The Law School Admission Council recently reported that applications were heading toward a 30-year low, reflecting, as a "New York Times" article put it, "increased concern over soaring tuition, crushing student debt, and diminishing prospects of lucrative employment upon graduation." Since 2004 the number of law-school…

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…

This article describes the work-life benefits Gettysburg College offers its employees. 400 of Gettysburg's 725 full-time employees participate in the college's wellness program. About half of them stick with it long enough to earn discounts of up to $500 a year on their health-insurance premiums. The wellness program--which includes free on-campus…

Today's young academics need to lower their expectations, especially in light of the country's current economic woes. But judging from the author's experience, that mental adjustment could lead to rich opportunities. In this article, the author relates his struggle to establish a career in philosophy and provides his thoughts on the necessary…

Over the last decade, admissions has become a front-page fixation, and the industry's professionals have higher profiles than ever, on campuses and off. In turn, today's admissions jobs come with heavy doses of prestige and pressure. In this article, the authors discuss the results of a new survey of college officers which suggest that, despite…

With baby boomers on college campuses nationwide getting ready to retire, those next in line--professors, administrators, and staff members in the middle of their careers--feel somewhat dispirited. They are more likely than anyone else on their campuses to harbor negative feelings about their jobs, career advancement, and the fairness of the…

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…

When it came to benefits for employees, higher education used to be at the head of the class. Back in the 1950s, academe was one of the first fields to embrace health-insurance coverage for illnesses that do not require hospitalization, and it later led the way toward long-term disability insurance. Universities and colleges approved…

Chief financial officers at the nation's private colleges have bigger workloads than ever before, and in return, many are taking home much larger paychecks. A "Chronicle" survey of 103 private doctoral institutions shows that between 2003 and 2005, the median compensation package for the top financial position, which includes such titles as vice…

Female and minority faculty members rated their institutions less positively as places for junior professors to work than did their male and white counterparts, according to a new report. Young professors said institutional policies designed to help them succeed were important, but they were less satisfied that those policies were effective. Women…

Discusses why some experts say the National Institutes of Health should do more to improve the lives of recent Ph.Ds in low-paying academic research jobs. (EV)

Describes how Kirksville, MO, home to Truman State University, is the kind of place professors end up when the job matters more to them than the location. Discusses how small town life is counterbalanced by the university's emphasis on hiring full-time faculty and providing tenure. (EV)

Describes how women who lead colleges are forming networks to find moral support and develop their own strategies for solving professional problems and addressing the issues of juggling work and private demands. (EV)

Discusses the rapid growth of the Workers Rights Consortium, a student-originated group with 44 member institutions which opposes sweatshop labor conditions especially in the apparel industry. Notes disagreements about the number of administrators on the board of directors and about the role of industry representives. Compares this group with the…

Discusses why, for these three liberal arts scholars, for-profit colleges offer an attractive alternative to traditional academe. (EV)