Category: Academia

This is kind of sticking with the “Journal of Unsurprising Results” theme, but Inside Higher Ed today reports on a new study of student evaluations finding, well, more or less what you would expect: One explanation could be that good students are earning good grades, and crediting their good professors for their learning. The Ohio… Continue reading Student Evaluations Don’t Mean Much

Inside Higher Ed reports today on a new study of junior faculty job satisfaction showing that faculty satisfaction doesn’t correlate with institutional prestige: The collaborative, known as COACHE, last year released aggregate findings from its survey of thousands of faculty members at dozens of participating institutions. That analysis found that junior professors placed increasing importance… Continue reading Junior Faculty Not Crazy, Film at 11

We’ve been running a search to fill a tenure-track faculty position for next year, and I’ve spent more time than I care to recall reading folders and interviewing candidates. Now that the process is nearing completion, I’d like to do a quick post offering advice for those thinking about applying for a tenure-track position at… Continue reading How to Get a Small College Job

Inside Higher Ed has a report on a new frontier in administrative idiocy: After passing a new online test on ethics required of all state employees, [a] tenured professor in the English department at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale received a notice from his university ethics officer and from the state inspector general that he… Continue reading The Wheels of Ethics Grind Slowly… Or Else

Inside Higher Ed had an article yesterday about a survey of student attitudes that they analyze in terms of gender differences, finding that women entering college are generally better prepared than their male counterparts, but men entering college are more confident in their abilities, particularly in math and science. As you might expect, this leads… Continue reading Ambition vs. Preparation

An article from the Chronicle of Higher Education has landed in my inbox, describing efforts to recruit students to conservative groups: Ryan J. Sorba stands before a table covered with mini-cupcakes and whoopie pies, calling out to students as they pass. A sign lists the prices: $6 for customers under 18; $3 for 19-year-olds; $1… Continue reading Conservatives on Campus

The last time I talked about our job search, I got a lot of comments of the form “Why does the process take so damn long?” As the first of our short list candidates shows up today for a campus visit/ interview, I thought I’d go through a sketch of what we do, and why… Continue reading Adventures in Faculty Searching