This article shares how the author explained her trans status to her students. Everyone has been extremely supportive of her decision to come out in class and to completely mask the male secondary-sex characteristics, especially in the workplace. The department chair and the faculty in general have been willing to do whatever they can to assist…

Can a quality education be provided by any college that relies heavily on adjunct instructors it subjects to lousy working conditions? Some higher-education experts and prominent advocates for adjunct faculty members would like to see accreditors and others who pass judgment on colleges ask questions like that more often. Those concerned about the…

Facing a cutthroat academic job market, many doctoral students are now willing to explore the possibility of a community-college career. And they have many questions. In Part 1 of this series, the author focused on the hiring process at two-year colleges and answered some common questions like "Do I have to have a Ph.D. to teach in that sector?"…

A growing proportion of the nation's professors are at the same point in their career: still working, but with the end of their careers in sight. Their tendency to remain on the job as long as their work is enjoyable--or, during economic downturns, long enough to make sure they have enough money to live on in retirement--has led the professoriate…

Life as an associate professor with tenure can be even more isolating and overwhelming than being an assistant professor on the tenure track. The path to achieving what amounts to higher education's golden ring is well marked and includes guidance from more-experienced peers. But once a professor earns tenure, that guidance disappears, the amount…

Students in the University of Rhode Island's International Engineering Program (IEP) spend a semester studying at an overseas university and another six months interning at a company abroad; at the end of five years, they earn two degrees, in engineering and a foreign language. Despite the extra academic demands, nearly a third of Rhode Island's…

The practical goal of graduate education is placement of graduates. But what does "placement" mean? Academics use the word without thinking much about it. "Placement" is a great keyword for the graduate-school enterprise. For one thing, its meaning certainly gives a purpose to graduate education. Furthermore, the word is a portal into the way of…

The job market on North American campuses may be heading for the deep freeze, but hundreds of positions are opening up in the Persian Gulf as American universities scramble to set down roots in those petrodollar-rich states. The combination of money and opportunity on offer may seem hard to resist. But academics who trade the rich intellectual…

When he was made the provost, the author relates how he didn't know what to expect. He discusses his experience in the positions and concludes that the burden of the job of provost is knowing the things that other do not or would rather not know. Much of this has to do with money and because the provost is required to know so much and talk so…

In this article, the author shares her experience teaching in a predominantly white institution. As an African-American woman, she relates that some students have confronted her in class, typically with a great deal of hostility and a complete lack of respect. Others have gone to department chairs with a barrage of complaints in an attempt to…

Over the last decade, admissions has become a front-page fixation, and the industry's professionals have higher profiles than ever, on campuses and off. In turn, today's admissions jobs come with heavy doses of prestige and pressure. In this article, the authors discuss the results of a new survey of college officers which suggest that, despite…

According to new research, aspiring professors' negative view of faculty life at top research institutions is common: the large study of the University of California's graduate students revealed that less than half perceive major research institutions to be family-friendly workplaces for tenure-track professors. About 8,400 Ph.D. students from…

When "The Chronicle" asked college employees what they value about their jobs, they put the physical environment in which they work at the top of the list. They said they were concerned not only that their spaces met their needs but also that their campuses had a pleasing appearance. That's no surprise to Thomas G. Contos, university architect at…

The politics of dual-career academic couples, and the policies directed toward them, have been dissected and debated at length. Rarely mentioned, however, is how an academic career can be affected by a husband, wife, or significant other who is not on the professorial track. Most pairings of professor and nonprofessor work just fine. The partners…

Technology has revolutionized the way professors work. With just a few keystrokes, they can gain access to vast library collections online. They can collaborate with peers halfway around the globe. They can read e-mail at home in their pajamas or at a research site thousands of miles away. The convenience of being able to work virtually anywhere…