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About the Author
Stephen Joel Trachtenberg served for 30 years as a university president. He is now president emeritus and university professor at the George Washington University, where he teaches courses on the university presidency in America. He is also an adviser to Korn/Ferry International, where he is helping to find the next generation of university leadership. In June 2008 Simon and Schuster will release his new book Big Man on Campus: A University President Speaks Out On Higher Education. B.A. Columbia, M.P.A. Harvard, J.D. Yale. Fifteen honorary degrees. A swell guy. But not much of a dancer.He will blog about issues torn from the headlines dealing with higher education. Contemporary topics of pressing, current concern. And some serious matters too.
About Brainstorm
Mark Bauerlein
Marc Bousquet
Laurie Fendrich
Dan Greenberg
John L. Jackson Jr.
Stan Katz
Marty Nemko, guest blogger
Stephen Joel Trachtenberg
Brainstorm Alumni
Bob ZemskyRecent Posts
Law-School Rankings | Comment [6]
Presidential Spouses | Comment [1]
Gallaudet University | Comment [7]
Letters to the Next President | Comment
Diploma Mills | Comment [21]
Featured Articles By the Author
Education Reporters
It has been recently observed that as newspapers downsize their budgets reporting on education has been suffering. There are fewer and fewer reporters whose beats are institutions of learning. Coverage of education, including schools as well as colleges and universities, is increasingly thinner on the ground. And, the truth be told, except for a few places like Boston, where higher education is a local industry, or New York City and Washington (cities were multiple colleges reside), the coverage has never been all that good.
For many years, a troika of women have been writing cogently about education in those three cities: Marcella Bombardieri, The Boston Globe; Karen Aronson, The New York Times; and Valerie Strauss, The Washington Post. On too many papers, all too often, editors view education as an entry-level position. Likewise, the reporters covering education often view themselves on a prerequisite steppingstone to a move up the professional ladder, for example, away from Metro and on to the National or International Desk. Not surprisingly, turnover in these positions is high. Fortunately, Bombardieri, Aronson, and Strauss’ work on education has been thoughtful, thorough, engaging, and dogged.
That said, it is important to note with regret the departure from The New York Times of Karen W. Arenson. I want to associate myself with the observations previously made by my fellow poster, Stan Katz. Ms. Arenson’s departure diminishes the Times and the conversation about higher education in America in general. One can only hope she will find time to do the occasional column and that we may see some books come from her hand in the years to come.
Posted at 09:13:09 PM on May 6, 2008 | All postings by Stephen Joel TrachtenbergCommenting is closed for this article.
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