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Blog:  Higher Ed Gamma The war in Ukraine, says Ronald G. Suny, a leading historian of the Soviet Union and Russia and perhaps the foremost authority on ethnicity policies in the former Soviet bloc, is not just it military conflict.  It’s also a war of narratives – stories that undergird the policies and strategies of the opposing sides.   There is Vladimir Putin’s claim that Ukraine’s leaders came to power illegitimately, as a result of 2014 coup, and have since pushed the country toward an alliance with the West.  On the other side, there’s a counternarrative that Ukraine rebelled in 2014 against Russian influence in order to become a truly sovereign, democratic state free to reach out to the European Union and NATO. We typically conceive of international conflicts in coldly realist geopolitical and strategic terms.  But Suny argues that in this case, such a view is grossly mistaken.  Putin’s motives rest on a “hyperemotional narrative” ...

Stanford University is investigating whether its president, Marc Tessier-Lavigne, had any role in possible misconduct in papers he co-wrote prior to becoming president, the Bay Area News Group reported. The allegations concern the authenticity of several images in the papers. The charges were first reported in the student newspaper at Stanford, The Stanford Daily. A Stanford spokeswoman said Tessier-Lavigne “was not involved in any way in the generation or presentation of the panels that have been queried” in two of the papers. Of the other two, she said the issues “do not affect the data, results or interpretation of the papers.” On Tuesday evening, Tessier-Lavigne said he welcomed the investigation. "Scientific integrity is of utmost importance both to the university and to me personally. I support this process and will fully cooperate with it, and I appreciate the oversight by the Board of Trustees."     Ad keywords:  administrators executive Edito...

When I became a student success coach at Northwood University, I did something unusual: I enrolled in a developmental mathematics class. Going to class, taking notes, studying, quizzes, exams—I did it all. I cultivated a strong relationship with the professor, engaged with the material daily and spoke with students about their experiences. I was so immersed in this course that I began dreaming about factoring trinomials and the order of operations. My main motivation for taking this class was to help students. Students enrolled in remedial courses may already lack confidence in their academic abilities, and failing a non-credit-bearing class during their first semester at college is a sure way to rock any confidence they may otherwise have gained, leading to an enhanced sense of impostor syndrome and possible attrition. Additionally, the failing of developmental classes is a universal issue in higher education, affecting completion rates and student swirl . I spent considerable ti...

Blog:  Learning Innovation The Middle Out: The Rise of Progressive Economics and a Return to Shared Prosperity by Michael Tomasky Published in September 2022 I’ve been looking for a book to challenge my progressive economic leanings. The Middle Out is not that book. Maybe you have some suggestions? In The Middle Out , Tomasky (who edits the political journal Democracy ) endeavors to provide a political road map for Democrats. He observes that conservatives tend to think in terms of values, whereas liberals see the world through an economic lens. Tomasky argues that progressive economic policies are deeply intertwined with values such as fairness, opportunity and justice—and that Democrats need to make a case for progressive policies in those terms. Suppose you are worried about inequality, climate change, wealth concentration, workers’ rights, childhood poverty, access to health care and childcare, concentrated poverty, rural poverty, and the hollowing out of the mi...

Blog:  Higher Ed Gamma Brian Rosenberg, president emeritus of Macalester College and a visiting professor in the Harvard Graduate School of Education, has written the best article that I’ve read on the recent decision by leading law schools to boycott the  US News  ratings.  In an essay entitled “ Higher Ed’s Prestige Paralysis ,” he makes a highly convincing argument that with or without the  US News  rankings, “college reputations are fixed, valuable, and based on almost no hard evidence.” I regard his argument, that the  US News  rankings are based on almost no real evidence of quality, as absolutely correct, and I wholehearted agree with his main message:  That the rankings simply serve to reinforce the existing structure of institutional wealth and prestige.   Indeed, it wouldn’t surprise me to learn that the  US News  rankings were reverse engineered to ensure that the "right" schools appeared at the top...

Edward Waters University, a historically Black university in Florida, has ended recognition of its faculty union, The Tributary reported. The university cited "core values and Christian tenets.” The Supreme Court has indeed ruled that private and religious college need not recognize unions, but some colleges do recognize them anyway. For 21 years, Edward Waters has done so. A university statement said, "“The assertion of the university’s rights as a religious educational institution, acknowledged by the Supreme Court of the United States and the National Labor Relations Board, will also allow EWU to be driven by its faith-based Christian mission, rather than the political agendas often associated with federal labor policies." Faculty criticized the decision. Kenneth Davis, a criminal justice professor and president of the faculty union, said, “De-recognizing the union is a union-busting tactic, so it makes it harder to keep people engaged. The union is a bargainin...

Ohio State University president Kristina M. Johnson is resigning after serving two and a half years in the role, as first reported by  The Columbus Dispatch . While details remain vague, the newspaper reported that Johnson is stepping down at the request of Ohio State’s Board of Trustees following an investigation by an external law firm into concerns raised by Johnson’s staff. Details of the investigation are unclear. Ohio State confirmed the news in a statement M onday evening  but offered no specific details on why Johnson is stepping down. “I have made the difficult decision to step down as president following commencement at the end of the academic year. This will allow a search for the next president to proceed and adequate time for me to assist with a seamless transition,” Johnson said in the statement. Johnson previously served as chancellor of the State University of New York system from 2017 to 2020. Ad keywords:  administrators executive ...

I am serving in my 13th year as the president of Central College in Pella, Iowa—my 40th year in higher education. While I certainly have presidential colleagues who have equaled or exceeded my years of leadership service, I have become increasingly concerned by the number of public and private institutions that have appointed as many as four presidents during the dozen years I have been in this role. My intent is not to argue that all college and university presidential appointments could or should be long-term. My concern is that the accelerating turnover rate across the postsecondary landscape is only breeding more turnover. When an institution becomes accustomed to frequent presidential transitions, commitment to sustained leadership erodes. Breaking that cycle requires a concerted effort. As I survey the landscape, I see institutions with sustained presidential leadership for 10 or more years tangibly benefiting from the capacity to undertake and succeed with long-term, larg...

Blog:  Just Visiting The first week of my college career, while standing at a table in the quad at the University of Illinois, I signed up for my first credit card. My primary motivation for signing up for the card was the free two-liter bottle of soda they were giving away with a completed application—I drank a lot of soda back then—but I figured it couldn’t hurt to have a card for emergencies. The credit limit was $500—not enough to get into major trouble, but plenty to induce you to get a few late-night pizzas that go from costing $8 to more like $50 if you only pay the minimum balance for enough months. Thankfully, I was raised with a Midwestern frugality, and thanks to parents paying my tuition and my own savings from summer work, I never used the card until after I’d graduated from college, started making money of my own and got a taste for owning things. Still, I’ve been able to pay the full balance on my credit card just about every month since I received my firs...

Blog:  Higher Ed Gamma There are movies that help define a generation.  For the Baby Boomers, these included The Graduate, Easy Rider, Five Easy Pieces , and, of course, Bonnie and Clyde (“They're young... they're in love... and they kill people”).   For Gen X, there was The Breakfast Club, Pretty in Pink, Mean Girls, and The Matrix .  For the Millennials, there were the especially sordid coming of age films tales Kids, Thirteen, Slacker, Fight Club, and Reality Bites . What are the movies that define today’s undergraduates?  The titles might be less familiar to you, but these films share a common theme, the torturous path toward coming of age:  Frances Ha, Hunger Games, Real Women Have Curves, and Twilight. Less now perhaps than in the past, movies are never mere entertainment.   These pictures  reflect the moment when they are made, shape the way the young view and understand society, and help young people define their i...

One person was killed and four others were shot at Florida A&M University Sunday afternoon. The university identified the victims as adult males (including the man who was killed) and one juvenile. A statement on Twitter said that "based on initial reports," it appears that none of the victims are Florida A&M students. Larry Robinson, the president, said that "I want to assure the FAMU community the shooting incident that occurred on campus is not an ongoing threat to the community." Police are looking for the shooter.   Ad keywords:  administrators studentaffairs Editorial Tags:  Live Updates Is this diversity newsletter?:  Hide by line?:  Disable left side advertisement?:  Is this Career Advice newsletter?:  Website Headline:  One Killed, Four Others Shot at Florida A&M Trending:  Trending text:  One Killed, Four Others Shot at Florida A&M Live Updates:...

Now that the dust has settled and the drama of midterm elections has come and gone, I have some thoughts on the Stanford University–hosted conference on academic freedom held earlier this month , from my perspective as the only dean on the program and as a scholar whose political affiliations are not wholly aligned with the generally right-libertarian positions of the conference organizers. I will be a better dean for having attended and participated in the conference, hosted by the Classical Liberalism Initiative of the Stanford Graduate School of Business. The stated goal of the conference was identifying ways “to restore academic freedom, open inquiry and freedom of speech and expression on campus and in the larger culture and restore the open debate required for new knowledge to flourish.” I’m grateful to the organizers for including an administrator, as it is our job to adjudicate, manage, resolve, turn the heat down on or stand firm on issues of academic freedom as well as...