Life

Two much-discussed trends in academe -- the adoption of corporate values and the decline in the percentage of faculty jobs that are on the tenure track -- are closely linked and require joint examination. That is the thesis of a new book, The Last Professors: The Corporate University and the Fate of the Humanities, just published by Fordham University Press. Frank Donoghue, the author, is associate professor of English at Ohio State University.

Have you heard the one about the psychology chair who won't hire Republicans? As it turns out...

Those fresh from grad school don't feel well prepared for many duties, and end up learning on the job. Men rank themselves as better prepared than do women.

Should e-mail in which a professor shares sexually explicit thoughts about students factor into his suitability to keep his job? Is case in Texas one of enforcing professionalism, or overreaction?

New analysis of faculty database finds identifiable group of professors with common views on bias, but no willingness to discriminate on politics -- and considerable success for the politically incorrect.

What do administrators think about professors? That they should be move involved in campus governance, but lack the knowledge and perspective to do so, survey finds.

Study that anticipated professors' satisfaction levels might sink to those of industry scientists gets surprising result: Academe is seen as a good place to work.

New business announces plan to charge $395 for a process that could assure teaching quality to prospective employers.

The e-mail messages wouldn't have won Donald Steiner any dinner invitations to the president's home.

In one e-mail to a faculty discussion group at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Steiner -- a research professor -- responded to a recent message from President Shirley Jackson to the faculty by writing: "Sadly, I found more of the same subterfuge and insulting pabulum."

Survey of top research universities finds 36% of full-time faculty have academic partners, but study doesn't find many formal hiring policies.