Volume 59, Issue 11: November 9, 2012

News

Adjuncts Look for Strength in Numbers

About 70 percent of instructional faculty is off the tenure track, and the proportion is still growing. Some adjuncts cautiously wonder if they should raise their voices.
Graham Spanier Is Charged With Concealing Child Abuse

The former Penn State president is accused of being part of a "conspiracy of silence." He faces eight criminal counts, five of which are felonies.
Survivor: the Ohio State Edition

The president of Ohio State tries hard to be a man of the people. But he's not really like that.
Flooding, Snow, and Power Outages Close Colleges in Storm's Wake

For some of the hardest-hit campuses, in New York and New Jersey, it could be days before they reopen.
Welcome to Star Scholar U

Popular professors are starting their own institutions on the side, and it's not as hard as you might think.
As Libraries Go Digital, Sharing of Data Conflicts With Tradition of Privacy

Patrons' privacy is precious to most librarians. Yet new Web services thrive on collecting and sharing the very information that has long been protected.
Supreme Court Appears Divided on Copyright Case Affecting Libraries and Publishers

As a hurricane wailed outside the court, the justices considered a case involving a student's resale of textbooks bought outside the United States.
Booming Brazil Expands Its University System, With Mixed Success

Growing pains have been part of the country's ambitious effort to educate more students in every remote corner.
Despite Rape Crisis, Campus Isn't Looking to Move On

Amherst College tries to answer outrage, avoid tokenism, and engage everybody in a discussion of "sexual respect."
Many Complaints of Faculty Bias Stem From Students' Poor Communicating, Study Finds

Students would be less likely to see their instructors as biased, and more likely to deal well with any such bias, if they were taught better argumentation skills.
Campus Safety Teams Get New Guidance

A lack of standards in responding to disturbing behavior can make it harder to balance protection of individual rights and public safety.
Texas A&M Launches Far-Reaching Plan to Raise Graduation Rates

The plan, called EmpowerU, seeks to fix a leaky educational pipeline by monitoring students from kindergarten through college completion.
Head Count: Top-Performing Low-Income Students and College Choice

New research suggests ways colleges can better recruit students who enroll in less-selective colleges than they are qualified to attend.
Scientific Discovery, Inspired by a Walk to the Restroom

In the push to increase research collaboration, studies try to identify the building-design elements that really matter.
Wired Campus: Pa. Faculty Union Pushes Back Against Plan to Cut Extra Pay for Online Teaching

The proposal has become a sticking point in contract negotiations between the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education and the system’s faculty union.
Wired Campus: Colleges Install Cellphone-Charging Stations for Hyperconnected Students

To reduce panicky questions about where to find the nearest power outlet, universities are purchasing stations like those found in airports.
Administrative Bloat: How Much Is Enough?

In the long-running debate over how many administrators are too many, two economic researchers believe they've identified an ideal ratio.
Colleges Must Help Prepare Students for Higher Education, Report Says

Campuses should take a more direct role in elementary and secondary education, says the American Association of State Colleges and Universities.
Chancellor Carries a Torch for Urban Universities

Wendell E. Pritchett can share his experience at Rutgers U. at Camden in his new role as leader of the Coalition of Urban and Metropolitan Universities.
America's Longest-Serving Law Dean Defends the Value of a Law Degree

Rudy Hasl, who will step down from his current deanship, says law students are learning important skills, whether they end up practicing law or working elsewhere.
The Latest Job Moves in Academe

Elaboration on first item. Read about that and other job-related news.
Hurricane Sandy Swipes Colleges

Glimpses of life in academe from around the world.

The Chronicle Review

Looking at Why Neighborhoods Matter

Twenty-five years after William Julius Wilson changed urban sociology, scholars still debate his ideas. Is anyone else listening?
The Conservative Turn Against Science

In recent decades, Republicans and scientists have come to distrust each other.
The Past, Present, and Future of the Book

It is one profound way of considering the world. It can be complemented, but not replaced.
What Beekeeping Taught Me

With help from bees and Emily Dickinson, a retired professor comes to better understand the artisanal nature of teaching.
Slippery Sloterdijk: the Edgy European Philosopher, Circa 2012

Guide or gasbag? A new book tries to ease us gently into a public intellectual's jargony but not uninteresting mind.
The Year That Started the 60s

Its was 1965 that ushered in the changes that the decade is famous for, writes James Patterson in his new book.

Commentary

Tough Love to Ensure the Future of Pell Grants

It's time to think deeply about what will be needed—in addition to funds—to keep the program going for another 40 years.
Wealthy Americans, Meet Historically Black Colleges. Again.

Rich philanthropists used to give large amounts to HBCU's. What's happened?
Research Student Aid Before You Reform

We need long-term longitudinal studies on what kinds of student aid really work.
Protecting Children Also Protects Colleges

The indictment of Penn State's president shows that if college leaders don't take action, they had better brace for an avalanche of lawsuits, or worse.