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The Tyranny of Trendy Ideas

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Chronicle of Higher Education @chronicle.com · 19h

From the Archives: Academics need to balance two opposing imperatives: the implicit demand to follow a herd and the requirement to appear trailblazing.

Academics pretend to be above cheap and trivial fads. We aren’t.

The International-Enrollment Picture Remains Hazy. Why?

Chronicle of Higher Education @chronicle.com · 20h

The number of international students arriving in the U.S. is down, but overall enrollments held steady this fall. What in the world is going on?

Trying to nail down this fall’s new-student numbers. Plus, study abroad’s effect on salaries.

Trump’s ‘Compact’ Is Freaking People Out

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Chronicle of Higher Education @chronicle.com · 21h

What will the “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education" mean for colleges? Is it a treaty with the Trump administration or an ultimatum? This episode of College Matters from The Chronicle explains it all.

Under a proposed agreement, select colleges would co-sign the president’s vision for higher ed — or else.

How Students Should Practice, In and Out of Class

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Chronicle of Higher Education @chronicle.com · 22h

Giving students more chances to learn by doing, with frequent feedback, can make a course more engaging and effective.

A professor structures exercises to reduce busy work and boost engagement.

How a Trump-Supporting Congressman Turned College President Disarmed His Critics

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Chronicle of Higher Education @chronicle.com · 23h

While in Congress, Bill Johnson was perhaps best known for voting not to certify the results of the 2020 presidential election. Now, after a rocky start as president of Youngstown State University, he has won over a substantial share of his campus. How'd he do it?

Bill Johnson has found success at Youngstown State University by floating above the fray — or seeming to.

Opinion | The Folly of Academic Self-Help

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Chronicle of Higher Education @chronicle.com · 1d

From the Archives: "Cultivate a growth mindset" is not a sustainable career strategy, Erik Baker explains.

A mindset adjustment is the key to finding a good job, say career gurus. If only.

Opinion | When Viewpoint Diversity Means Conformity

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Chronicle of Higher Education @chronicle.com · 1d

Opinion | The deluded attempt to enforce identitarian political assumptions cannot achieve pluralism.

Trump’s compact isn’t just coercive. It’s incoherent.

What Research Says About How AI Use Affects Learning

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Chronicle of Higher Education @chronicle.com · 1d

As AI companies commit to spending hundreds of millions of dollars to get the technology into schools and colleges, researchers are working to understand how AI is shaping learning.

There’s a lot we don’t yet know, but some studies are pointing out ways in which AI could be problematic — or potentially helpful.

Opinion | A Princeton President’s Evasions

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Chronicle of Higher Education @chronicle.com · 1d

Opinion | Princeton's president avoids looking too closely at the campus politics of the last decade.

Christopher L. Eisgruber’s new book misunderstands the past and fails to meet the present.

What It’s Like to Be an Autism Scientist Funded by the Trump Administration

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Chronicle of Higher Education @chronicle.com · 1d

President Trump angered medical experts for promoting the unproven claim that Tylenol can cause autism. At the same time, his administration is giving $50 million to a slate of respected scholars to study autism’s potential causes.

The government is funding respected scholars to study autism’s causes, at a time when experts say it’s also sowing misinformation about the same topic.

Mizzou’s President Has Succeeded by Staying Out of Trouble

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Chronicle of Higher Education @chronicle.com · 1d

The leader of the University of Missouri system is in an enviable position: lawmakers love him, enrollment is growing, and the Trump administration isn’t paying much attention. But not everyone’s happy.

The University of Missouri leader turned around its reputation, bolstered state funding and enrollment, and restored the faculty trust. But his tight-lipped management style has its critics.

Can Colleges Be Run Using AI?

Chronicle of Higher Education @chronicle.com · 2d

Administrators can now crunch budget numbers and whip up presentations in minutes thanks to AI. But what does that mean for how a college works?

A third of college administrators say they use the technology for small and big tasks. The results are mixed.

Opinion | The 7 Trends Shaping Small Colleges

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Chronicle of Higher Education @chronicle.com · 2d

From the Archives: Opinion | Demographic headwinds and revenue shortfalls are buffeting small colleges. Here's what they're doing to overcome that.

Tuition revenues are eroding, but small institutions have a plethora of ways to fight back.

Opinion | The Harvard Lawsuit You Haven’t Heard Of

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Chronicle of Higher Education @chronicle.com · 2d

Opinion | Harvard is showing how to win in court, not capitulate in backroom deals.

The faculty keeps winning in court. That matters.

A Professor Explores What Makes the In-Person Classroom So Valuable

2 6 15

Chronicle of Higher Education @chronicle.com · 2d

Sharing and holding attention is what makes a college classroom "a rarer and more precious experience" in these times, says an English professor at Boston College.

Carlo Rotella’s new book examines the craft of teaching and learning.

Despite Return-to-Campus Push, Remote Work in Higher Ed Is Increasingly Popular

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Chronicle of Higher Education @chronicle.com · 2d

The University of Florida and other public institutions in red states this summer mandated all employees to return to campus full-time, rather than work from home or other locations.

Work-from-home arrangements have become more popular in the sector, but just about all of that growth has happened at private colleges.

Trump’s Imperfect Compact Is a Perfect Opportunity

Chronicle of Higher Education @chronicle.com · 2d

Opinion | We are only at the very beginning of what will necessarily be a long negotiation. The first step may be a deal with the White House on a framework of principle.

Colleges shouldn’t sign. But they also shouldn’t dismiss the need for a new framework.

Trump Says Signing a New ‘Compact’ Will Benefit Colleges’ Finances. It Could Also Do the Opposite.

Chronicle of Higher Education @chronicle.com · 2d

Colleges wondering if they should sign Trump's compact should understand that not all institutions in all locations will be affected the same way.

Despite the promise of more federal dollars, several provisions could upend an already precarious business model.

The Real Housewife of Johns Hopkins University

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Chronicle of Higher Education @chronicle.com · 3d

From the Archives: Wendy Osefo is a star of The Real Housewives of Potomac. She’s also an assistant professor at the Johns Hopkins University. Between teaching and televised dinners where anything flies (including drinks into faces), Osefo wants to redefine what being an academic can mean.

Wendy Osefo is redefining what it means to be professorial. Her colleagues aren’t commenting.

How Instructors Create Breathing Room in Their Courses

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Chronicle of Higher Education @chronicle.com · 3d

Catch-up week, resisting “scheduling content to the max,“ work days, and other ways for adding in a buffer when you build your syllabus can make life a little easier for students and professors, whether it’s needed or not.

Some professors build a buffer to give students — and themselves — a break.

The Trump Administration’s ‘Compact’ Is a Trap

Chronicle of Higher Education @chronicle.com · 3d

Opinion | The federal government is counting on fear: fear of losing funding, fear of extended investigation, and fear of being made an example.

Choose independence. Refuse to sign.

5 Takeaways From Our Podcast Interview With Princeton’s President

2 6 15

Chronicle of Higher Education @chronicle.com · 3d

The Charlie Kirk shooting. Free speech. Battling with Trump. Princeton's president took questions on some of the most contentious issues facing higher ed today.

Christopher L. Eisgruber on the killing of Charlie Kirk, his institution’s interactions with the Trump administration, and the <i>Atlantic</i> headline that raised eyebrows.

Opinion | Who Will Clemson Censor Next?

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Chronicle of Higher Education @chronicle.com · 3d

Opinion | Charlie Kirk-related firings at Clemson and elsewhere reveal a disturbing truth: Administrators have traded principal for political cover.

We no longer know what speech will be tolerated or punished. The result: self-censoring and silence.

How One Professor Demystifies Writing

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Chronicle of Higher Education @chronicle.com · 3d

Many students don’t see themselves as writers. The advent of generative artificial-intelligence tools that can crank out students’ writing assignments for them hasn't helped. So what can professors do?

It helps to express interest in hearing what students have to say.