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Backs Against the Wall
and style. Efforts to develop the theoretical base and to apply the findings are proceeding too slowly.
• To help overcome this problem, more generous funding should be provided for learning research and its application—to be carried out by groups such as the Council for the Advancement of Experiential Learning.
Limitations on institutional resources and a reluctance to engage in genuine cooperation with other institutions also restrict institutional ability to serve the urban poor and disadvantaged. Increased cooperation of various kinds could sharpen the collective understanding of problems and lead to new resource combinations.
• Urban-oriented colleges and universities should initiate new and stronger links to a wider range of institutions in their communities.
Of special importance in this regard are cooperative planning and action projects with business and industry, other higher education institutions, and community and government agencies. Stronger ties to the schools would also help address the learning problems of today's potential dropouts before they become tomorrow's casualties.
As programs and services are strengthened through better planning and more cooperation—making maximum use of available resources and providing coherency in the overall educational enterprise—potential students will not automatically know about them or how to take advantage of them. Therefore,
• Singly and collectively, the institutions should develop information programs that reach people at home, at work, and in the community. They should also provide follow-up counseling and guidance to help the intended beneficiaries make the best use of the information.
Urban-oriented colleges and universities are further handicapped because their compensatory undergraduate programs are not adequately