Academe Today

Leadership and Governance

Margaret Spellings Is Stepping Down at UNC. Will Anyone Want to Replace Her?

She is the system's second consecutive president to leave the job after serving for less than five years.

Special Reports

They Crave Value, Relevance, and Instagram. Meet the New Generation of Students.

To compete for a shrinking pool of high-school graduates, colleges now must adapt to the interests and needs of Gen Z. Our new report will help you recruit, teach, and serve this diverse cohort. Get your copy in the Chronicle Store.

Admissions

What’s New in Harvard’s Admissions Procedures: Explicit Instructions on Race

In the midst of a trial over alleged bias against Asian-American applicants, the university’s revised guidelines for admissions officials became public.

Campus Speech

U. of Virginia Bans Richard Spencer and Other Leaders of Violent ‘Unite the Right’ Rally

The move against the white-supremacist speaker and nine others follows a yearlong investigation by the university’s police department.

Administration

Mergers Can Benefit All Involved — but They’re Never Easy

The finances, logistics, and diplomacy are daunting. But if leaders can swallow their pride and work toward compromise, consolidations sometimes make very good sense.

Research

They Enrolled Their Son in a Lithium Trial at the U. of Illinois at Chicago. But He Got Worse.

After her 10-year-old was accepted into a clinical drug trial for bipolar disorder run by a professor who violated research rules, a mother chronicled her family’s experiences. Here is their journey, in their own words.

‘No Money, No Mission’: How Colleges Can Fortify Themselves for the Future

Market forces are bearing down on higher education, and internal inefficiencies can make matters worse. Our new report on the college business model can help you shore up your finances now and consider major transformations ahead. Buy a copy in our store.

Special Reports

We Must Help First-Generation Students Master Academe’s ‘Hidden Curriculum’

An experimental course exposes first-generation students to the unwritten rules and unspoken expectations of an elite university.

Commentary

Coming Out as Working Class

An academic who grew up low-income in Arkansas says his sexuality is the least queer thing about him.

Lingua Franca

A Moment of Sympathy for the Old Fogeys and Snoots

In the matter of "can not" vs. "cannot," Geoff Pullum detects a flicker of fellow-feeling for the judgmental prescriptive usage pontificators of the world.