Vicki Baker (right), professor of economics and management, has been studying the changing definition and scope of liberal arts colleges, and her research has drawn the interest of national media.

In the April 24 online edition ofThe Wall Street Journal, Baker is quoted in a story headlined, “Liberal Arts Colleges, in a Fight for Survival, Focus on Job Skills.” (aWall Street Journalsubscription is required to view the story in full).

The story highlights several traditional liberal arts colleges that are changing how they present their message to students. Baker talks about how colleges are evolving to meet the necessities of a modern world that often finds itself putting more stock into programs of study deemed more practical, such as engineering and business.

In the story, Baker estimates about one third of colleges that called themselves liberal arts in 1990 no longer meet that description.

Having seen her quoted inThe Wall Street Journal, Dan Mandis from WWTN radio in Nashville, Tennessee, had Baker on his show last week to discuss the same topic.

Listen to the radio interview (in two parts) here:

In related work, Baker is co-author on the upcoming bookDeveloping Faculty in Liberal Arts Colleges: Aligning Individual Needs and Organizational Goals, to be published by Rutgers University Press.