Articles: Leadership

4/23/2013

We are running out of time. While our public policy makers equivocate and avoid the topic of climate change, the window of opportunity for salvaging a livable planet for our children and grandchildren is rapidly closing. The way forward is clear, yet for many confrontation-averse academics, the path seems impassable. It requires action that’s unnatural to the scientifically initiated: fight to regain territory occupied by climate change deniers.

4/23/2013

"On the heels of numerous recent scandals, the higher education world is finally (again) examining the role of athletics in academia. And every time a new scandal erupts, we are shocked—shocked—that such things go on within the halls of academia. Ah, but there’s the rub: In many schools, and especially those with a proclivity to horrific headlines, the athletic department is acting as an autonomous fiefdom."

4/22/2013

With international attention focused on Rome, the election of a new Pope rang out a welcoming chime that now resonates deep within the Catholic higher learning community. As the Cardinals were deciding who would be the new pope, Twitter accounts flickered with photos of the “Sistine Seagull” perched on the chimney waiting for white smoke to rise.

4/22/2013
  • Michael T. Benson will put his knack for leadership and raising funds to use as president of Eastern Kentucky University, beginning August 1. Currently leading Southern Utah University, he is working to raise $30 million for the Southern Utah Center for the Arts, $28 million of which has been raised so far.
3/26/2013

Frederik Logevall, the John S. Knight Professor of International Studies and director of the Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies at Cornell University, has been appointed the university’s vice provost for international relations, to begin July 1. He will succeed Alice Pell, who has served as vice provost since 2008. A history professor with expertise in U.S.

3/25/2013

University Business readers know Jim Samels and Jim Martin as the coauthors of the long running “Future Shock” column in each issue and online. The column covers a broad range of topics from higher education management and leadership issues to community relations and sustainable thinking.

3/7/2013

Every teaching hospital and academic medical center knows that the process of becoming accredited and re-accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) is an arduous task. The ACGME is attempting to ease this burden by introducing a new accreditation model called The Next Accreditation System (NAS).

2/25/2013

The search for and first years in office of a new president at a public university can carry extra burdens, say experts on those institutions. For starters, says presidential search consultant John Thornburgh, the vetting of candidates becomes a more complicated proposition because of the transparency usually practiced by state schools.

2/25/2013

The Universities of Oregon, Illinois, and Virginia have plenty in common. They all rate as leading research institutions, boast a high-achieving graduate and undergraduate student body, and field formidable athletic teams that compete regularly for national championships.

2/22/2013

To demonstrate more accurately the financial worth of college degrees, at least six states in 2012 explored the use of databases to publicly disclose income levels of graduates in specific fields. Virginia’s State Council of Higher Education brought its initiative to fruition in the fall through its Wage Outcomes Report, which provides information about the immediate employment/salary experiences of alumni who remain in Virginia after graduation.

2/14/2013

America’s higher education system is becoming less affordable for the middle class citizen, due in large part to the loss of public funding. In fact, notes The Campaign for the Future of Higher Education in its introduction to a set of three working papers offering possible viable solutions, between 2006 and 2007 alone the rate of public investment in public higher education dropped by 12.5 percent.

1/16/2013

John M. Anderson, president of Alfred State College (N.Y.), has been selected to serve as the next president of Millersville University (Pa.), to begin April 1. He will succeed Francine G. McNairy, who retired in January after serving as Millersville’s president for nearly 10 years.

1/15/2013

Since 2008, David G. Horner has been president and S. Sue Horner has been Scholar in Residence, Gender Studies and Religion, at The American College of Greece (Athens). They are in their 28th year as a presidential couple.

1/2/2013

Kathleen McCartney, dean of the Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE) and a member of the founding board of edX, has been selected as the 11th president of Smith College (Mass.), effective July 1.

1/2/2013

As university presidents gathered at this fall’s conferences and seminars, the usual question of “How was your summer?” likely produced more than perfunctory, polite responses. It was a wild season for a number of higher education leaders. In June, the president of the University of Virginia was “temporarily” fired by her board for not being aggressive enough in pushing new initiatives.

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