ABSTRACT
Accomac College, a public liberal arts institution of 1,600 students, abolished tenure in 1971, four years after becoming a full-fledged baccalaureate college. Accomac was founded in 1840 as a state-sponsored, publicly supported, nonsectarian “female seminary” with an independent board of trustees. At the time tenure was reinstated, Accomac College served 1,519 undergraduate students and employed 104 full-time faculty. Along the wooded country highway to Accomac Village, the rural historic site of the college, the dense trees suddenly gave way to the grand view of the majestic Elizabeth River. Unlike other public higher education institutions, Accomac’s board of trustees was given control to manage the College’s property and assets, including accepting and spending gifts and endowment money, establishing capital and operating budgets, borrowing money, and establishing procurement procedures. Accomac shares other attributes with small private liberal arts colleges.
