This paper reviews the issues facing trustees of liberal arts colleges, including such external challenges as ideological criticism, college costs, national economic trends, and competition from other types of institutions. Trustees are urged to address such issues as external criticism of the institution, concerns of students and parents about value received for money paid, and recent critiques of higher education in general. Other trends seen to undermine the distinctive qualities of these colleges include the role of faculty scholarship, student demand for more professionally-oriented undergraduate programs, and cultural pluralism. Suggested areas for trustees to address include: (1) the college's priorities; (2) the roles of research and scholarship within the college; (3) criteria for promotion, tenure, and merit pay; (4) expected faculty departures in the next five years; (5) faculty recruitment strategy; (6) percent of the faculty that are female or persons of color; and (7) consideration of program changes in coordination with faculty turnover. Finally, trustees are encouraged to focus on the students of the future, the financial future of liberal arts colleges, and the role of trustees in governance. Supporting data are shown in 11 tables. (Contains 16 references.) (BF)