Academe Today

Research

Is Climbing the Carnegie Research Rankings Worth the Price Tag?

So you want to join the elite ranks of Research 1 universities? Make sure that your aspirations match your institutional mission, and that you understand the long-term costs.

Leadership & Governance

USC’s Beleaguered President Said He Was Stepping Down. Some Professors Are Wondering What’s Taking So Long.

After a year of tumult, a letter from faculty members urges the Board of Trustees to appoint an interim leader before new students arrive in the fall.

Students

Dual-Credit Classes Serve Some Students in Texas Well. But Not All of Them, and They Might Not Save Any Money.

The rapid growth of such courses makes the Lone Star State an important bellwether of the growth taking place nationally.

Re:Learning

Big Data Is Getting Bigger. So Are the Privacy and Ethical Questions.

Using wireless-network data to determine where students spend their time on campus could help those students succeed. The idea is a little cool. It's also kind of creepy.

Research

What Would Happen If the Earth Turned Into Blueberries? Thanks to a New Paper, Now We Know

For one, our planet would immediately shrink in both mass and radius. Gravity would weaken. Oh, and there’s the blueberry geysers.

Idea Lab: Mergers and Collaboration

Many colleges are looking to potentially merge or collaborate with their peers. But what do leaders need to know to do this well? Our latest Idea Lab collection offers advice and tips from colleges that have merged or formed partnerships to cut costs and expand academic programs. It’s available in the Chronicle Store.

Advice

5 Tips on Surviving Your First Year as a Department Head

Chairs are notoriously stuck in the middle, serving everyone in all directions.

Lingua Franca

On Being Puerto Rican in Spain

Two graduate students talk to Jeffrey Herlihy-Mera about the language differences and the bias they faced during their studies.