Today, many colleges and universities, both public and private, are in serious financial straits. What kind of leaders then are needed in this challenging higher-education environment? The Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges issued a report a couple years ago that introduced the concept of "Integral Leadership." The report…

A new president comes to the job with enthusiasm and optimism. The board that hired the president, as well as the faculty and staff members who anticipate the new leader's arrival, share those sentiments. Some people hope he or she will do as well as the previous president; more often, they hope the new president will do everything that the…

Last month the "Rocky Mountain News" reported that a survey by an emeritus professor at University of Colorado Boulder found that only 23 of 825 faculty members on the campus were registered Republicans. But on his "New York Times" blog, Stanley Fish brushed off the survey's significance from a familiarly Fishian stance. A faculty's political…

Today the academic world--open to Jews, women, and other previously excluded groups--has been completely revamped. Or has it? Despite the changes, is it possible the institution still promotes the mediocre and demotes the extraordinary? The life and work of Paul Piccone bear on this question--and others. Piccone, who died of cancer in 2004 at 64,…

Many professors who have ventured into online education are finding that shorter, modular clips are a more successful teaching approach than traditional 50-minute lectures. The author cites educators from several institutions who have adapted smaller, 15-20 minute instructional units originally developed for online courses, to their face-to-face…

The Supreme Court of Virginia has ruled in favor of Randolph College in two lawsuits brought by students and alumnae donors upset that the institution, formerly Randolph-Macon Woman's College, went coed last fall. In one case, the court ruled against a group of students who argued that the decision to enroll men was a breach of contract. The…

Despite action by Congress and the Bush administration to shore up the student-loan industry, some state-authorized organizations say they may not return to the loan business this year, and others are cutting some of the borrower benefits and services they provide. Nine state loan agencies stopped issuing either new federally backed or new private…

Aware of the increasing burden of fuel costs on their students, administrators of rural community colleges are looking for ways to help students stay on track with their studies even as their monthly transportation bills rise. Two common tactics are increasing the number of online courses and offering block scheduling that allows students to pack…

The author discusses her experiences using the "Facebook" social networking website, and the evolution of its use from a window on students' opinions and activities, to an uncomfortable forum where response to grades were visible in real time, and because of the instructor's known potential presence, students may have been intimidated from sharing…

University presses have largely abdicated the job of substantive editing to outside readers, who write reports evaluating the quality of the work and offering both major and minor editing suggestions. Editors develop a cadre of readers they know they can trust, who will be fair, rigorous, and prompt with their reports. The author particularly…

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, nearly 50 percent of undergraduates work in part-time jobs while enrolled as full-time students. Student employment, says the author, has the potential to be a significant developmental experience, providing an extracurricular setting in which to promote learning after class ends, enabling…

Latinos are the largest ethnic minority group in the United States; they are taking resources and jobs from Americans; they are "browning" their racial makeup--among other scenarios of doom that have accompanied the immigration debate. But with the 2008 presidential campaign season, Latinos have suddenly become the belles of the ball. People are…

In this article, the author shares her experience teaching in a predominantly white institution. As an African-American woman, she relates that some students have confronted her in class, typically with a great deal of hostility and a complete lack of respect. Others have gone to department chairs with a barrage of complaints in an attempt to…

While the number of medical-school campuses in Arizona doubled--from two to four--in the last few years, there is no assurance that all of the new doctors they graduate will stick around to practice in the state. Medical schools here and nationwide are struggling to line up enough clinical-training slots so that an influx of new upper-level…

Five academics from around the world plan to open a new kind of online university early next year, built upon professor star power and students learning from one another through online social tools. The teachers will be volunteers, the courses will cost next to nothing, and no official credit will be given. The organizers call it P2P University…