Jan. 18, 2019
The Chronicle of Higher Education Volume 65, Issue 18-
FeedbackColleges Are Getting Smarter About Student Evaluations. Here’s How.
The surveys are rife with bias, and educational and legal considerations are upping the pressure to change them and maybe even eliminate them. -
Chronicle List
Less-Selective Colleges With the Highest and Lowest Retention Rates
Highly selective colleges tend to see nearly all of their freshmen return the next year. But what about colleges that accept most of their applicants? -
News
How More Than 200 Scholars Reached the Provost’s Office, and Where They Went Next
To reach second-in-command at America’s top research institutions, it helps to be a scientist — and to come from the inside. -
Hiring Trends
Program Directors Work to Keep Centuries-Old Promises to American Indians
At Ivy League colleges and public universities, the officials are working to strengthen a commitment to educate Native American students. -
News
Transitions: U. of Rochester Selects Its First Female President, Louisiana State U. Names Provost
Sarah C. Mangelsdorf will become Rochester’s chief this summer. Louisiana State’s new chief academic officer has been in the interim role since April. -
News
He Spent 12 Years in Prison. Now He Teaches Criminal Justice to College Students.
José Bou thinks there’s a lot to be learned from those who haven’t “gone through the education system the traditional way.” -
The Review
Keep Cross-Examination Out of College Sexual-Assault Cases
Campuses are not courtrooms, and everyone will lose if we pretend that they are. -
Financial Aid
Think the Federal-Aid Process Is Crazy? Here’s Some ‘Bureaucratic Sanity’
New guidance from the Education Department gives colleges more flexibility in verifying students’ information when they apply for financial aid. -
News
2 Universities Conclude That a Prominent Political Scientist Violated Sexual-Harassment Policies
William R. Jacoby, a professor at Michigan State University, had drawn criticism for defending himself on the website of the journal he edited. Two separate investigations found that he had harassed two students. -
Faculty
‘A Minefield’: How Scholars Who Don’t Drink Navigate the Conference Social Scene
Many conversations at academic conferences continue after hours, at the bar. Scholars who abstain from drinking want some other type of space for networking. -
The Review
Is This Higher Education’s Golden Age?
Pessimism reigns. But American universities have never been stronger. -
News
Professors Worry About the Cost of Textbooks, but Free Alternatives Pose Their Own Problems
Faculty members are concerned that students can’t afford the books they need, a new survey found. And for many instructors, open educational resources still aren’t the answer. -
Gender Diversity
Harvard Cracks Down on All-Male Clubs. But It’s Women’s Groups That Have Vanished.
Female students argue that the administration’s approach to halting gender discrimination has endangered gender-exclusive spaces that weren’t part of the problem. -
Legal
Chicago State U. Will Pay $650,000 in Legal Settlement Over Faculty Blog
The agreement follows a four-year battle between university officials and two professors over their First Amendment rights to criticize administrators on a blog. -
Academic Freedom
Proceedings Start Against ‘Sokal Squared’ Hoax Professor
Portland State University has notified Peter Boghossian that his participation in the elaborate hoax had violated the university’s ethical guidelines. -
News
After Racist Incidents Mire a Conference, Classicists Point to Bigger Problems
A scholar was told he got his job only because he’s black, and other two academics of color were questioned by security at an annual classics meeting in San Diego. -
Accreditation
Cutting Oversight of Accreditation Will Spur Innovation, Education Dept. Says. Critics Say Not So Fast.
The department recommends major changes in federal rules. But some question whether the steps are feasible, and even if they would fix the right problems. -
Leadership
Georgia Tech President to Retire After Controversy Over Administrators’ Ethical Lapses
G.P. (Bud) Peterson said his employees’ misconduct hadn’t cut short his decade-long tenure — if anything, it extended it. -
Backgrounder
What the Numbers Can Tell Us About Humanities Ph.D. Careers
The humanities are anomalous in their focus on academe as being “the one true career path” for students, said a panelist at the MLA conference, and new data about where graduates work reflect that. -
News
For American Colleges, China Could Be the New Travel Ban — but Worse
The “Trump effect” has fueled worry that international students might be scared off. But amid worsening economic trends and feuding governments, Chinese students might simply go elsewhere. -
The Review
Against Diversity Statements
Introducing concepts of ambiguous or contested meaning into academic evaluations will turn them into political litmus tests. -
The Review
The Invisible Faculty
By not standing up for adjuncts, tenure-track professors have undermined their own power. -
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The Review
The New Science Wars
Radical differences in the humanities and sciences haven’t gone away — they’ve intensified. -
Advice
Now for the Downsides of a Community-College Career
There are many good reasons to teach in the two-year sector, but you need to be aware of the drawbacks, too.
