Last time around I discussed a tenured professor who may have, a little bit, violated protocol by naming someone in a blog post that could be interpreted as against gay marriage. Me: “I see here we’re putting in writing that 12 divided by 5 is 2.35. It’s actually 2.4.” Admin: “It’s policy.” –I really can’t […] … learn more→

A few days ago I asked the twittersphere what rubs people up the wrong way when it comes to submitting manuscripts to peer-reviewed academic journals. Oh let us count the ways. From the irritation of having to reformat references to fit some journal’s arbitrary style, to consigning figures and captions to the end of a submission as […] … learn more→

U.S. institutions of higher education and U.S. local governments are under extraordinary pressure to cut costs and eliminate from institutional or governmental ledgers any expenses whose absence would cause little or no pain. In this political climate, academic and public libraries may be in danger. The existence of vast amounts of information – a lot […] … learn more→

Religious education is no stranger to controversy. Determining which religions should be studied, and how and why, is often a fraught process, particularly where the teaching of certain religious beliefs over others is concerned, or if children are being indoctrinated into a particular faith. Despite the importance of making sure young people today have a […] … learn more→

On average, $1 out of every $3 that public research universities and land-grant institutions spent on financial aid in the 2014-15 academic year went to students without financial need, according to a new analysis of institutional aid data that I conducted. This analysis focused on public universities represented by the Association of Public and Land-grant […] … learn more→

“Kids, we are leaving Iran,” said my dad in a calm but firm manner. I was only 14 when my parents sat me and my two sisters down to break the news. We loved our country and couldn’t understand why my parents would make such a decision. But at that age “going places” was appealing, […] … learn more→

Big cats love their meat. They are also strict carnivores. This puts them at the top of the food chain, where they play an important ecological role by regulating prey populations and structuring animal communities. Members of the cat family, also known as felids, can have an indirect effect on plant life. Studies have documented […] … learn more→

In April 2014, Connecticut Governor David Malloy signed a proclamation to recognize the work of public school paraprofessionals. Like “Teacher Appreciation Day” coming up next week, the move meant to reserve time for honoring paraprofessionals’ contribution to student learning, in addition to teachers’. But, as with teachers, a designated appreciation day fails to do the […] … learn more→

Every few months I get some joker giving me grief for posting under a pseudonym; I’d reconsider, but every few weeks I get a reminder of how fragile the position of an educator in higher education is today. Marquette suspends controversial tenured faculty blogger whom last year it moved to fire. And university says he […] … learn more→

Do you have a doctorate? You are qualified to run a successful StartUp! I went to a public presentation recently which showed how advanced degree holders and PhDs were driving Startups in London. This inspired me. For once, a StartUp success story won’t have a dropped-out-of-university founder. While I applaud those that have managed the feat, […] … learn more→