Life

Think it's not worth holding class the Friday before spring break? Faculty leaders at Penn State want you to know they disagree.

Carmen Twillie Ambar is president of a small college in Pennsylvania -- and the mother of three toddlers.

Experts on campus security and workplace violence say Huntsville tragedy reveals possibility of faculty members as perpetrators, but warn against "tenure denial made her do it" assumptions.

As field has moved away from single-scholar publication as the norm, new questions are raised -- including, whose name goes first?

Tough budget times have colleges offering early retirement incentives to free up funds, and others report difficulties maintaining current retirement contribution levels.

One of the ultimate protections of being a tenured faculty member, historically, has been being immune from layoff in all but the most extraordinary circumstances. Under policies issued by the American Association of University Professors and largely accepted by higher education leaders, only institutions that declare "financial exigency" -- a state so dire that it "threatens the survival of the institution as a whole" -- can eliminate the jobs of tenured faculty members.

Faculty try to shield their personal lives from students, but the suspension of a Pennsylvania professor over Facebook postings shows there's no such sanctuary online.

Ohio State wants to rethink traditional patterns of faculty reward structure -- starting by questioning whether great research should be the only way to reach the highest rank.

On the surface, the proposed changes to the tenure system at Brown University may seem like relatively minor adjustments, designed to help junior faculty members build up a more complete portfolio of work for review. For instance, the review would be moved to the seventh year of employment instead of the sixth.

When Duke University's Cathy Davidson announced her grading plan for a seminar she would be offering this semester, she attracted attention nationwide. Some professors cheered, others tut-tutted, and others asked "Can she do that?"

Her plan? Turn over grading to the students in the course, and get out of the grading business herself.