January, 2012 // Posts published in January, 2012
Administrative Juggernaut?
I had the pleasure this week of listening to a talk by Ben Ginsberg, whose book on the decline of the faculty is legitimately creating some stir. Professor Ginsberg highlights the fact that in American higher education, the number of academic administrators, and the budgets attached, have grown more rapidly than those of students or ...
Collaborations
Collaborations are hardly an innovation on the education front, but it does seem to me their importance is expanding. Certainly for a self-professed up-and-comer like Mason, collaborations are a vital means of expansion and improvement. We’re pleased, of course, at the growth of dual degree collaborations with various international partners. The China 1-2-1 program is ...
Background Checks
Discussion of further moves toward background checks for faculty and others is once again on active agenda at various institutions including George Mason. Any campus crisis now escalates attention, and there’s no easy way to avoid response. A few years ago when the discussion last actively surfaced, we generated a compromise approach with background checks ...
Adjuncts
It doesn’t seem inappropriate, I hope, to launch the new year with a fairly specific topic. This weekend I have the pleasure of helping to greet our new adjunct instructional staff. For several years, thanks particularly to Human Resources and the Center for Teaching Excellence, we’ve been meeting formally with new adjuncts and providing them ...
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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