Oct. 7, 2016

Marc Edwards, the hero scientist of Flint, Mich., has become a standard-bearer for watchdog scholarship. So why does he feel haunted?

Students who can’t understand why racism and anti-Semitism are evil don’t need more STEM classes. They need history and sociology.

Founded before the Civil War to educate young women, small-town Mitchell Community College has survived by keeping up with its county’s changing needs.

Judy K. Sakaki quickly assembled a “dream team” of seasoned administrators to be her interim cabinet at Sonoma State.

Comparing a pair of grad-union votes from more than a decade ago can provide valuable context for the collective-bargaining fights expected this year.

The Clery Act’s reporting requirements for campus crimes produced too many numbers to crunch.

A psychiatrist’s tales inspire a professor to help her students get in touch with what they don’t know they know.

Anthropomorphic thinking is now mainstream science — but not all researchers are happy about that.

Can America escape mass incarceration?

In a room without a view, an inmate learns to see.

Selected topics include the digital humanities, work-family conflict in academic science, and the future of credentials.

Racist incidents anger students at several institutions, including the University of Missouri at Columbia, while free-speech issues arise elsewhere. And Iowa State University’s president promises to stay out of the cockpit.

Descriptions of the latest titles, divided by category.

Top Chief Executives Rock Valley College, Douglas Jensen Utica College Laura Casamento Wilmington University (Del.),LaVerne Harmon Appointments Tim Albers, director of recruitment marketing and enrollment development, to interim vice provost and dean for enrollment management at Missouri University…

Awards and prizes October 14: Professional fields. The National Press Foundation is accepting nominations for its journalism awards. Visit the organization’s website for more details. Contact: http://nationalpress.org/awards October 31: Education. Nominations are being accepted for the 2017 Harold…

Amid anxieties over growing disparities, donors and foundations are devoting serious amounts to studies of rich and poor.

Bias-response teams have found themselves under a new wave of criticism, but that’s not why some of them are changing.

A year ago, the Education Department released a revamped version of the online tool as a replacement for President Obama’s college-ratings plan. It’s caught on with some college counselors, if not so much with students.

A scholar at UNLV has been examining whether students actually might learn more if their instructor is attractive. For those hoping that brains are all that counts in academe, the picture he paints isn’t pretty.

Two new books seek to add nuance to the public debate about student debt. But can their evidence sway an audience steeped in anecdotes about struggling graduates?

NACAC’s departing president says he didn’t understand why the phrase “all lives matter” might cause offense.

How can an educator reassure her worried students when irresponsible legislators have granted a universal right to carry firearms, no training required?

Few college athletes have emulated Colin Kaepernick’s national-anthem demonstrations. Athletic directors say it’s because they’re doing a better job of listening to players.

The New Jim Crow’s author, Michelle Alexander, seeks a platform to effect wider cultural change.

Organizing a young mind and heart around a diner’s jukebox 45s.

And it’s just as pointless to condemn any ban on electronic devices in the classroom.

Ted Mitchell visited The Chronicle’s newsroom to talk about the Education Department’s role in promoting innovation and change, and ways the legacy of that work could endure after the Obama administration.