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From the issue dated December 15, 2006 |
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Short SubjectsMIND GAMETest your higher-ed IQ by taking our end-of-the-year news quiz. COOL COMPETITION: Michigan Tech University may see its Guinness record for snow angels go to hell if Bismarck, N.D., gets a white Christmas. WHAT THEY'RE READING ON COLLEGE CAMPUSES: A list of the best-selling books. The FacultyTRACKING THE UNTRACKEDA new index of employment information from more than 2,500 colleges shows that 65 percent of faculty members are off the tenure track. BEYOND THE MONOGRAPHA long-awaited report from an MLA panel says tenure and promotion committees should consider articles and electronic publications. OFF BALANCEConservative public intellectuals have broken into the media, but still not into academe. That's a disabling position for conservative thought, writes Mark Bauerlein, a professor of English at Emory University. THE 'E' WORDIs "emeritus status" an oxymoron? asks Carlin Romano, critic at large for The Chronicle. HOW DUMB DO THEY THINK WE ARE?To be really good at plagiarism, you need precisely the reading and writing skills that ought to render it unnecessary. 2 INCHES TALLIf my main adviser can't take the time to write a letter for me when I need one, does that mean I am not worth the time? ADJUNCTS WIN APPEAL: George Washington University must adhere to a National Labor Relations Board ruling and recognize its union of part-time professors, a federal appeals court says. PEER REVIEW: The University of Delaware picks a new president. ... Temple University finds an associate university librarian just down the road. ... The provost of the Johns Hopkins University will become president of George Washington University. ... A University of Michigan at Ann Arbor history professor will be the new director of Columbia University's Institute of African Studies. SYLLABUS: Undergraduates in an introductory history class at Indiana State University do their own research on local history. THE ARTS & ACADEME: A dance performance at Stanford University has no spectators, on purpose. ... A Japanese Zero airplane is once again in flames in Hawaii. Research & BooksREAL-LIFE SCIENCE FICTIONScientists from the University of New Brunswick, supported by the U.S. Defense Department, have worked with other prosthetics researchers to create a bionic arm that can sense touch. BEYOND THE MONOGRAPHA long-awaited report from an MLA panel says tenure and promotion committees should consider articles and electronic publications. PAPER STILL RULESEven with improved screens, e-books aren't ready for academic use, college librarians say. THE COLOR OF MONEYA focus on race and identity distracts us from a greater social injustice: economic stratification, writes Walter Benn Michaels, a professor of English at the University of Illinois at Chicago. RULES OF ENGAGEMENTYet again, for the playwright David Hare, all is fragile in love and war, writes Julia M. Klein, a cultural reporter and critic. SUBSCRIBING TO WORRIES: Academic librarians express concern over a planned merger of two major publishers of scholarly journals. HOT TYPE: The Dalkey Archive Press finally finds a new home, and an important British design museum will make online images of its collected items available free to scholars. VERBATIM: A professor of medicine at Columbia University talks about celebrity patients and the public attention they get. NOTA BENE: An associate professor of French at Case Western Reserve University plumbs the publishing process of Marcel Proust's À la recherche du temps perdu. MULTIPLE SCIENTISTS ALLOWED: The National Institutes of Health will begin permitting more than one principal investigator to apply for and receive its grants to collaborate on a single project. RESEARCH SAFEGUARDS NEEDED: The federal government does not do enough to ensure that colleges keep sensitive technologies out of the hands of foreign spies, a report says. Government & PoliticsAFFIRMATIVE ACTION, AGAINThe Supreme Court shows increased skepticism toward the policy during arguments in two public-school cases. STATE SPENDING REBOUNDSA new national survey shows that higher-education appropriations continue to rise — especially in the South. TAXING QUESTIONS: Members of the Senate Finance Committee at a recent hearing discussed combining tuition tax credits with Pell Grants to create a "super credit." APPEARANCE OF IMPROPRIETY? Delaware State University is under fire for hiring a state representative to serve as its executive director of community relations. RISING TO THE OCCASION: At a panel discussion, Lawrence H. Summers willingly spoke about women in science, an issue that helped lead to his ouster as president of Harvard University earlier this year. REINED IN: New rules will tighten New York State's control over its for-profit colleges. STAYING COMPETITIVE: Americans are divided on whether college students need to study more mathematics and science despite federal efforts to promote those fields, according to a survey. MULTIPLE SCIENTISTS ALLOWED: The National Institutes of Health will begin permitting more than one principal investigator to apply for and receive its grants to collaborate on a single project. RESEARCH SAFEGUARDS NEEDED: The federal government does not do enough to ensure that colleges keep sensitive technologies out of the hands of foreign spies, a report says. LENDER CRIES FOUL: A student-loan company accuses colleges of blocking students and parents from borrowing federal student loans. IN THE STATES: A roundup of higher-education news from the states. Money & ManagementFROM ASSEMBLY LINE TO CLASSROOMCollege officials struggle to make higher education appealing to thousands of former automotive workers who recently took buyouts. STATE SPENDING REBOUNDSA new national survey shows that higher-education appropriations continue to rise — especially in the South. BUCKEYES, WOLVERINES, ACCOUNTANTSAs Congress considers whether college sports should remain tax exempt, the season's most-hyped football game offers some answers. TO MARKET, TO MARKETLike it or not, your institution's list of potential leaders is dictated by the laws of supply and demand. 'BRIGHT LINES': An Education Department committee has penalized an accreditor for not setting minimum learning standards. WHY I MOVED: A vice provost at the University of Texas at Austin is drawn to Santa Clara University because of its focus on "education as a way of being." A SHORT LEASH: An affiliate of the American Bar Association has won renewal of its responsibility for accrediting law schools, but a panel of the Department of Education has limited that recognition to 18 months, citing the accreditor's new policies on racial diversity at law schools. 'FLOOD EXCLUSION' DISALLOWED: Xavier University of Louisiana is among the beneficiaries of a ruling that insurance companies must pay for damages caused by canal breaches in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. PEER REVIEW: The University of Delaware picks a new president. ... Temple University finds an associate university librarian just down the road. ... The provost of the Johns Hopkins University will become president of George Washington University. ... A University of Michigan at Ann Arbor history professor will be the new director of Columbia University's Institute of African Studies. Information TechnologyPAPER STILL RULESEven with improved screens, e-books aren't ready for academic use, college librarians say. 'PRIOR ART' CHALLENGE: Blackboard's patent for e-learning software, which academic critics say is overly broad and likely to stymie innovation, faces its first legal challenge. EVIDENCE IN THE INSTANT-MESSAGE ERA: New federal rules that allow electronic evidence to be used routinely in lawsuits could prompt changes in how colleges collect and store such material. THE BROWN BAG: In an online discussion with Chronicle readers, a media expert from MIT speaks on innovative teaching with technology. JOGGERS BEWARE: A team of doctoral students argues that a new device released by Apple and Nike can be used as a surveillance tool. NEW AT THE TOP: Ohio University has named an interim chief information officer to replace its previous head, who resigned after a series of security breaches. BACKING ITS BIRTHPLACE: Google, which started at Stanford University, has pledged $2-million to the institution's Center for Internet and Society. SUBSCRIBING TO WORRIES: Academic librarians express concern over a planned merger of two major publishers of scholarly journals. StudentsSKILLS FOR LIVINGAs more students with learning disabilities and other special needs enroll in college, companies have sprung up to offer them around-the-clock support, from wake-up calls to homework supervision. OPEN DOORSThe odds of success are against some community-college students. That's why beating those odds is so sweet, writes M. Garrett Bauman, a professor of English at Monroe Community College. STANDARD CONCERNSIn education, consensus is rare. So when consensus is reached — as it has been on the question of high-school preparation for college and the workplace — we should all take notice, write Michael Cohen, Paul E. Lingenfelter, Thomas C. Meredith, and David Ward. EDITOR DENIED: The University of Southern California has barred the student newspaper's top editor from reassuming his position. ADVICE FOR POLICY MAKERS: States should be involved in providing student-support services to help grow their educated work forces, a report says. AthleticsBUCKEYES, WOLVERINES, ACCOUNTANTSAs Congress considers whether college sports should remain tax exempt, the season's most-hyped football game offers some answers. GRADES ARE IN: More than a third of the 64 college football teams headed to bowl games this season have failed to meet the NCAA's academic standards, a report says. InternationalA CHORUS OF CRITICSFaculty members and students at the University of Indianapolis's branch campus in Athens, Greece, raise questions about academic integrity there. FAKING THEIR WAY THROUGH ART SCHOOLImitation may be the highest form of flattery, but in Vietnam, copying is an art — literally. THE DEBATE OVER ISRAELAbraham H. Foxman, Norman Birnbaum, and Harvey Cox react in an online discussion to Alan Wolfe's recent Chronicle essay, "Free Speech, Israel, and Jewish Illiberalism." SCALING BACK: Serious financial problems have beset African Virtual University, the continent's largest online institution, ending its partnerships with several foreign universities. CLOSED HAVEN: Iraq's National Library and Archive closed after several staff members were killed and the building increasingly came under fire. UNDER HOUSE ARREST: A former president of Mexico can be tried on charges of genocide related to his role in a crackdown against student protesters 38 years ago in Mexico City, a federal appellate judge has ruled. TO OPEN IN 2008: In an effort to jump-start scientific advancement in the Arab world, Saudi Arabia has announced that it will spend $2.6-billion to build a new science-and-technology university. 'REGRESSION RATHER THAN PROGRESS': A professor of public administration at a Turkish university has been suspended after he made unflattering public comments about the founder of modern Turkey. Notes From AcademeFAKING THEIR WAY THROUGH ART SCHOOLImitation may be the highest form of flattery, but in Vietnam, copying is an art — literally. The Chronicle ReviewOPEN DOORSThe odds of success are against some community-college students. That's why beating those odds is so sweet, writes M. Garrett Bauman, a professor of English at Monroe Community College. OFF BALANCEConservative public intellectuals have broken into the media, but still not into academe. That's a disabling position for conservative thought, writes Mark Bauerlein, a professor of English at Emory University. THE COLOR OF MONEYA focus on race and identity distracts us from a greater social injustice: economic stratification, writes Walter Benn Michaels, a professor of English at the University of Illinois at Chicago. RULES OF ENGAGEMENTYet again, for the playwright David Hare, all is fragile in love and war, writes Julia M. Klein, a cultural reporter and critic. THE 'E' WORDIs "emeritus status" an oxymoron? asks Carlin Romano, critic at large for The Chronicle. THE DEBATE OVER ISRAELAbraham H. Foxman, Norman Birnbaum, and Harvey Cox react in an online discussion to Alan Wolfe's recent Chronicle essay, "Free Speech, Israel, and Jewish Illiberalism." RUBBER SOULThrough her condom fashion and artwork, Adriana Bertini hopes to hinder the transmission of disease and further the transmission of knowledge. STANDARD CONCERNSIn education, consensus is rare. So when consensus is reached — as it has been on the question of high-school preparation for college and the workplace — we should all take notice, write Michael Cohen, Paul E. Lingenfelter, Thomas C. Meredith, and David Ward. CRITICAL MASS: Rhythm nation Letters to the EditorChronicle CareersTO MARKET, TO MARKETLike it or not, your institution's list of potential leaders is dictated by the laws of supply and demand. HOW DUMB DO THEY THINK WE ARE?To be really good at plagiarism, you need precisely the reading and writing skills that ought to render it unnecessary. 2 INCHES TALLIf my main adviser can't take the time to write a letter for me when I need one, does that mean I am not worth the time? DETAILS OF AVAILABLE POSTS, including teaching and research positions in higher education, administrative and executive jobs, and openings outside academe Gazette |