This posting marks a transition in the GLCA and its Consortium for Teaching and Learning (CTL) . Beginning August 1, Greg Wegner will retire following 19 years of service as Director of Program Development at the GLCA. For over a decade Greg and Steve have worked in partnership as Co-Directors of the CTL. Greg writes: “One of the most fulfilling parts of my work has been the opportunity to work with Steve – as colleague, mentor, and friend – to engage faculty interest in support of teaching and learning across the GLCA. I am delighted that Steve will continue to serve as Co-Director of the CTL. It also pleases me that he will be joined by two of my valued GLCA colleagues, Colleen Monahan Smith, and Charla White, as Co-Directors of the CTL. I look forward to the continued progress of CTL, through the guidance of these three.” Greg was instrumental in launching the CTL and keeping it afloat through good years and difficult ones. We will miss his steady hand, careful eye, and sturdy wisdom, and wish him well wherever his new voyages may take him.
Normalizing the Unknown for First-Gen Students (Nick Ladany, Inside Higher Ed, July 28, 2022): Higher ed institutions must reassure first-generation students that it’s OK not to have all the answers.
Last Year Was Miserable. Can Colleges Make This One Better? (Beth McMurtrie, Chronicle of Higher Ed, July 27, 2022). Campuses plan to counteract student disengagement, even as they struggle to understand it.
Why Specifications Grading Deserves an A (Junior Prof, Inside Higher Ed, July 27, 2022): A method of assessment that can benefit the instructor as well as the students, especially during a time of pandemic fatigue.
The Challenges of Teaching Controversial Topics in a Divided Society (Steven Mintz, Inside Higher Ed, July 25, 2022): Strategies to use when teaching today’s most difficult, divisive, and sensitive issues.
As the Pandemic Waned, So Did Faculty’s Use of Digital Course Materials (Audrey Williams June, Chronicle of Higher Education, July 25, 2022): When it comes down to choosing texts and other materials, print formats are most popular. And speaking of tech, here’s Michelle D. Miller’s piece under the “new Semester” heading on “How to Make Smart Choices About Tech for Your Course,” from the Chronicle of Higher Education.
Higher Education in a Moment of Crisis
Americans’ Confidence in Higher Ed Drops Sharply (Karin Fischer, Chronicle of Higher Education, July 26, 2022): Public confidence in higher education’s ability to lead America in a positive direction has sunk steeply in recent years, falling 14 percentage points just since 2020. At the same time, according to an article in Higher Ed Dive (Online Education’s Reputation Jumps, Survey Says, Rick Seltzer, July 26, 2022), almost half of adults in the U.S., 47%, think online education is of roughly the same quality as in-person instruction.
Dissecting the Campus Speech Problem (Doug Lederman, Inside Higher Ed, July 28, 2022): A gathering of academic administrators gets schooled in why students see their speech rights slipping – and what colleges can do about it.
The Liberal Arts Abroad
Indigenous Models of Liberal Arts Should Beware of Ethnic Chauvinism (Saikat Majumdar, Times Higher Education, July 29, 2022): As the Indian and the US examples both show, openness and flexibility is easily limited by parochialism and provincialism). (Registration, not subscription, required.)
On the Bookshelf
Will Bunch, After the Ivory Tower Falls: How College Broke the American Dream and Blew Up Our Politics – And How to Fix It (William Morrow, 2022).. Interview with the author by Susan H. Greenberg (Inside Higher Ed, July 29, 2022) and short opinion piece by the author (Philadelphia Inquirer, July 29, 2022).
Lorgia García Peña, Community as Rebellion: A Syllabus for Surviving Academia as a Woman of Color (Haymarket Books, 2022): An argument that the classroom is key to freedom-making in the university.