Because academic culture frowns on Ph.D.'s who consider leaving the ivory tower, most of those who jump ship find themselves at a loss as to where and how to begin a job search. Yet a nonacademic job search is actually quite similar to a standard research project. Both require advance planning, substantial research, collating evidence for an…

Across the U.S., colleges like Anne Arundel Community College (Maryland) are devising strategies and designing curricula to meet the demands created by the substantial troop shifts. They are adding degree and certificate programs and refashioning or expanding others, in areas as diverse as network security, procurement and contracting, and…

If one has set his or her sights on landing a tenure-track position and has endured (or expects to endure) all the uncertainty, angst, and serendipity of the academic marketplace, surely the worst fear is that there will not be any offers. Candidates worry that they will need to rely on Plan B for another year as they recover from the job-search…

In this article, the author shares his realizations as he changed careers from a former publisher to a dean of the faculty of humanities and social sciences at the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art. He describes that his work as a dean in academe is not so much different from his job as a longtime editor. He also relates that…

This article reports that as students flock to public two-year and four-year colleges amid an ailing economy, they find the colleges struggling with financial problems of their own. Midyear budget cuts are forcing many institutions to lay off faculty members, cut course sections, and freeze enrollment. Rising unemployment, slumping values of…

In this article, the author, a former tenured professor who found her niche once she gave up the need to fit her new life into her old credentials, describes her experience in academe and how she enjoys her life now being a nationally certified massage therapist. One lesson she learned is that people outside academe quit their jobs all the time.…

This article describes how a top physicist took charge of reforming undergraduate science education at the University of British Columbia. Carl E. Wieman, the 2001 Nobel Prize winner in Physics, gave up his research career to devote himself to improving the way college science is taught. Wieman is heading up a $10.2 million science education…

Explores why, whether they come from politics, business, or the military, people who move to academe after substantial careers in other fields face a unique set of challenges. (EV)

Reports on controversy Brown University (Rhode Island) as Gordon Gee leaves to become chancellor of Vanderbilt University (Tennessee) after only two years as president of Brown, and notes feelings of betrayal in light of large compensation offered Gee by Vanderbilt. Reports average tenures for college presidents and quotes Gee as saying that he…

Since Jennifer L. Gigliotti was in elementary school, the 70-acre Ford Motor Company plant in northwestern Ohio has been a constant in her life. Her mother and father have worked the production line at the Maumee Stamping Plant for almost 60 years combined, making bumpers and body panels for generations of Ford vehicles. So when her father's name…

John Brademas' career in national politics and its effect on his approach to his work as president of New York University are discussed. (MSE)

Increasingly, academic scholars are turning to personal and autobiographical writing as a more fulfilling form of self-expression, as illustrated by the career changes of nine women and one man. One critic finds the personal tone an evasion of politics and lacking in rigorous analysis. (MSE)

Both public and private higher education institutions say the recession is prompting increased enrollment in part-time training programs as adults prepare for new jobs. A danger is seen in institutions relegating continuing education to the role of surplus revenue generation. Greatest growth is in computer training, human-resource management,…

Several organizations have created leadership-development programs for college faculty and administrators preparing for a range of administrative posts, including provost, dean, director of financial aid, and president. Some programs operate on a national level, some for specific institution types and constituencies. Participants benefit from the…

David L. Boren, former governor and Senator, has become the most powerful president in the University of Oklahoma's history. Boren wants to give the university the feel of a small private college. His stature gives him flexibility to act decisively and quickly. However, some faculty feel his priorities are wrong and others feel he's moving too…