
In this digital age, maintaining a sense of community in the workplace takes special effort. As job pressures grow and technology makes it possible to work almost anywhere, some academics feel a loss of collegiality, even as others are establishing new scholarly identities and networks online.
A strong sense of community is a priority for many of the colleges recognized in this year’s Great Colleges to Work For survey, which was based on the responses of more than 45,000 people at 232 institutions.
Our special report explores how academics are breaking down some of the barriers that prevent them from building stronger ties with one another and with their local communities. In some cases, that means revamping physical spaces, and even tenure-and-promotion policies, to encourage more interaction, more interdisciplinary work, and more community service.
Copies of the full report are available for purchase here.
-
News
How Colleges Can Use Big Data to Encourage Better Management
Ten years of “Great Colleges to Work For” survey results have shown increasing sophistication in how college leaders are using faculty and staff engagement data to improve the campus workplace. -
News
Where Is Academe’s Collegial Buzz? The Locus Has Shifted
Ease of communication, the rise of dual-career households, and an unrelenting pressure to produce scholarship have rewoven the social fabric of academic departments. -
News
Breaking Down Barriers Across Disciplines
Academe is far from resolving complicated questions surrounding interdisciplinary research, but some campuses have found ways to grease the wheels of collaboration. -
News
Buildings That Foster Collaboration
Colleges have put up a wide range of buildings designed to give scholars with divergent interests reasons to talk with one another. Now the interdisciplinary approach includes the humanities and even the arts. -
News
How Community Service Can Help Your Career
At Sonoma State University, volunteering off campus is not just encouraged; it’s required. -
The Review
Grad School Is Hard on Mental Health. Here’s an Antidote.
Science-communication training can give researchers perspective on their work and gird them against impostor syndrome. -
The Review
Now You’re in Charge. Right?
Warning: You may be surprised by the realities of an administrative position. -
The Review
You Can Take a Bold Sabbatical
Sure, you could stay home to work on the book, but this is no time to be timid.