Academe Today

Advice

Why Relentless Administrative Turnover Makes It Hard for Us to Do Our Jobs

Constantly shifting priorities and visions leave universities adrift. Is consistent leadership too much to ask for?

From the Archives

The Path to Change Runs Through the Provost’s Office

With external concerns preoccupying presidents, colleges look to chief academic officers to lead innovation and build consensus.

From the Archives

The Subtle Art of Gaining Faculty Buy-In

For administrators seeking faculty support for a major change, there are no simple tricks; rather, it takes long-term relationship building and canny strategy, say veterans of the process.

Faculty

Professors Want Intellectual Community. If Only They Had the Time.

One college made space for the serendipitous exchanges scholars crave, when they can carve out a couple of hours to go.

Teaching

What Delayed Course Evaluations Might — and Might Not — Reveal

Professors like to think that their lessons stick with students long after a course ends. Do they?

Research

Twitter for Scientists: an Idea Whose Time Has Finally Come?

A new federally funded project called Polyplexus aims to become a repository for “micropubs” — 300-character summaries of research findings. For now, it’s open to academic scientists only.

The Daily Briefing

The Daily Briefing tells individual subscribers everything they need to know about higher ed. Here’s a sample.

Commentary

Yes, Higher Ed Is a Business — But It’s Also a Calling

We need to find our academic center of gravity without losing the administrative capacities so crucial to the financial health of our institutions.

Lingua Franca

The Adverb That Killed a Friendship

Geoff Pullum watched as a monosyllabic, unstressed adverb terminated a neighborly relationship.