January, 2010 // Posts published in January, 2010
State of the Union and Higher Ed
The nation is not eagerly awaiting my comments on the State of the Union address, and I will keep them short. Like the rest of you, I observed that Democrats got a lot more exercise during the speech than Republicans did, which might suggest they need health care reform less. The brief but pointed support ...
Complaint Department
Ends of term bring a variety of complaints, probably more to other offices than to mine. But we’ve had a few, and they trigger several thoughts. First, I hope we all take complaints seriously. Students can be annoying, and they are often wrong and/or manipulative, but it is important not to prejudge, for a given ...
Using Course Evaluations
Having one’s work assessed is always a bit nerve wracking, and this is true for faculty and administrators as well as students. We have a current issue in this regard that’s worth airing. For several years we have submitted comments as well as statistics from student course evaluations to department chairs or their equivalent, prior ...
Recent Posts
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Changing the World
This is an adaptation of some brief graduation remarks I recently offered,...
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Good Things
Ends of semester are always a bit tense, particularly in the spring....
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When It's Time to Leave Academic Administration
What follows involves a delicate topic, probably insufficiently discussed because of its...
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