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…

Describes how at the University of Maryland at College Park, language professors say mold growing in their offices is not only destructive to morale, but also endangers their health. (EV)

From the top down, says the writer, Russia's universities are impoverished by bribery and insider deals large and small. A new president's dorm at Nizhniy Novgorod is one example of what anti-corruption watchdogs say is widespread mismanagement, and in some cases outright corruption, throughout the country's higher-education system. Presidents use…

Recent reports examining the status of women on college campuses are drawing the same conclusions reached in reports prepared 20 years ago: that female professors, staff, and administrators in academe face a hostile work environment. Although the issues are clearer and some improvements are seen, changes are fragmentary. (MSE)

According to a recent study, about 43% of women faculty at all college types have never published a journal article, compared to 23% of male counterparts. At universities, the gap narrows only slightly. A number of factors are cited as reasons, including type of faculty assignment, fewer mentors for women, and different approaches to work…

When the University of Arkansas' president determined that the university's press should be shut down due to financial losses, journalists, letter writers, faculty, and editors at other university presses undertook a successful campaign to save it. The debate highlights the economic difficulties of academic publishing and the role of the…

Colleges are both concerned about the effects of lifting the mandatory faculty retirement lid and interested in retaining the services of valued faculty. As a result, many are offering retiring teachers perquisites such as office and laboratory space, secretarial services, and opportunities to teach and advise part-time. (MSE)

Recent studies have found that most faculty are more influenced to retire by financial incentives, working conditions, and family matters than the end of mandatory-retirement policies, anticipated in 1994. Further research and improved retirement tracking on individual campuses are recommended for improved institutional planning. (MSE)

A national association of composition teachers is drafting a statement on professional standards and recommendations for writing instructors. The statement addresses teacher autonomy and curricular input, teacher qualifications, class size, temporary part-time vs. full-time employment, compensation, and teaching assistant qualifications. (MSE)

The myriad duties in academic life make it especially difficult to keep stress under control. Some of the reasons academic careers are so stressful include: competition, low pay and poor working conditions, tight resources, lessened mobility, growth in part-time positions, and high self-expectations. (MLW)

Conflicts in many states between administrators and disgruntled college employees have led to a surge of labor activism in academe, including strikes and protests, votes to unionize, disputes over evaluation and compensation, and court litigation. Conflicts involve teaching assistants, adjunct faculty, and tenured faculty alike. (MSE)

Some faculty feel that, as tasks become "unbundled," technology may take over instructional duties that define professor's jobs, with courses designed outside the institution, lectures replaced by Web sites, tests created and administered by outside organizations. Others feel that computers foster more interactive and lively learning environments…

Changes are occurring in college-level English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) instruction. An accrediting body has been created for ESL programs to begin using uniform standards to evaluate varied programs. ESL teachers, many teaching part-time in more than one institution, are eager for better recognition of their profession, which has suffered in…

In an effort to revitalize Bennington College (Vermont), its president recently fired 26 of 79 faculty members, reduced and reorganized academic departments and divisions, replaced tenure with multi-year contracts, and recruited new faculty. Some claim violation of academic freedom. Enrollment has increased, particularly among first-time students,…