The purposes of this qualitative study were to investigate the transformation of Madison College, a small Virginia women\u27s state teachers college, into James Madison University, a nationally recognized coeducational, comprehensive university, and to examine the effect of President Ronald E. Carrier\u27s charismatic leadership on the transformation. This metamorphosis took place in just twelve years.;The Strategic Planning Model developed by Kotler and Fox in Strategic Marketing for Educational Institutions (1985) was used as a framework to evaluate the strategic plans used by Madison\u27s administrators to change the institution\u27s image. Criteria for charismatic leadership espoused by Burton Clark in The Distinctive College (1970) were used to assess Dr. Carrier\u27s leadership style.;One emphasis of this study was to determine if a formal marketing plan was used to change the college\u27s image. Research confirmed that formal marketing efforts in higher education were virtually unknown in the early 1970s, the time of Madison College\u27s transformation. Strategic plans were used, however, in relation to increasing both the total enrollment and the percentage of male students, creating a men\u27s intercollegiate athletic program, improving and adding academic programs, and expanding the physical plant.;Findings confirm the importance of well-planned strategies for educational institutions attempting to change their images. Additionally, the impact of charismatic leadership as a catalyst for change cannot be overemphasized. A third finding is that a strong institutional saga is critical in helping the revised image to be validated among the institution\u27s publics. Synergy is the most appropriate term to describe how the elements coalesced in the successful transformation of Madison College into James Madison University.;A study of this nature confirms the efficacy of the data-gathering techniques indiginous to qualitative research methods and adds to the growing body of qualitative research being conducted both in education and in marketing case studies. Further research efforts should be undertaken about individual institutions so that more broad-based conclusions can be drawn
