This autoethnographic study documents the stories of two adult education faculty members' experiences when their respective academic programs were closed. We situate our stories within changes in higher education economics and two theoretical frameworks: expectancy theory and psychological contract theory. Despite our isolation as the sole faculty…

At the University of Rhode Island (URI), the URI Open Access Fund Committee met in early 2024 to advise the Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs on the continuation of the URI Open Access Fund. The URI Open Access Fund was created in 2013 to reimburse URI authors for Article Processing Charges when they published in qualifying…

This historical study chronicles the creation, development, and termination of the Midwestern Conference on School Vocal and Instrumental Music, hosted by the University of Michigan between 1946 and 2005. Beginning as a band music reading session led by William Revelli in 1936, the conference developed into a premier professional workshop by the…

Purpose: This study reports the results of a survey of teaching staff in the UK and China and two cohorts of Chinese students. We explored perceptions of a Transnational Education (TNE) course taught by UK teachers at a Chinese university to ascertain similarities and differences in perceptions and to help inform future TNE design and provision.…

A central goal of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) is to protect academic freedom, tenure, and due process by assisting faculty governance bodies and AAUP chapters in their efforts to incorporate AAUP-recommended policies in faculty handbooks and collective bargaining agreements. This report provides a statistical analysis…

The faculty and administration at Drake University made the decision in 2001 to alter radically how language instruction was delivered and received, beginning by disbanding the long-standing Modern Language Department. The dissolution of the department and the new pedagogy caused ripples of concern and shock among language instructors and…

This case study presents a chronicle of events spanning a decade in Kentucky that led to state policy changes for principal preparation and details the response to those mandated changes by professors at the University of Kentucky. Professors' collaborative efforts resulted in a new teacher leadership program and redesigned principal certification…

Departmental and programmatic eliminations represent a new paradigm in the history of American higher education. Hastened by a national economic recession and competing state funding priorities, public post-secondary institutions have turned to academic attrition as a solution to continuous budgetary shortfalls. As a means of addressing the lived…

The Jones Theatre at Washington State University is getting a $500,000 face-lift this summer. A construction crew has already ripped out its 500 orange and blue seats and is replacing them with new ones covered in a wine-colored fabric. The theater's walls are being painted a light beige, and a new set of black velour curtains will grace the…

Attendance is down at many academic and professional conferences in higher education this year, and next year's numbers are expected to be far worse, as campus budgets take further beatings. With many colleges limiting travel to professors or administrators who are speaking at events they are attending, will anyone be left in the audience? A new…

The Rostrum is a quarterly publication of the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges. The following articles are included in this issue: (1) The Need for full Time faculty (again) by Jane Patton; (2) Reading May Be the Key to Unlocking Basic Skills Success by Janet Fulks; (3) Diversity Institute on the Right Track by Beth Smith; (4)…

Examines the problems experienced with journalism and mass communication (JMC) programs in an era of retrenchment. Surveys 600 academicians from various disciplines. Finds that concerns of JMC educators are shared by colleagues in other disciplines; and that JMC programs seem more likely to be merged than eliminated. Suggests eight strategies for…

Reports on a tenure controversy within the Indiana University department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures that has involved possible death threats, a hunger strike, and controversy over the department's continued existence. For now the professor, an expert on Islamic philosophy, remains at the institution, other faculty have left, and…

Faced with scarce resources and environmental uncertainty in the past decade, colleges and universities have experimented with different modes of academic staffing, most of which are attempts to preserve or create more flexible policies and practices. In spite of tenure systems in operation at 94% of all four year colleges, institutions have at…

Diplomacy and political sophistication are as important as sound data and thorough review in the faculty layoff process. Distinguishing characteristics of institutions and departments affected by retrenchment and reasons for retrenchment are discussed, along with institutional research policies needed regarding release of data. (Author/LB)