When the Antioch University board of trustees announced in June 2007 that it was suspending the operations of the historic Antioch College as of June 2008, the college's faculty, staff, students, and alumni mourned. Then, as Mother Jones recommended, they began to organize. Their goal was to reclaim the college and its progressive educational…

Every college and university experiences some form of financial hardship at one time or another. The financial problems plaguing local and state governments in recent years have been sufficient by themselves to create serious problems for institutions across the country. At the very least, an institution's financial difficulties can lead to the…

This article presents the address delivered by Roger Bowen, American Association of University Professors' (AAUP) general secretary, last fall to the Coalition of Faculty Associations of Western New York. The AAUP's history could be rendered in a series of biographies about academic dissenters who dared to speak truth to power. His address centers…

Describes restructuring of an academic department at Radford University; uses a dialogue between the department chair and the vice president of academic affairs to present the process's contrasting perspectives. Explores how faculty and administrators can treat budgetary challenges as opportunities to renew institutional missions, collaborate in…

A strong economic recovery offers higher education only some relief. Educators must respond in new ways to economic problems. Higher education offers the best chance for finding regional and national solutions, but, ironically, it must reshape itself to do so. (MSE)

A University of Maryland at College Park administrator offers his perspective on a recent retrenchment process that resulted in program closings. He describes the dialog between administration and faculty and credits the faculty with important support and participation in difficult decision making. (MSE)

Forces raising the cost of higher education will not disappear even in a stronger economy. Most research universities will be faced with balancing the scope of their individual commitments and the nature of their relationship with other institutions with advancement of knowledge and education at the highest levels. (MSE)

Analysis of resource allocation in Michigan's higher education institutions indicates that spending is not driven by fixed costs, as often assumed. Most functions connected to the fundamental missions of the universities have been given lower priority than ancillary functions. Faculty compensation has lost ground overall, rather than leading…