Every professor encounters difficult students. Some students are simply uninterested, while others are more troublesome. The aggressive passive-aggressive student, the interrupter, the hijacker, the shy student--most faculty members are familiar with them all. In this article, the author offers a few tips on how faculty members should approach…

Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) scores still wield a mighty force in American culture and in the psyches of teenagers, even though 760 American colleges and universities have made standardized testing an optional part of the admissions process. Three years ago, after the new writing portion of the SAT was unveiled, the author's college, the College…

In this article, the author examines the financial crisis on Wall Street which resonates through higher education across the state, and beyond. The economic malaise is taking its toll in places like Rhode Island, where state budget cuts of 17 percent forced colleges to cut class offerings and leave more than 150 positions unfilled. Florida's…

A case that the Indiana Supreme Court recently ruled on dealt with the question of whether a professor whose fixed-term contract expires becomes unemployed on a voluntary or involuntary basis. Indiana State University appointed William LaFief as an assistant professor of marketing for the 2004-2005 calendar year. After reappointing him for…

The historic institution of tenure is rapidly becoming history. The American Association of University Professors (AAUP) has for almost a century advocated for tenure as the chief guarantor of a faculty member's academic freedom. But today tenure and academic freedom are viewed less and less as crucially intertwined. Academic freedom has widely…

More than 1,500 students who were driven off their island campus in Galveston, Texas, by Hurricane Ike resumed classes last week 150 miles inland, on the main campus of Texas A&M University at College Station. The students, who are enrolled at Texas A&M's marine-oriented branch campus, in Galveston, were hurriedly moved into spare rooms and…

Homegrown musicians from all over Africa gather at auditions for scholarships to the Berklee College of Music. The Africa Scholars Program, as the scholarship is called, offers a four-year, full scholarship, to begin in 2009. It was established by Berklee's president, Roger H. Brown, and his wife, Linda Mason, both of whom have worked extensively…

When the stock market plunged 778 points last week, losing almost 9% of its value in one day, higher education responded in an uncharacteristic way: It began to buckle. Colleges have often considered themselves recession-proof. However, last week's events compounded an already difficult year for many institutions, which have suffered from…

Being subject to the political whims of the campaigns (such as the Republican candidate's declaration two days earlier that he wanted to postpone the debate to deal with an escalating economic crisis) is just one risk for campuses that raise millions of dollars and endure an array of logistical complexities to play host to presidential or…

This article reports on the situation unfolding at the University of Iowa which is all too familiar: Two athletes are accused of rape. The university botches its response. Heads roll. Few things make university presidents and their top aides more nervous than an athlete accused of sexual assault. Most colleges welcome the exposure that a big-time…

In the summer of 2006, several major news outlets gave prominent coverage to a sociological study with a grim message: Americans' social isolation had increased radically since the 1980s. Whereas in 1985, Americans reported that, on average, they had 2.94 friends or family members with whom they discussed important matters, by 2004 that number had…

When it comes to building a top-notch faculty, racing to land prominent scholars is only half the battle for colleges. The other half: Fighting off poachers intent on swiping the college's existing talented mid-career professors. At Cornell University, a $35-million gift announced by officials in late September will give the institution an edge in…

Many colleges use cellphones to warn the campus of potential threats. The devices are, after all, in almost every student's pocket. Now worried instructors and administrators say that students might use phones to cheat on tests. Not only do cellphones give students a new way to stealthily ask a friend for help. They now have the ability to access…

This paper reports that a large-scale, multinational attempt in Europe to rank humanities journals has set off a revolt. In a protest letter, some journal editors have called it "a dangerous and misguided exercise." The project has also started a drumbeat of alarm in this country, as U.S.-based scholars begin to grasp the implications for their…

This article reports that the U.S. Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments in December in a case that could make it more difficult for plaintiffs to win sexual-discrimination or sexual-harassment lawsuits against colleges and other educational institutions. The justices will decide whether to uphold a decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals for…