A student on switchboard duty arrived an hour early and opened the lines for faculty to call in if they couldn't make it to campus. He works 20 hours a week while pursuing an English major. Since Blackburn's turnaround, nonfaculty staff have not been hired to as full an extent as before, says William Fanning Jr., vice president for administration and finance. Students account for 90 percent of the labor force. In fact, Blackburn is the only sizeable college in the nation with a completely student-managed work program.
Students hire and allocate employees and ensure that tasks are completed.
In addition, students serve on every college committee and have equal voting power with faculty members. Administrators give a lot of responsibility to the students, more so than at other work colleges, Ms. Pride says. Safely out of the red, Blackburn is moving forward now, and others are taking notice. Meanwhile, the school has added a community service arm. We offer them for your additional research.