An examination of the history of media coverage reveals a pattern of unfair news accounts and shows that historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) have experienced intense scrutiny from the beginning. The mainstream media's often-negative portrayals of HBCUs mislead the public and can even exacerbate problems some HBCUs already face.…

On September 15, 2009, faculty members from four of the five community colleges in San Antonio delivered an overwhelming vote of no confidence in Chancellor Bruce H. Leslie to the Alamo Community College District's board of trustees. (One college, Northeast Lakeview, didn't participate in the vote because the college is not yet accredited.)…

This article presents the annual report on the economic status of the profession. Although the results of this year's survey of full-time faculty compensation are marginally better than they have been the last two years, 2011-12 represents the continuation of a historic low period for faculty salaries. The overall average salary for full-time…

The academic year began with a bang last fall at the University of California (UC). A series of bangs, actually, featuring a united front of students, staff, and faculty in a coordinated series of walkouts and strikes across the system's ten campuses. The target of their outrage was a series of draconian layoffs, wage cuts, and drastic tuition…

Faculty sometimes use votes of no confidence as a tool of last resort to express opposition to a college administration. Unfortunately, however, such votes often have limited effect aside from further damaging relations between administrators and faculty. This article describes how a no-confidence vote was averted at Alfred State College (formally…

Recently, some presidents of colleges and universities have run into serious trouble because of conflicts with their faculty. When such conflicts arise, faculty senates frequently precipitate an institutional crisis by voting (or threatening to vote) no confidence in the president. But whether one agrees or disagrees that a particular president…

In this paper, the author describes what might happen if a college got rid of its board of trustees and the faculty became voting partners in running the "corporation." What if there was no board of trustees composed mainly of outsiders? What if the president was chosen by and responsible to the faculty? What, in short, if the faculty owned the…

Examines the relationships between presidents of elite universities and the boards of publicly held firms in the United States. Describes the proportion of such presidents who sit on corporate boards, types of firms which elected presidents to sit on their boards, the personal financial benefits to presidents, and their time commitments. (EV)

The presidents of the University of California Berkeley, Central Connecticut State University, Colorado College, and the University of North Carolina explain their actions to support academic freedom in controversies concerning Middle Eastern studies at their respective institutions. (EV)

The reflections of college presidents on their presidential experiences, based on a national survey, are provided. One source of professorial misperception about presidents is shown to be the confusion about the president's role; each group with whom the president must deal views it differently and not without some measure of self-interest. (MLW)

The president of the New School for Social Research (New York) explains the institution's policy on freedom of expression in the context of a controversial art exhibit and suggests that academe consider how to use freedom of expression more vigorously in pursuit of a society free of prejudice and intolerance. (MSE)

The president's role in college governance structure is discussed. Faculties and administrators, it is suggested, need to do more direct talking about their shared expectations, the boundaries of responsibility and authority, governance structures and the roles of the president and the faculty, and the goals and ends of governance. (MLW)

Guidelines for the process of searching for a new college president are offered, including a number of recommendations concerning the search committee (composition, leadership, selection, size, and responsibility), factors in the search process (use of consultants, confidentiality, institutional analysis, and leadership criteria), sources of…

Discusses issues and trends in the university's mission of community service. Notes a 1999 leadership colloquium of college presidents which urged student participation in public and community service. Identifies new problems, including civic disengagement and the growing gap between rich and poor. Examines the service learning movement and offers…

Many faculty members were optimistic about their economic prospects for 2004-05. They saw signs of--or at least hope for--economic recovery all around and were ending a year in which overall average faculty salaries had grown by the smallest percentage in decades. Following the pattern of recent years, this annual report first examines the…