So I've just finished the College quest line and now I don't know what to did with my mage character. I've done the main quest line a million times and I've done all the other factions hundreds of times. I'm also playing on PS3 so I can't get any mods to spice my game up.
Once my mage character became arch-mage, I RPed her as leading the College in a new direction, one better suited to fostering relations with the Nords.
It started out simply enough. While visiting Windhelm for supplies, she became embroiled in a murder investigation. Brelyna said it was none of their concern, but my character decided that it would be a PR boon if the Arch-mage of the College of Winterhold succeeded in stopping a serial killer, and stop him she did!
From there it mushroomed into a generally benevolent direction for all College mages. If a mage encountered troubles they could reasonably be suspected to solve, they were mandated to do so - Arch-mage included. Any and all assistance that the mages of the College could render to Skyrim could only help their cause, and reduce fear and apprehension. It was a war to win hearts and minds.
An additional directive - inspired, actually, by the recovery of the Necromancer's amulet in that murder quest - became to secure any and all potentially dangerous magical artefacts for study and storage in the College. If it was possible for a non-mage to harm themselves, or a malevolent mage to harm others, with any arcane artefact, it was to be confiscated and returned to the College. Under Giselle's leadership, the College of Winterhold became Nirn's version of the Brotherhood of Steel in a lot of ways.
This approach
invited exploration and interference. The College could do good, prevent harm to innocents, and improve its standing in Skyrim simply by checking every nook and sticking its nose into any public affair that might be solved through magical means.
It was my excuse for rambling around the wilderness, anyway.