Discussions Transcripts

March 2008

Sooner than you'd think, the March Madness of the NCAA men's basketball tournament will be upon us. Frenzied fans will become more fanatical, brackets will be filled out, debates about teams on the bubble will break out, and the overall productivity of the American work force will decline as people spend more time talking about seedings than doing their jobs. The guiding force behind the tournament, which is the NCAA's chief revenue source, is Greg Shaheen, senior vice president for basketball and business strategies. He not only directs the tournament; he also oversees the association's $6.1-billion television contract with CBS, which is up for renewal in just a few years. He is also deeply involved in the NCAA's efforts to broaden its revenue stream, so it is not so dependent on the tournament. He will join us to answer questions about how the tournament operates, negotiations with CBS over a new contract, what other revenue he sees in the NCAA's future, and other burning issues in intercollegiate sports. (3/6/2008)

February 2008

Is your teaching technique a little rusty? Your classroom routine a tad tired? Come share your stories, tips, and questions about motivating students, personalizing a large lecture class, promoting academic honesty, managing classroom conduct, fielding students' questions, holding office hours, designing effective writing assignments, and incorporating group-learning activities -- and talk about them with an expert on the art and science of teaching. (2/21/2008)

As many regions of the United States undergo economic transitions, expectations are increasing that higher-education institutions will play critical roles in creating jobs and revitalizing local economies. In fact, many colleges are embracing economic development as a central mission, from Rochester, N.Y., to Kannapolis, N.C. But how can colleges and universities work in their local economies in ways that are responsive and meaningful? How do institutions develop a strategic plan for dealing with long-term economic challenges while managing short-term expectations of the university as economic savior? And how do they encourage faculty members to marry their research goals with real-world needs? (2/7/2008)

January 2008

As technology and data become increasingly intertwined, many small liberal-arts colleges are combining their IT organizations and libraries to better serve students and faculty members. Xavier University, in Cincinnati, has embraced that model wholeheartedly (The Chronicle, January 18). It is constructing a new building to house the new organization, has scrapped the position of chief librarian, and has reduced the number of books in its library. Xavier is determined to make the new organization work, but some colleges have seen such mergers collapse because of cultural clashes between librarians and technology workers. Will more colleges adopt a blended organization? What are the keys to a successful marriage between the units? How do the roles of librarians and technology workers change? (1/31/2008)

Alumni associations have found that the new generation of college alumni is among the most difficult to connect with. The alumni groups have spent the last few years figuring out how to remain relevant to graduates who prefer cellphones over home phones, have already created their own online social and professional networks, and job-hop at a dizzying pace. What can associations do to keep their institutions a part of the lives of young alumni? (1/24/2008)

Colleges are not professional technology providers. But students have long counted on them to provide them with reliable e-mail for academic and personal use. As students place heavier and heavier demands on networking services, college officials have recognized that commercial vendors, such as Google and Microsoft, can provide better e-mail service at a price that's hard to beat — free. But such deals also give the vendors access to the correspondence that travels among students and faculty members. Do the benefits outweigh the privacy concerns and potential legal liabilities? What other information-technology services could or should be outsourced to commercial vendors? And are the commercial services really all that good to begin with? (1/17/2008)

Last month college leaders breathed a collective sigh of relief as Education Secretary Margaret Spellings said she would require "no one-size-fits-all measures, no standardized tests" from federally recognized agencies accrediting colleges. For months, colleges have been fighting language supported by the Bush administration in the reauthorized Higher Education Act that could impose assessment guidelines rather than giving colleges the ability to create their own. How will the debate shake out? Would college-created measures provide enough useful information to accreditors? How should accreditors take into account an institution's stated mission? (1/16/2008)

Higher-education is changing, and The Chronicle is too. In recent weeks, we have redesigned our main news section and The Chronicle Review, and redeployed many of our reporters and editors with the goal of bringing you the news more quickly and in a more thoughtful way — in print and online. Usually, it's the reporters and editors here who are asking you the questions. Now, it's your turn. Ever wonder why some news gets big play and other news barely a mention? Want to know more about how The Chronicle works? Does something we do really bug you? (1/10/2008)

December 2007

Colleges have a lot riding on searches these days, and not only when seeking a president who can woo donors, manage budgets, and lead faculty members. As running a university becomes more complex, search firms are playing a bigger role than ever before in identifying and selecting the men and women who will be the next generation of deans and vice presidents. At times controversial — particularly to critics who say the firms rely too heavily on old-boy networks to find their candidates — search experts are also playing larger roles in helping institutions to shape the new positions, like vice presidents for diversity that a number of colleges have recently established. (See an article from The Chronicle.) How do they find their candidates and decide who's the right fit for what institution? (12/6/2007)

Many scientists say the way grants are awarded by the National Institutes of Health — the nation's largest source of money for academic research — is broken. Peer reviewers, critics say, favor applications from tenured researchers for work that could advance knowledge only slightly, at the expense of bold proposals that could lead to huge strides in medicine and health care. The agency is evaluating proposals for reform. Should it set larger goals for the number of first-time grantees or cap the number of grants any one scientist can hold at once? Should it award more grants based on innovation? If so, how can peer reviewers predict who will be innovative? (12/4/2007)

November 2007

University research and commercial interests have led much of the technological innovation in the United States. Lately, though, the relationship between academe and industry has been strained. Companies complain that universities bog down the commercialization of new products developed by their researchers with lengthy negotiations over licensing terms. That has led some companies to look for partners overseas. The federal legislation that governs the relationship, a 1980 law known as the Bayh-Dole Act, is being reviewed by Congress for possible updates. Is the marriage between university researchers and corporate interests on the rocks? Is one side to blame? Is there something the federal government should do to fix the problem? (11/29/2007)

Colleges can't prevent natural disasters or man-made emergencies, but they can minimize the damage, if they are prepared. Too many are not. even after seeing the devastating effects of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, and the killings at Virginia Tech. To be prepared, colleges need clear policies for such questions as: How will students and employees be notified? Who will help to direct the first responders? And when and how will information be communicated to families and others outside the campus? According to some experts, plans on paper may not be enough. Colleges should also consider running test scenarios, or even full-scale mock-disaster exercises, to assess their readiness, as our guest's home institution, Beloit College, undertook last month. (11/15/2007)

The National Science Foundation is offering grants to encourage technology-related research under a new program called Cyber-Enabled Discovery and Innovation. The program aims to spur the use of advanced computing to enhance research in a number of fields, including engineering, the hard sciences, and the social sciences. In addition to paying for new supercomputers, the grant program is intended to finance creative computational methods for compiling and interpreting data. The idea is to expand the uses of high-powered computing, and maybe solve some of the world's ills in the process. The program is budgeted for $26-million in grants next year, and that number is expected to grow in following years. Can such advanced computing be used in other fields? For what sort of work? What types of discoveries are already being made? How can a university get a grant? (11/8/2007)

Once considered the stepchild of the university, schools of continuing education are fast becoming the sources of some of the most innovative and entrepreneurial ideas in American higher education. Known for their flexible scheduling, their creative approaches to marketing, and their ability to react quickly to the changing needs of prospective students, the schools have also been able to capitalize on booming demand from older students for credit and noncredit courses. Often the schools also make a profit. With more and more adult students now seeking college-level courses, what lessons can the rest of higher education learn from savvy continuing-education programs? Should some of their marketing strategies, approaches to serving students, and even teaching methods be applied to traditional arms of colleges and universities? (11/1/2007)

October 2007

Colleges trying to internationalize the college experience are struggling with some key questions: What is a globally competent student? How do you internationalize the curriculum? Is it better to create stand-alone courses or infuse internationalism across disciplines? How do you get faculty members to commit to the goal? How do you involve foreign students and scholars more deeply in campus life? (10/31/2007)

National statistics show that the professoriate is becoming more and more diverse. Yet the increase in the proportion of minority scholars in the United States over the last decade has continued to lag behind because the number of white and foreign professors has also risen. With the baby-boom generation of professors beginning to retire, colleges will have enormous opportunities to diversify their faculty ranks. But what's the best way to achieve that goal? Should institutions have more programs to encourage their minority graduate students to stay on and teach, or should they focus on recruiting from other institutions and graduate schools? (10/25/2007)

Going "green" means more than turning down thermostats in unused classrooms and recycling old plastic bottles. As a small but growing cadre of colleges are discovering, it often requires a fundamental rethinking of how campuses are laid out and how new buildings are designed (and existing ones refurbished). Going "green" also requires fresh approaches to issues like parking, transportation, and even how students get and dispose of their dining-hall food. Campus planners and architects, some of whom shared their thoughts on sustainability last year in a roundtable discussion with The Chronicle, are playing an increasingly visible role in guiding those changes. (10/18/2007)

Colleges around the world are opening virtual campuses in Second Life, a three-dimensional, colorful environment that can be accessed via a computer. One of those campuses is New Orleans Island, which was built by Merrill L. Johnson, an administrator at the University of New Orleans. What is the appeal of Second Life, and what kind of classes does the university hold there? Is Second Life a useful distance-education platform or just frivolous entertainment? Mr. Johnson will answer those and other questions. (10/11/2007)

Globalization is pressing many colleges to reconsider how they fit into the larger world. For some, that means establishing programs -- or even branches -- overseas. For others, it means putting greater emphasis on study-abroad programs and internationalizing their curricula. How far should colleges go, and how can they make it happen? (10/4/2007)

September 2007

Many colleges have decided to rely on open-source software instead of commercial software for their campuswide systems. The price is right -- it's free. But there are challenges to adopting software built by a group of volunteers, and software companies say that only commercial products are stable enough and provide a strong enough support model to run crucial operations, such as course-management and financial systems. Open-source leaders argue that colleges are in a better position to build software for themselves, rather than wait for a company to build the tools and features that they need. Is open source sustainable, and if so, how can colleges work together to keep such projects running? (9/27/2007)

American higher education has seen 16 gifts of $100-million or more in 2007. It's been a staggering run of generosity that has many people wondering what's behind the influx of large donations and how important big gifts are to the success of college campaigns. In an era of megagifts, should officials put most of their fund-raising resources into soliciting them? How can fund raisers convince donors that their smaller gifts still matter? Can a campaign still succeed if it lacks an influx of big gifts? An expert will join us to share his research and observations about those issues. (9/20/2007)

Technology changes at a rapid pace, yet higher education traditionally moves slowly to adopt new ways. How will the growth of technology change the college campus, from the classroom to the backroom? Gartner Inc., a technology-research and information company, publishes an annual report, the "Hype Cycle for Higher Education," that looks ahead to the predicted effects of technology on colleges and universities. The latest report highlights claims that technologies integral to the transformation of higher education in the next 10 years will be global library-digitization projects, personal devices with campus-network access, Internet2, e-learning repositories, quantum computing, and virtual worlds. (9/13/2007)

Class is back in session, and colleges aren't the only ones bracing themselves for the influx of students. The residents of college towns across the nation are doing the same. Student behavior — loud noise, frequent parties, poorly maintained living spaces — often clashes with the lifestyle of longtime residents. Many colleges are making priorities of education and outreach as ways to help close town-gown rifts. And many are also working to promote development that will contribute to the economy and welfare of their communities. An expert will join us for a talk about those and related issues. (9/6/2007)

August 2007

Introductory science courses have long relied largely on lectures and tests that reward memorization. But studies have shown that students learn more, and are more excited by, new methods that emphasize continual interaction with professors and teamwork to solve problems. Even so, those methods have not gained a real foothold in college classrooms. Is it possible to teach old dogs new tricks? How can professors be encouraged to try new methods? What are the drawbacks of or limitations to those methods? (8/1/2007)

June 2007

Academics designed the Internet 30 years ago, and it hasn't kept pace with the times. Citing increased identity theft, viruses, and attacks on Web sites, researchers are planning a major overhaul of the system. Why can't we make do with spam filters and firewalls? Does the rising use of cellphones and laptops, and bandwidth-hungry traffic such as video, mean a new system must be built from scratch? (6/28/2007)

In the last several years, numerous foreign scholars have been denied visas to enter the United States, without any explanation from the federal government. Academic and civil-liberties groups say the Bush administration has used heightened security fears since September 11, 2001, to justify keeping out scholars whose politics or ideas it does not like. The policy damages America's reputation for academic freedom, those groups say, and dissuades other foreign scholars from attempting to visit. What is the effect on the exchange of ideas in the United States? What can scholars here and abroad do to preserve the free exchange of ideas? (6/14/2007)

May 2007

Many people would rather not talk about the performance gap. Whatever the reasons  — poor preparation, the residual effects of segregation, the lack of role models  — black, Hispanic, and Native American college students continue to earn lower grades than their white and Asian-American peers. The gaps are especially pronounced at selective colleges, researchers say. But a few institutions are finding ways to increase the number of minority students who perform at high levels. What works? What doesn't? Should colleges push their minority students to focus more on good grades, even if it means less involvement in other aspects of campus life? (5/30/2007)

In recent years the number of American children with a diagnosis of autism or related disorders has mushroomed, raising fears of a national epidemic. But several factors, including how we define the disorder, can explain that increase, argues Roy Richard Grinker, an anthropologist. Mr. Grinker explores his own family's experience with autism and how the disorder is understood in American culture and others. How does culture affect how we see autism? How is the current psychiatric definition of the disorder useful, and what are its drawbacks? (5/10/2007)

Even as the number of female athletes has soared thanks to federal equity laws, college coaching is increasingly a male domain Ñ in part because the profile of women's sports has risen. Many women are put off by the long hours and travel that coaching jobs require, not to mention the testosterone-saturated work culture. Some in college athletics fear that female players have too few role models, but some female athletes say they would rather play for a man, anyway. Is the dearth of female coaches a problem, and if so, what should be done about it? (5/9/2007)

April 2007

American colleges and universities are looking abroad more than ever before, to set up academic programs, to forge research partnerships, to raise funds from alumni and others, and to recruit students. The efforts carry plenty of rewards, but also some risks. David Wippman, an international-relations official at one such outward-looking university, will answer your questions about the internationalization of American colleges and how institutions are engaging in projects overseas. (4/26/2007)

Researchers have learned that shooting rampages are rarely spontaneous: School shooters plan carefully and often broadcast their plans to peers. But adults are often in the dark, writes Katherine S. Newman, an expert on school shootings. The desire to protect a student's privacy and avoid discriminating against him or her means disciplinary records are often not passed along. And no one can be locked up simply for saying or writing something scary. Where should we draw the line between preserving civil liberties and preventing violence? What makes the difference between a plot that is carried out and one that is stopped in its tracks? (4/25/2007)

Industry and the federal government are pouring money into research on biorenewable energy -- corn, grass, and other crops that might go some way toward slaking America's thirst for foreign oil. Can such crops eventually replace petroleum as an automotive fuel? What role will academic research play in realizing that goal? Can scientists help grow enough crops to supply America's needs for both fuel and food without damaging the environment? (4/24/2007)

As the story of the tragic killings at Virginia Tech continues to unfold, students, faculty members, and other university employees in Blacksburg, Va. -- along with those on campuses across the country -- are struggling to make sense of the tragedy and the institution's response to it. A team of Chronicle reporters, who have been on the ground at Virginia Tech since Monday, has seen firsthand the effects of this devastating event and its aftermath. If you have questions about how the Virginia Tech community has been coping, or anything else about the massacre, we invite you to pose them to a member of that reporting team. (4/19/2007)

As Virginia Tech deals with shock and grief following Monday's massacre, student-counseling officials around the country are wondering how they can best prepare for worst-case scenarios on their own campuses. What sorts of coordination should they establish with medical personnel, residence-life staffs, and other offices? And what sorts of counseling should they be prepared to offer to survivors of mass shootings and other large-scale traumas? (4/18/2007)

Last fall the Recording Industry Association of America sent letters to about 700 colleges, announcing that it would soon let students accused of music piracy settle their claims out of court before it officially filed suit. In February the trade group made good on its promise: It sent batches of "pre-litigation notices" to 13 universities and asked those institutions to pass the messages along to students identified only by their Internet-protocol numbers. The notices direct recipients to a Web site and a telephone hotline to which they can pay lump sums to record companies. Now that the trade group is making a monthly practice of sending the pre-litigation letters, many college administrators are wondering if they should forward the messages to their students, as recording-industry officials have asked. Cary H. Sherman, the association's president, will answer your questions about the recording industry's new antipiracy endeavor and about its continuing fight to curtail illegal downloading over campus networks. (4/12/2007)

March 2007

Admissions officers want to be where the students are. In the realm of technology, that can mean wading through a sea of instant messages, text messaging, and Facebook entries. But is that a good use of time? And is it an effective way to recruit students? Scott Leamon, an expert on admissions and technology, will take your questions about how colleges can use new technology appropriately to identify prospective students -- and to impress them. He will also discuss colleges' common mistakes in relying too heavily on techno trends in order to seem hip. Join us to share stories about approaches your institution has tried and to get feedback on those ideas from an experienced technology professional. (3/29/2007)

Colleges in and around New Orleans faced a worst-case scenario after Hurricane Katrina devastated the area, but some of them were able to continue to operate through online education soon after the storm. Ray E. Schroeder, an expert on how colleges can use online tools to avoid disaster, will talk about what colleges can do to prepare for different types of emergencies and how they can use Web-based learning to continue classes without interruption, no matter what happens outside. He will show how a little preparation and smart use of the Internet can help a college weather even the most brutal storms. (3/22/2007)

Even before the federal Commission on the Future of Higher Education delivered its final report last September, the secretary of education, Margaret Spellings, seems to have been leaning on accreditors to carry out some of the report's key recommendations on making colleges more accountable. She wants them to put more emphasis on "outputs," like graduation and employment rates, and on gauges of what students have learned. Judith S. Eaton, who represents the accreditors, has long championed a cooperative approach, even as she expresses accreditors' concerns that the Education Department has imposed new and arbitrary interpretations of the rules under which they operate. Ms. Eaton will take your questions about those and other issues, including new efforts in the fight against diploma mills. (3/15/2007)

A Chronicle analysis has found that serious workplace accidents on college campuses, in which workers were killed or hospitalized, have become more common during the past 20 years while universities have also seen fewer citations for serious violations. Do colleges and universities, many of which expanded their safety departments after September 11, 2001, need to do even more? Is the onus on the federal government to enforce existing rules? Should federal rules be made stricter? (3/14/2007)

Myles Brand, one of the most influential voices in college sports, joins us for a wide-ranging discussion about the state of intercollegiate athletics. In the past year, Mr. Brand, president of the NCAA, has defended colleges and universities during a Congressional investigation, led an effort to curb escalating expenses in athletics programs, and cracked down on bogus preparatory schools. He takes time during the busiest season in college sports to answer questions about the challenges in the college game. (3/8/2007)

No matter how tech-savvy today's students are, many of them doing research online cannot distinguish infomercials from facts. A movement led by librarians to teach information literacy has caught on across the country, but some faculty members say such efforts are nothing new. What is the best way to teach students how to find and evaluate online information? Is information literacy best incorporated into the curriculum or taught as a separate subject? What is the best way to measure students' skills in this area? (3/7/2007)

Academic freedom never has an easy ride. At a time when the country is deeply divided politically, universities are the tinderboxes of national outrage -- and the utterances of professors and students make plenty of sparks. Even though most would agree that the height of P.C. culture passed years ago, speech codes are not dead. Loyalty oaths still pop up on campuses. Religious tolerance is uneven. Greg Lukianoff, president of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, fields requests for help from students and professors across the country who believe their freedom of thought and expression has been pinched. And his organization responds aggressively, with a blizzard of legal threats, guidebooks on campus speech codes, and press releases hailing colleges that have backed down. He has discussed the nuanced issues of academic freedom in venues like Hannity and Colmes and The O'Reilly Factor, and now he will discuss them with us. He is joined by Samantha Harris, FIRE's director of legal and public advocacy. (3/1/2007)

Academic freedom never has an easy ride. At a time when the country is deeply divided politically, universities are the tinderboxes of national outrage -- and the utterances of professors and students make plenty of sparks. Even though most would agree that the height of P.C. culture passed years ago, speech codes are not dead. Loyalty oaths still pop up on campuses. Religious tolerance is uneven. Greg Lukianoff, president of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, fields requests for help from students and professors across the country who believe their freedom of thought and expression has been pinched. And his organization responds aggressively, with a blizzard of legal threats, guidebooks on campus speech codes, and press releases hailing colleges that have backed down. He has discussed the nuanced issues of academic freedom in venues like Hannity and Colmes and The O'Reilly Factor, and now he will discuss them with us. He is joined by Samantha Harris, FIRE's director of legal and public advocacy. (3/1/2007)

February 2007

The patenting and commercialization of university inventions are, to some, a growing threat to academic science and, to others, the necessary lifeblood of a vibrant, 21st-century knowledge economy. Critics of the process say the proliferation of patents interferes with scientists' ability to share findings and build on each others' work, although recent studies suggest those concerns are overstated. Public-interest advocates contend that university licensing practices benefit companies at the expense of the taxpaying public, whose money underwrites most research. Some companies and foundations, meanwhile, criticize American universities as too bureaucratic and seeking unrealistic paybacks from companies -- a pattern that may drive some industrial research dollars overseas. Technology-transfer officials, like Jon Soderstrom of Yale University, sit at the cross hairs of those debates, juggling competing demands from political leaders, who want their local universities to be economic engines, and from public-interest activists, who want university inventions to serve the public good. Well versed in the political, social, and legal issues of technology transfer, Mr. Soderstrom will answer your questions on those issues, as well any you might have about how proposals for "patent-law reform" in the U.S. Congress, or recent court actions in patent cases, might shake up the landscape for universities and their researchers. (2/22/2007)

One of the most vexing problems facing college administrators is hiring and managing faculty members and other college personnel. A leading expert on the law and faculty issues, Barbara A. Lee, will talk about negotiating some of the most common problems, such as how colleges can manage successfully through cutbacks and financial strains without disregarding anyone's rights. She will also talk about ever-evolving issues that colleges must watch, such as the increasing use of adjunct professors, threats to tenure, and rising legal risks for colleges prompted by blogging, file sharing, and other new technologies. (2/15/2007)

Despite efforts to diversify higher-education leadership, the typical college president is still a married, graying white man, according to a new study by the American Council on Education. But a turnover in college leadership is imminent. The average age of a president is now 60, eight years older than the average age 20 years ago. As the current batch of presidents nears retirement, how can colleges expand opportunities for women and members of minority groups? Are there lessons to be learned from community colleges, which have seen the greatest rise in female presidents? (2/14/2007)

Imagine using devices like audio recorders, digital cameras, and GPS trackers to log every move you made, every conversation you had, every thought you expressed out loud. Some academic and corporate researchers are doing just that, excited about the possibilities lifelogging presents for helping people organize their work, get better medical care, even develop brilliant ideas. Could lifelogging improve scholarship? What are the legal risks? How would it change personal relationships and family histories? (2/9/2007)

Across all sectors of the economy, including higher education, the role of the internal auditor is changing. While internal-audit staffs are still responsible for ensuring that money is not misspent, they also are now taking greater roles in helping university officials -- from department chairs to board chairs -- improve how they oversee their budgets, buy materials, and manage their grants. They are also increasingly involved in campuswide efforts to help prevent the kinds of data-security breaches that have allowed personal information about students and donors to become public. University officials are "spending a ton of time and resources fixing problems that never needed to occur in the first place," says Robert N. Clark, Jr., a leader in the movement to better involve auditors in making policy on information security and other issues of campus management. He'll take your questions. (2/8/2007)

Academic libraries face some of their greatest challenges, and greatest opportunities, of the generation. While the Internet has been a boon for information distribution, some librarians have considered it a threat to the vitality of traditional library space. Although the latest generation of students is plugged in and connected in ways never imagined years ago, they also seem disconnected from books and other traditional literary resources. Librarians and their academic colleagues must step up to face those challenges, says Michael Gorman, dean of library services at California State University at Fresno. He will share his thoughts on the future of librarians -- and take your questions (2/1/2007)

January 2007

Vast sectors of American society miss out on the joys of the fine arts because too few citizens have been exposed to them, and too few artists understand how to share their passion with lay audiences. One of those sectors is higher education, where some young artists are being trained today, says Robert Freeman, a longtime arts dean, music professor, and pianist. Mr. Freeman has been working for 20 years to devise creative ways of integrating fine-arts programs and performances into the curricular and extracurricular life of American colleges, along with techniques for paying for such programs. Mr. Freeman will share some of his ideas -- such as commissioning operas on course themes like immigration or global warming -- and take your questions. (1/25/2007)

Working with a $600-million bequest, the seven-year-old Jack Kent Cooke Foundation is trying to help bright, low-income students get to college. It has awarded grants to elite institutions to help them recruit community-college students, offers scholarships and mentors to promising high-school students, and recently announced that it would give a half-dozen selective colleges $1-million grants to guide underserved high-school students through the admissions process. What has the foundation learned about which programs work? Would such help be better directed, as some critics say, to students who struggle academically? (1/25/2007)

Politicians and minority-rights advocates have repeatedly criticized colleges that give admissions preference to the children of alumni, but at many institutions, such "legacy" applicants are an essential pipeline of qualified students. Do legacy students provide any value to a campus that justifies the special treatment they receive? If so, what are the best ways to recruit them? (1/19/2007)

As the Democrat-run Congress starts work, higher-education issues are high on the agenda. Debates are raging over proposals that will affect the cost of student loans. Some lawmakers, noting big bowl-game payoffs and giant paydays for college coaches, are growing skeptical about the tax breaks that benefit college sports. Meanwhile, increasing scrutiny of pork-barrel spending has some colleges worrying that they may lose an important source of revenue. What do those trends mean for you and your college? Predicting what Congress will do is always risky, but if anyone can help explain the lay of the land, it is higher education's chief lobbyist, Terry W. Hartle. (1/18/2007)

In 1998 Congress created a task force to find, declassify, and release any remaining documents in the U.S. archives related to war crimes committed by Germany and Japan in World War II. The eight million documents released on Nazi war crimes have been a treasure-trove for scholars, and some researchers had hoped that the release of documents on Japan would open a new window on that theater of the war. Others, however, believe that the United States is holding back key files on Japan's war criminals -- or that the files were improperly returned to Japan. Will the newly released files rewrite the history of the Pacific war? (1/18/2007)

There's a new player in the game of graduate-school rankings. While academics await the long-delayed National Research Council rankings and routinely dismiss those done by U.S. News & World Report, a graduate dean at SUNY-Stony Brook has created an index -- for sale -- that rates doctoral programs according to their faculties' productivity. The system has knocked some perennial favorites out of the top five and crowned some surprises. Is the methodology sound? Might the new index overtake other ranking systems? How useful is it -- or any such ranking system? (1/10/2007)

December 2006

A new report by the American Association of University Professors, which has long complained about the increasing use of adjunct labor, backs up that complaint with numbers. According to U.S. Department of Education data, only about 35 percent of faculty members are tenured or on the tenure-track, while the proportion of professors working off the tenure track has reached 65 percent. How might the report, which reveals the hiring practices of 2,617 colleges and universities, be used by academic labor activists? By the institutions themselves? What are the limits of the report? (12/12/2006)

Philanthropic foundations say colleges are too insular. Colleges say foundations are too impatient. As a result of that disconnect, foundation support for higher education continues to drop. Can the relationship be saved? The answer, according to two experts, is yes, but only if colleges and foundations find ways to re-engage. Many colleges are doing just that, with new programs aimed at improving local schools, jump-starting local economies, and advancing public service by students and staff members. But are those approaches enough to allow colleges to recapture the attention of foundations? And what can foundations do to make themselves more relevant to the 21st-century needs of colleges? (12/7/2006)

November 2006

According to The Chronicle's annual survey of Executive Compensation, just out last week, the number of leaders in higher education moving into the highest categories of compensation accelerated in the past year. The tally of chief executives earning more than $500,000 a year increased by 53 percent. The movement was most pronounced among leaders of public institutions and systems, where the number of presidents earning a half-million dollars or more nearly doubled. (11/30/2006)

Students at two-year colleges are not getting the advising they want, according to the annual Community College Survey of Student Engagement. Part-time students -- the majority -- have less interaction with faculty members and advisers than do full-timers, and score lower on measures of how engaged they are in campus life. How can two-year institutions encourage faculty members to advise students? Is the key hiring more full-time faculty members? How should student services be changed to provide more opportunities for advising? (11/29/2006)

University's president, Ruth J. Simmons, a group of the university's professors recently examined its historical ties to slavery, beginning with its founders' financing of a slave-trading expedition. The professors' report recommends that Brown formally acknowledge its history, build a memorial on the campus, and establish a center on slavery and justice. What is the use of such a study? Do the recommendations go far enough? Should other institutions investigate their own pasts? (11/22/2006)

Students are more technology driven and media savvy than ever before, relying on computers and gadgets for both work and play. As The Chronicle reported last year, some professors are appealing to those students by incorporating more types of technological interactivity in their lesson plans, including teaching through video games. Some colleges are also using Web tools and other technologies to attract students and communicate with them on a regular basis. Is that approach necessary? Does it even work? Henry Jenkins of MIT will answer questions on how changing technologies and media culture are affecting colleges, and how colleges can take advantage of those changes to better teach students. (11/16/2006)

Not surprisingly, highly engaged college students -- those who do group projects, interact with their professors, and participate in campus activities -- enjoy college more and perform better than other students do. New data from the National Survey of Student Engagement say the difference is especially marked among students from underrepresented racial and ethnic groups. For example, African-American students who were active in campus life were more likely to return for a second year than were their white counterparts. How can colleges use that information to retain more minority students? (11/16/2006)

Many American colleges want to extend their presence overseas, with branch campuses, with study-abroad programs, or through hybrid ventures that mix distance education with on-the-ground teaching. And according to experts, the international market for American-style education -- particularly in countries with an emerging middle class -- is vast and largely untapped. But colleges that make those moves also must be aware of the many logistical, legal, and cultural challenges that they will face. Richard Garrett, an analyst at Eduventures, contends that American institutions "are underplaying in the market" but still have "plenty of time to catch up" (The Chronicle, October 19). (11/9/2006)

Institutional review boards, designed to protect the subjects of biomedical and psychological experiments, have recently begun to scrutinize all research projects involving human beings. As a result, scholars in the growing field of oral history have found their work caught up in regulatory review, though they argue that their interviewees are at no risk. Do the discipline's own standards of informed consent suffice, or should oral history be treated as human-subject research? If so, will that change the field? Are there other disciplines currently subjected to institutional review that should be exempt? (11/9/2006)

To comply with the federal law requiring equal opportunity for female athletes, colleges and universities have often added women's sports teams, bringing the number of female athletes in line with the proportion of women in the student body. But James Madison University, citing financial constraints, recently announced that it would achieve that goal by cutting three women's teams and seven men's teams. Does that violate the spirit of the equal-opportunity law? What should colleges that can't afford to add women's teams do? (11/1/2006)

October 2006

Wikipedia does not have a lot of credibility within academe, and detractors of the online, open-source encyclopedia say it devalues the notion of expertise that is the bedrock of higher education. But some scholars are calling on their colleagues to contribute or improve entries to Wikipedia. After all, students and others are starting to rely on it. Is there any point in writing for the site or revising an entry when.. (10/26/2006)

Not a week goes by, it seems, without a reported security breach on some college's computer network. The problem is growing, and so are the potential legal liabilities awaiting colleges that don't take appropriate steps to avoid such troubles -- or that flounder in trying to address them. Tracy Mitrano of Cornell University will answer your questions about threats to IT security and about colleges' legal liability as they protect their systems from hackers and other data breaches. (10/26/2006)

Colleges and universities have recently been constructing green buildings, buying renewable energy, serving local food, and establishing living wages, all in the name of sustainability, a burgeoning movement in academe that may pervade both campus operations and the curriculum. But sustainability is a complicated concept, little understood and difficult to carry out. Is the movement in academe a genuine effort to run institutions sustainably, or is this mere "greenwashing"? ... (10/19/2006)

Janna Anderson, director of Internet projects at Elon University, was in charge of the Imagining the Internet project, led by the Pew Internet & American Life Project. She will talk about the future of the Internet and what experts predicted in a recent survey. (10/19/2006)

William J. Husson, vice president for professional studies/strategic alliances at Regis University, a Colorado institution known for its innovative continuing-education programs, will answer your questions about how traditional colleges can give for-profit institutions a run for their money in trying to reach adult students. (10/12/2006)

Colleges collect more information about potential applicants than ever before, feeding it into sophisticated formulas that rank students according to how likely they are to apply and, later, to enroll, as well as identifying students with desirable demographics and academic records. The system helps admissions officers court certain students more aggressively, but critics fear the data may be misused -- for example, by influencing admissions decisions in favor of students who can pay full tuition. Others say the statistical models can help make the admissions process fairer. What do you think? (10/11/2006)

William J. Pepicello, who was recently named president of the University of Phoenix, will answer your questions about the university's plans for growth, its expanding focus on younger students and new degree programs, and its trend-setting moves in marketing, including its recent deal for the naming rights to a National Football League stadium. (10/5/2006)

September 2006

Robert W. Mendenhall, president of Western Governors University, an online, nonprofit institution, will answer questions about the quality of distance education and the idea of awarding degrees based on competency assessments instead of traditional measures of grades and seat time. (9/28/2006)

How has Ole Miss improved its image and bottom line? (9/26/2006)

Penelope W. Kyle, who is now entering her "sophomore year" as president of Radford University, will answer questions about what she's learned -- and what she's still learning -- after her first year at the helm of this public institution in Virginia. (9/21/2006)

Robert B. Smith, a lawyer at Nelson, Kinder, Mosseau & Saturley in Boston and former associate general counsel for Boston University, will answer questions about recent student-suicide cases and offer general advice on how colleges can stay out of the courtroom. (9/14/2006)

Is the U.S. higher-education system no longer the best in the world? (9/14/2006)

The Brown Bag's inaugural guest will be Lev S. Gonick, vice president for information-technology services and chief information officer at Case Western Reserve University, which has recently begun offering high-speed and wireless Internet services to northeast Ohio under a program called the OneCleveland network. (9/7/2006)

What does the controversy over the "hockey stick" graph of historical temperature say about the state of climate science, policy, and politics? (9/6/2006)

August 2006

Will the final report from the Commission on the Future of Higher Education lead to an overhaul of the system? (8/30/2006)

In an effort to change the bad behavior by college athletes that has dominated the headlines this summer, a handful of programs are spending tens of thousands of dollars a year on ethics education. But some coaches say they have long tried to impart moral values to their athletes. Why do so many players misbehave? Can workshops on ethics really change how athletes make decisions? (8/3/2006)

July 2006

Imagine posting your book manuscript on the Internet for strangers to offer line-by-line critiques. Now imagine that you apply for tenure by submitting your e-book, along with selected critiques, to your department. Is this the wave of the academic future or simply the latest tech fad? (7/26/2006)

Should young scholars be allowed up to 10 years on the tenure track, instead of the standard seven years set by the American Association of University Professors? (7/20/2006)

The rapid creation of academic programs for members of the armed forces is outpacing quality control, say military officials in charge of education, who also complain that some colleges are using hard-sell tactics that may mislead prospective students. What changes should be made in setting up and selling military programs? (7/6/2006)

June 2006

Thanks to digital technology, scientists are generating vast amounts of valuable data that, months later, may be irretrievable or indecipherable. Librarians are being called in to archive that information, but financial, technical, and even cultural barriers stand in the way. Who should pay for archiving digital data? Should it be stored close by, where it can remain private, or in large, central repositories? (6/22/2006)

In a dozen or so scientific studies since 1996, people have been serving as medical guinea pigs unwittingly. Under a federal rule, clinical trials may proceed without the subject's informed consent if the situation is life-threatening, the patient is unconscious and cannot grant permission, and no family members are present to give consent. Does the chance to save lives now, and in the future, justify such studies? (6/14/2006)

Members of Congress are fighting over various competing bills that would enshrine -- or abolish -- "network neutrality" on the Internet. Network-neutrality laws would require broadband companies to treat all Internet traffic equally, and forbid them to make exclusive deals with, say, Google or NBC. Economists and legal scholars have jumped into the fray, and each side says that its opponents misunderstand what makes the Internet so effective. What do you think? (6/7/2006)

May 2006

Many colleges are ill prepared to deal with pregnant athletes. Should players be allowed to keep competing while pregnant? If not, should they lose their scholarships? What about after the baby is born? What can colleges do to preserve educational opportunities for pregnant athletes? Does the NCAA need to take action? (5/25/2006)

Recent lawsuits arising from student suicides on campuses have made some college administrators skittish about being held liable. That's understandable, says the author of a new book about student suicide, but liability is not what they should be focusing on. Instead, he says, administrators, as well as faculty members, should recognize their responsibility as educators to help depressed students cope. How should they react to a student who may be suicidal? Who should notify parents and under what conditions? (5/17/2006)

Leftists in academe spend too much time attacking "heretics" within their ranks, writes Todd Gitlin, in the May 5 Chronicle Review, and too little time articulating a persuasive vision of a more just world. Are scholars like Eric Lott (in The Disappearing Liberal Intellectual) and Timothy Brennan (in Wars of Position: The Cultural Politics of Left and Right) offering important correctives to the theoretical posturing that has overtaken academe? Or should liberal academics, as Mr. Gitlin argues, contribute more ideas about taxes, education, trade, employment, investment, foreign policy, and security from jihadistsi? (5/10/2006)

The nation's wealthiest colleges and universities serve only a small proportion of financially needy students, a Chronicle analysis of federal Pell Grant data shows. Do elite colleges have a responsibility to increase their numbers of needy students? Besides offering more financial aid, what can they do? Is it necessary to lower academic standards in order to enroll more students from disadvantaged high schools? How can colleges make such students, once admitted, feel welcome? (5/10/2006)

Some scholars of early Christianity say interpretations of the Gospel of Judas, the Gospel of Mary, and other rediscovered texts known as "Gnostic" gospels are clouded by notions of heresy that date to the second century. Those scholars object to the term "Gnostic," saying it ignores diversity in the texts and keeps researchers from truly understanding the early history of the religion. What are scholars discovering from the suppressed texts of Christianity? Underneath the hype, what do they think are the real reasons the texts were branded as heretical? (5/3/2006)

April 2006

Average faculty salaries have increased just 0.25 percent over the past 20 years when adjusted for inflation, according to new statistics from the American Association of University Professors. Meanwhile, medical doctors have enjoyed a 34-percent increase, and other professionals have also seen significantly larger raises than professors have. Will low salaries make it harder to recruit undergraduates into academic careers? Should administrators find ways to pay faculty members more? (4/27/2006)

Everyone agrees that the Internet has brought new voices and new donors to the political arena. But will it also spell doom for the American system of campaign-finance regulation? (4/21/2006)

You may have seen it happen in your own department: employees ganging up on a colleague whom they perceive as a threat, shunning and otherwise punishing the person and eventually drumming him or her out of the job. Some researchers call that behavior "mobbing." Is that what happened to Harvard University's president, Lawrence H. Summers? Is there a better way to handle conflicts in academe? How can academics resist giving in to herd mentality and maintain a spirit of open debate? (4/14/2006)

March 2006

Predicting a coming wave of retirements among community-college presidents and other leaders, some experts say the institutions should recruit successors from the business world. Are corporate leaders a good fit for community colleges? What are the most important things new presidents can do to learn the ropes? If business executives are interested in moving to community-college administration, what steps should they take? (3/29/2006)

Surveillance -- whether by hidden cameras on city streets or by newer forms such as "cookies" that track a person's visits to Web sites -- has become part of everyday life. What are the implications, not just for how Americans live their lives, but also for their identities as Americans and as people? (3/15/2006)

At Texas Tech University, students in freshman composition courses are taught by one graduate instructor in the classroom, while their work is graded anonymously by other instructors on computers. Using that system, Texas Tech has cut class time in half and increased the amount of writing students do. Does the system allow for more writing practice and make scores more fair? Or does it undermine the student-teacher relationship? (3/8/2006)

What does Lawrence Summers's resignation from Harvard say about a college faculty's ability to oust its president? (3/3/2006)

February 2006

How much interaction should there be between the faculty and the board, and what is the best way for faculty members to communicate their concerns? (2/23/2006)

Is the political climate for academics better or worse than it was during the McCarthy era? (2/9/2006)

Are animals entitled to justice? Yes, argues the philosopher Martha C. Nussbaum, in this week's Chronicle Review. Animals deserve the right to flourish in accordance with their characteristic forms of life. She is currently extending her "capabilities approach" to confront this problem. She argues that each nation should adopt Constitutional guarantees protecting animals as subjects of political justice, and that international accords should be crafted to prevent cruelty to animals and the destruction of their habitats. What are the implications of her argument? Do you agree or disagree? (2/2/2006)

January 2006

Continuing-education divisions, long viewed as the stepchildren of full-time, day programs, are gaining attention from university administrators because they offer the chance to increase enrollment at little cost. But the competition for students is getting stiffer as for-profit colleges and distance-education providers go after the same market, and some established programs are out of date. What must universities do to make their continuing-education programs viable? How can administrators increase participation by faculty members? (1/19/2006)

The number of women who major in computer science is small and getting smaller. Are women simply less interested than men in the nuts and bolts of computers? Or do subtle social pressures and overt sexism steer them away from the field? What can be done to attract more women to computer science? (1/12/2006)

December 2005

College students may chuckle about their tendency to procrastinate on assignments and cram for big tests. Yet researchers are finding that chronic procrastination is no laughing matter. The behavior is more harmful — and complex — than armchair shrinks might assume. What do college officials need to know about the minds of habitual dawdlers? And are time-management workshops the best way to 'cure' procrastination? If not, what works? (12/7/2005)

Hand scanners, electronic fingerprint readers, even retina scanners are increasingly in use at colleges to identify people seeking access to campus buildings. Proponents of biometric technology say it offers security and efficiency, and can also help colleges control access to computers and networks. But it is costly, and skeptics worry that it may invade the privacy of students and employees. Are such concerns overblown? Do the advantages of biometric technology outweigh its risks? (12/1/2005)

November 2005

More than half the nation's medical schools require some study of non-Western healing methods, like acupuncture, herbs, and meditation, and the number is growing. Do future doctors need to know about alternative and complementary medicine? Or is incorporating those methods into medical-school curricula just an attempt to pander to popular tastes? (11/17/2005)

An extensive Chronicle survey of college presidents provides a rare glimpse at the leaders of the profession. The office, increasingly similar to that of corporate chief executive, is still occupied largely by white men who rose through the administrative ranks. Yet an overwhelming majority agree on few key higher-education issues. Are the survey results surprising? What do they say about the state of the college president today? Are presidents today weaker or stronger than in the past? What questions should we have asked? (11/3/2005)

A biogerontologist named Aubrey de Grey says medical advances will soon be able to prevent, or even reverse, the effects of aging ~~ so soon that some people alive today could live for 1,000 years, or longer. Although many scientists respect his knowledge, most disagree with him. Is mainstream medical research too conservative when it comes to the problem of aging? And if Mr. de Grey is right that aging can be cured, what are the implications? (11/1/2005)

October 2005

Professors in disciplines as different as business and physics are starting to build meditation of one sort or another into their curricula. They say it deepens students' engagement with the subject matter, and may even prompt moments of insight. Does meditation belong in academe? (10/19/2005)

Scientists rank a journal by its "impact factor" -- the number of citations an average article in the journal receives. Does the reliance on impact factors threaten to skew the course of scientific research? Are the numbers distorted by fuzzy math or, worse, fraud? How useful are alternative ways of measuring the value of journals and the research they publish? (10/12/2005)

Raised amid a barrage of information, students born from roughly 1980 to 1994 are expert multitaskers and savvy consumers who expect quick results. Richard T. Sweeney, university librarian at the New Jersey Institute of Technology, says colleges must redesign themselves to meet the demands of this "Millennial" generation by making courses more image-based and interactive, schedules more flexible, and learning more student-driven. Others say today's students are just as capable as their predecessors of learning in traditional ways. What do you think? (10/5/2005)

September 2005

A controversial report by the education expert Arthur Levine argues that college programs to prepare elementary- and secondary-school administrators are, at best, "inadequate" and, at worst, "appalling." Mr. Levine calls on education schools to replace the Ed.D. degree with a master's degree that combines training in management and education. Critics acknowledge Mr. Levine's diagnosis, but say his proposed remedies are misguided. How can colleges better train future school administrators? (9/21/2005)

Evacuating its campus was only the first challenge for Tulane University as Hurricane Katrina bore down on New Orleans. Now the university ~~ like other institutions in the city ~~ faces the task of rebuilding while basic services are still unavailable and it has not been deemed safe to return. Tulane's president, Scott S. Cowen, says the university must reopen by next semester if it is to survive as a national research institution. How do you rebuild a university in a ghost town? (9/14/2005)

Olaudah Equiano's 1789 autobiography, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African, Written by Himself, has become the definitive version of the harrowing journey endured by slaves transported across the ocean. Now Vincent Carretta, a professor of English at the University of Maryland at College Park, has uncovered evidence in public records that Equiano actually was born in South Carolina. How will Mr. Carretta's finding affect scholarship on slave narratives and the African diaspora? (9/8/2005)

Intelligent design, a theory that posits the existence of an external agent who guided the development of the universe, has drawn more support in the four years since The Chronicle last sponsored a Colloquy discussion about its challenge to mainstream Darwinian evolution. In an essay in this week's Chronicle Review, three scientists explain the problems with ID and argue that it does not belong in science curricula. Is their criticism on target? How should academics respond to supporters of ID? Should they even bother? (9/1/2005)

July 2005

In the wake of a state court's ruling that a foundation raising money for a public institution must comply with open-records laws, college-related foundations are worried about their donors' rights to privacy. Will new laws requiring foundations to open their books scare donors away to other charities, like private colleges? Will more donors start requesting anonymity, hampering public colleges' ability to advertise big gifts? Do secret relationships with donors open the door to improper relationships? (7/28/2005)

Several university programs provide money to female scientists who have young children, in an effort to keep motherhood from hindering a successful career. Do the programs work? Are they the most effective way to help women who are trying to have families and careers? Are such programs fair to male scientists and scientists who are not parents? (7/20/2005)

Now that France and the Netherlands have rejected the proposed constitution of the European Union, what are the prospects for the entire project of European integration? Glyn Morgan, a political theorist at Harvard University, says there is a strong case for a Europe that is unified not just economically but politically, but he adds that most proponents of the EU have failed to justify the project. (7/7/2005)

June 2005

Colleges are increasingly clearing books and journals out of their libraries to make room for iinformation commonsi -- digital information centers stocked with computers, technical-help desks, comfortable chairs, and even coffee shops. Do digital libraries, as their fans suggest, help students take a more active role in learning? Is anything wrong with moving books off-site as long as they can still be obtained digitally or overnight through interlibrary loan? Or are librarians too quick to embrace a passing fad? (6/30/2005)

Much of the research on dangers to public health in the workplace and the environment is financed by companies that are defending themselves in lawsuits over such dangers. Can good science be done with industry sponsorship, as long as certain safeguards are observed? Or should academic researchers refuse to conduct studies paid for by companies? (6/22/2005)

High-school students these days are likely to shop for colleges online before they visit them in person. In response, colleges are developing Web sites with lots of bells and whistles. But can such splashy sites turn off prospective students? What is the best way to present an institution on the Web? (6/9/2005)

Ten years after Congress ended mandatory retirement, older professors have become familiar sights on campuses. Although their wealth of contacts and depth of experience can be valuable, low turnover on a faculty can leave a college stuck with outdated teaching methods and a narrow range of courses. How can colleges reinvigorate their older professors? What incentives, if any, should be used to encourage them to retire? (6/2/2005)

May 2005

The federal government has cut the budget of the principal National Science Foundation program designed to team universities with schools to improve math and science education. The money instead is going to a parallel program run by the U.S. Department of Education, which supporters say is in a better position to work with school districts. Critics say teaching cannot be improved without more research on what works in the classroom. How much and what kind of a role should university researchers play in improving such education? (5/26/2005)

Military recruiters' promise of money for college is the leading reason that civilians enlist. But many veterans fail to take advantage of the money: The education benefit of the GI Bill covers just 60 percent of the average cost of college, and during the last decade, a mere 8 percent of eligible veterans used their full benefit. Is the U.S. military misleading recruits by promising to pay for college? Does the country have a special obligation to pay for veterans' education? If so, how can the benefit keep up with rising college costs? (5/12/2005)

Cries that the institution of marriage is crumbling are nothing new; for thousands of years people have longed for an illusory past when "traditional" marriages were the norm. But, the historian Stephanie Coontz argues, spousal relationships and the overall place of marriage in society have changed, with implications for work, leisure, sexuality, child rearing, and care for the elderly. Which changes are positive, and which negative? Should efforts be made to strengthen marriage and, if so, how? (5/5/2005)

APRIL 2005

Students' and professors' freedom of speech, military recruiting on campuses, alleged racial or gender bias ~~ the ideological debates that were once confined to the ivory tower now quickly become fodder for partisan muckrakers, thanks in part to e-mail and blogs. How can college and university presidents prevent minor incidents on their campuses from blowing up into public-relations nightmares? And once they are flooded with e-mail messages and calls from the news media, how can they respond both quickly and accurately? (4/28/2005)

Floods of e-mail messages, the proliferation of academic blogs, and the omnipresence of cellphones and, um, online discussions leave many scholars and administrators feeling overwhelmed by information. Few would want to do without communication technologies altogether, but do such technologies threaten the quality of research and teaching? What strategies can people use to manage information overload? (4/21/2005)

Dog owners will tell you how smart their pets are, but, until recently, scientists did not put much stock in canine intelligence. Now researchers in Hungary have found that dogs can predict social events, provide and request information, and imitate human actions. They say that the process of domestication made dogs smarter than their wolf cousins. Critics, though, say the dogs' behaviors do not show sophisticated cognitive processing. How intelligent are dogs? And are researchers barking up the wrong tree with their conclusions? (4/14/2005)

Anyone who has studied mathematics, engineering, computer science, or economics at an American university in the past decade has probably had an instructor whose accented English made lectures a challenge to comprehend. Who is to blame when such communication breakdowns occur? Are universities not doing enough to initiate foreign teaching assistants into the ways of the American classroom? Or are American students simply too lazy to tackle the added challenge of deciphering English that is different from theirs? (4/7/2005)

MARCH 2005

Last year Harvard University made headlines when it announced a plan to change its core curriculum. This year the Association of American Colleges and Universities has begun trying to spark discussion of what a "liberal education" is across different types of institutions. Can such efforts succeed? Or do the specialization of disciplines (and the faculty members who teach them), the explosion of knowledge, and changes in the nature of the university preclude substantial change? (3/31/2005)

Fifteen U.S. agencies have begun to offer university scholarships to people who are training to become intelligence analysts. The pilot project has been hailed by some as a long-overdue effort to bring people with strong language skills, cultural knowledge, and technical expertise into the CIA and its sibling agencies. But other scholars are worried that the analysts in training, whose names are not made public, will compromise scholarly ethics. Will the program turn fieldwork abroad into spying? Can secrecy coexist with academic openness? (3/23/2005)

Smoking among college students is on the rise, and tobacco companies regard 18-24 year-olds as a lucrative market. But many college health centers already have their hands full dealing with health problems that pose a more-imminent threat, like excess drinking and mental health issues. Should they spend resources trying to convince students to give up cigarettes? Are there really any effective ways to do that? (3/17/2005)

Early to College and Early to Rise?

An increasing number of colleges are helping to create high-school programs that offer disadvantaged students personal instruction and postsecondary courses. Some officials view the programs as pipelines for qualified minority applicants who would otherwise require remedial courses once they enrolled at a four-year institution. Do the programs work? Should more colleges start them? (3/10/2005)

Harvard's president, Lawrence H. Summers, recently ignited a firestorm of protests by saying that "intrinsic" differences between the sexes may explain why so few women rise in math and science. But a growing body of research suggests that genetic factors predispose women to avoid those fields. How should colleges respond? And do some academics owe Mr. Summers an apology? (3/4/2005)

FEBRUARY 2005

As female faculty members have complained about the difficulties of managing their work and family lives, universities are increasingly looking for ways to help. In the last few years, several have built on-site child-care centers. Are the centers helping? Are they affordable? And what else should universities do to ease the work-family crunch that young professors face? (2/23/2005)

Chalk Talk for Teachers

Many colleges in the last few years have pushed to better prepare their graduate students for leading a classroom. A number of recent books also offer teaching dos and don'ts. Are those efforts working? Are they hopeless given how students today seem less-prepared for college than their predecessors? How do you build a better teacher? (2/10/2005)

Is the Higher-Education Lobby Adrift?

With Republicans firmly in power at both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue, do the higher-education associations need to change tactics to continue to have a seat at the table? They are divided on the question, and their coordinating group, the American Council on Education, has become less determined to get everyone on the same page. How important is it for the ACE to serve as an "umbrella group"? Should it take its own positions on issues? (2/3/2005)

JANUARY 2005

Should student groups be required to respect campus nondiscrimination rules? Conservative Christian groups say they should be allowed to restrict membership to heterosexual students who share their faith. But others say that if groups discriminate, they should not receive funds and other support from their colleges. Which should take precedence -- religious freedom or protection from discrimination? (1/27/2005)

Bush-administration officials were laying the groundwork for the use of torture long before Abu Ghraib, according to a new book. The book, compiled by university researchers, asserts that a policy to extract information from suspected terrorists became a legal rationale for abuse. In a time of war against ruthless enemies, should the book not have been published? Or does it show the importance of the principles that we are defending? (1/20/2005)

Most selective colleges give an admissions edge to applicants who are the children of their employees. The colleges view the practice as an important employee benefit. But critics see it as another way in which students who shouldn't need preferences to get into college, such as the children of alumni and donors, receive them anyway and make their campuses less diverse. Should colleges award special consideration to such applicants? (1/13/2005)

The U.S. Education Department is updating its formula for assessing students' eligibility for Pell Grants. The change will disqualify some 90,000 students and cut the grants for 1.3 million others. Critics say the change is a betrayal of needy students. The department and its supporters in Congress say the change is required by law and needed to save money. Who is correct? Whose interests are served by the change? Will it help or hurt students? (1/5/2005)

DECEMBER 2004

Plagiarism by professors is more widespread than most academics imagine, a Chronicle investigation has found. And the copycats are not just superstar scholars who rely too heavily on research assistants. Why is this problem so common? Why are academe's institutions -- colleges, universities, journals, presses, associations -- so reluctant to take action? What should be done? Would you report a plagiarist? (12/16/2004)

In a surprising decision, a U.S. appeals court ruled last week that colleges' free-speech rights were violated by a law, known as the Solomon Amendment, that would deny them federal funds if they banned military recruiters from their campuses. The colleges have sought to bar the recruiters because they say the military's antigay policies violate campus antidiscrimination codes. Assuming the ruling stands, who really won in the case? (12/10/2004)

Nancy Hopkins, a biology professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, first complained that gender bias had derailed her career more than a decade ago. She has since become a national spokeswoman on the problems female faculty members face at major research universities. Why have those institutions been so slow to hire women? What, if anything, should the universities do differently? Will there ever be gender equity in academe? (12/3/2004)

NOVEMBER 2004

Lloyd Thacker, a former guidance counselor, says he is on a mission to help students, high schools, and colleges overcome "commercial interference" in higher education and to promote ethical practices in admissions. His arguments have won him a following, but can he ever hope to make headway in his struggle against the status quo? (11/18/2004)

Colleges have spent millions on high-tech classrooms but a lot less on training professors how to use them. As a result, students say, technology has made some professors even worse teachers. Is more training the solution to this costly problem? Or were colleges' decisions to buy all that technology showy but misdirected moves? (11/11/2004)

Will student voters have the impact on this week's election that some observers predicted? What accounts for the difference, if any, between those predictions and the actual results? Does that herald any change in the political power held by students -- or the attention paid to them by politician (11/4/2004)

OCTOBER 2004

Community colleges are suddenly enjoying an unprecedented moment in the spotlight, but even so they seem to get little respect. Part of the problem seems to be a broad misunderstanding of their identity -- what are community colleges for? Are the colleges answering this question? Is it helping them deal with the many pressures and challenges they face? Is it realistic to expect community colleges to have ambitions beyond their current stature? (10/28/2004)

Colleges have significantly raised their spending on lobbying the federal government in recent years, as more college officials have looked to Washington to help pay for new programs and buildings. In particular, lesser-known public colleges have aggressively pressed for legislation and directed Congressional grants, or earmarks, that would benefit their institutions. Is the payoff for colleges worth the cost of hiring lobbyists? Can colleges achieve the same success without a lobbyist? (10/21/2004)

In the past decade, college campuses have become the preferred sites for the quadrennial presidential and vice-presidential debates. Colleges pay a hefty fee upfront, and then spend a lot of money providing facilities and a support staff for the debates. In return, the institutions get visibility in the national news media. What does it take for a college to play host to a presidential debate? Is the cost worth the publicity payoff? (10/14/2004)

Since the 2001 terrorist attacks, foreign enrollment at American colleges has been flat. It may even be down this year. Are long waits for visa approvals discouraging foreign students from applying to study in the United States, or does stepped-up recruiting by other countries account for much of the shift? Are the visa restrictions unnecessarily draconian, or are they a needed precaution? What is at stake for America? (10/7/2004)

SEPTEMBER 2004

Is the Bush policy of providing federal funds for research on only a limited set of embryonic stem cells having the harmful effect that some scientists say it is? If California voters pass a ballot measure to provide state funds for stem-cell research, what will it mean for the field? Will researchers flock to California? (9/30/2004)

Are such right-wing professors as oppressed as they say are? Or are they passing themselves off as victims to further their own cause? (9/23/2004)

Are students becoming less civil? Can bad behavior undermine good teaching? What can professors do to make their classes listen and learn? (9/15/2004)

Has academic freedom fallen victim to post-September 11 efforts to safeguard the country's borders? For some people, the U.S. government's revoking of a visa for Tariq Ramadan, a controversial Muslim scholar, has raised such questions. Are their concerns valid? Why do other people consider him such a threat? (9/9/2004)

North Korea has probably already constructed at least one nuclear weapon, and Iran might soon follow suit. How worried should we be about the spread of nuclear weapons? Some scholars say very. Others say more nukes equal more security. Whom should we believe? (9/1/2004)

AUGUST 2004

A handful of professors are among the 380,000 military reservists who have been called to active duty since September 11, 2001. How have campuses coped with professors' absence, and how has their time away affected their academic careers? (8/4/2004)

JULY 2004

The National Labor Relations Board ruled this month that teaching and research assistants are not employees and are therefore not covered by federal labor law. What does the ruling mean for graduate students and the labor movement? (7/28/2004)

Indiana University Press's withdrawal of a scholarly book is just the latest example of copyright claims trumping scholarship. Just what use are "fair use" provisions in copyright law if presses lack the wherewithal to challenge such claims? What steps can be taken by scholars to protect fair use? (7/14/2004)

Three colleges recently removed the faculty advisers to their student newspapers, showing how vulnerable the position is. What should the advisers' mission be, and can they fulfill that goal, motivate their students, and avoid antagonizing college officials? (7/1/2004)

JUNE 2004

Diploma mills continue to churn out new "graduates" every day. What should legitimate colleges do about them? Is government action called for? (6/24/2004)

The American Association of University Professors has named its first new general secretary in a decade. The group's guidelines, including some statements from before World War II, are the bedrock of any discussion of academic freedom, shared governance, and tenure. But is the 90-year-old association still relevant to higher education in 2004? (6/9/2004)

A half-century after the publication of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, the epic tale of a heroic quest in a quasi-medieval world is more popular than ever, fueled in part by a blockbuster film adaptation. Now scholars of Tolkien are seeking respect for their work in academe. Can their quest succeed? (6/3/2004)

MAY 2004

What are the biggest mistakes that endowment managers make? What relationship should an endowment's size bear to its investment strategies? In this week's Chronicle, an endowment expert offers his answers. What advice did he leave out? (5/27/2004)

Gyrating in the end zone after touchdowns, yelling at referees, and intentionally fouling opponents have become normal behaviors in professional sports, and they have seeped into college sports too. To deal with the problem, one Division III conference tracks personal-conduct fouls by players and coaches. Is that a good solution? What else should colleges do to promote fair play and mutual respect among their teams? (5/20/2004)

Thousands of dollars' worth of hardware left to molder on loading docks. Duplicate site licenses that add up to $300,000 in unnecessary charges. Information-technology staff members who report to no one. Colleges are wasting a lot of money on technology, says one expert. Is that really true? What should be done about it? (5/13/2004)

More than half a century has passed since Russell Kirk defined the intellectual legacy of the American right with his book The Conservative Mind. Today, some scholars ask, is the political success of the conservative movement consistent with the principles of one of its founding fathers? (5/6/2004)

APRIL 2004

With declining state support, increasing student demand, and heavy turnover among their leaders, community colleges are truly feeling a pinch. Can they continue to maintain their multiple missions, including providing college access to all who seek it? (4/29/2004)

On college campuses, where three out of four faculty members are married, single professors feel isolated and even discriminated against. Should universities consider changes in how unmarried professors are treated, to level the playing field? (4/22/2004)

The National Institute of Mental Health sponsors an array of research projects that critics say are at best only indirectly related to finding treatments for people suffering severe mental illnesses. One critic says the skewed research priorities have turned the institute into a "jobs program" for academic psychologists. Is that critique on the mark? Should the institute, backed by a recent 100-percent increase in its budget, focus more on clinical research and less on basic research? (4/14/2004)

At least a dozen conservative Roman Catholic colleges have been created or conceived in recent years in the United States. Is their unquestioning obedience to Vatican doctrine a strength or a weakness? Are they, as their supporters often claim, more faithful to the Catholic tradition than most established Catholic colleges? How can their success be measured? (4/7/2004)

At the same time that the policy makers are weighing proposals to penalize or reward colleges based on their graduation rates, a new report from the U.S. Education Department contends that graduation rates are an unreliable measure of colleges' performance. Is the report correct? If not, why not? If so, are there better gauges of performance that could be used? (4/1/2004)

MARCH 2004

Public and private universities share a higher-education mission, but their approaches diverge on the value they place on private and public space. What are the roots of that divergence, and are the varying approaches justifiable? What can private colleges learn from public universities? And can public institutions learn from private ones? (3/24/2004)

Colleges are spending increasing amounts of time and money to fight computer worms and viruses. What can security experts do to combat the spread of infections on college networks? (3/17/2004)

Has the heightened security put in place after September 11, 2001, persuaded more foreigners, particularly prospective graduate students, to not even bother applying to U.S. colleges? (3/11/2004)

A report issued last month by 60 prominent scientists, educators, and Nobel laureates said the Bush administration has deliberately manipulated or ignored research findings affecting federal regulations when the findings have been at odds with White House goals. Has President Bush politicized science, or is the report an example of partisan politics, as the administration charges? (3/5/2004)

FEBRUARY 2004

A study by a prominent researcher warning of the dangers of Ecstasy was retracted last September after it was revealed that primates in the study had been injected with a different drug. What does this mean for the future of Ecstasy research? What are the implications for U.S. drug policy? (2/25/2004)

Conservative activists are urging lawmakers, college administrators, and student-government leaders to adopt policies that would promote "intellectual diversity" on campuses and protect students and faculty members with unpopular political and religious views. How necessary are such efforts? What would be their ramifications on campus climates, classroom discussions, and academic scholarship? (2/18/2004)

More than 17 million residents of the United States were born in Latin America. To what extent is this huge new wave of immigrants moving into the mainstream of American economic, political, and cultural life? What are the strengths and weaknesses of traditional social-scientific models of "assimilation"? (2/11/2004)

How should college and college-foundation boards handle business deals between their higher-education institutions and their members' companies? Are current procedures for college boards sufficient? If not, what changes should be made? (2/5/2004)

JANUARY 2004

Will the movement to make journal subscriptions free revolutionize scientific publishing? And will it save universities money? (1/29/2004)

Why do so many women in physics departments feel alienated from the discipline -- and from their male colleagues? And what can faculty members and administrators do to deal with the problem? (1/21/2004)

Why do so many graduate students leave their Ph.D. programs without getting their degrees? And what can administrators and faculty members do to deal with the problem? (1/15/2004)

What obligation, if any, do college officials have to assist the recording industry in tracking and punishing students who use college networks to swap music online in violation of copyright law? (1/8/2004)

DECEMBER 2003

How will colleges and universities negotiate a rocky business landscape in the coming year? (12/18/2003)

For years community colleges have enrolled all students who came through the door. Is it time to rethink that policy? (12/11/2003)