In master's programs, and especially at the doctoral level, graduate students depend on their advisers more than on anyone else in their careers. Students do more work for their adviser's eyes than for anyone else's, and the adviser's approval is the key to the door that leads to the next place, whether full-time employment or more school. For…

An assistant professor in the social sciences at a regional state university considers herself open to criticism. She listens to suggestions from student evaluations and from senior faculty members. But she was puzzled about how to react to two contradictory critiques of her publication plans. One quality educators must cultivate is to know when…

A persistent criticism of the digital-humanities movement is that it is elitist and exclusive because it requires the resources of a major university (faculty, infrastructure, money), and is thus more suited to campuses with a research focus. Academics and administrators at small liberal-arts colleges may read about DH and, however exciting it…

Service is not an optional part of being an assistant professor. The trick is knowing how to do enough without doing too much. In Part 1 of this series, the author enumerated the "good deeds" that assistant professors do in the realm of teaching that tend to blow up or backfire. He cautioned that, while doing good for students was their primary…

Twitter is quickly becoming a global faculty lounge. Sure, it's easy to waste a lot of time on the Internet-based microblogging service reading mundane details about people's days. But one can also pick up some great higher-education gossip, track down colleagues to collaborate with, or get advice on how to improve one's teaching or research. In…

Perhaps getting advice seems a clearer-cut task than giving it. But at a time when budding academics seem busier and more distracted than ever, it is all the more important to understand how to learn from a mentor, and that being a good protege has its own strategies, techniques and responsibilities. The mentor relationship is alive and well in…

Last month Duke University's student newspaper published a letter signed by 17 economics professors. It said that, in the wake of the lacrosse scandal, the professors regretted the perception that Duke faculty members were prejudiced against some students. It also publicly welcomed all students--including lacrosse players--to enroll in the…

When Oleg Viro and Burglind Joricke resigned in February from their tenured positions at Sweden's Uppsala University, administrators hoped that their departure would restore tranquility to the strife-riven mathematics department. Instead the manner in which the highly regarded university brought about the professors' departure, for reasons that…

Describes how, in a profile from the world of "tenure madness," a shoo-in at Brooklyn College almost got the boot instead. (EV)

In a number of states, legislatures are successfully opposing governors on budget cuts that would adversely affect colleges and universities, even in states where relations between academics and politicians have been strained recently. (MSE)

A recent study of the administrative characteristics, attitudes toward leadership and management, and personal and professional background of college presidents named by their peers as effective chief executives is reported. (MSE)

Academic and research-oriented psychologists are discontinuing membership in the American Psychological Association in increasing numbers, feeling it no longer serves thir interests. Major reorganization of the association to stem polarization is being considered. (MSE)

College faculty at many institutions feel sidelined as others decide major issues. Some blame trustees, administrators, and the need for rapid decision making; others find faculty are not taking an active enough role in governance. Faculty senates are reviewing their governance documents to make improvements, and are trying to rally more faculty…

One professor's efforts to bring high school teachers and college geography faculty together, strengthen high school geography teaching, and increase interest in the study of geography has spawned a network of alliances covering 20 states and sponsored by the National Geographic Society. (MSE)

Because faculty and administrators never developed effective ways to work together to set institutional priorities, little progress was made in improving undergraduate education, in assessing what students learn, and in creating a curriculum and an environment supporting student diversity. Governance issues are seen as related to cooperation. (MSE)