the campus’s future.