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My previous post explained how a portion of the sustainability community is coming to view our challenge not primarily as an environmental issue but as a societal one. The difference is far more significant than just its effect on the wording we use in our job descriptions and performance reviews -- it fundamentally reshapes the relationship between higher education and issues of sustainability, and vastly expands higher ed's capacity to address the problem. Let me try to explain.

A thoughtful correspondent writes: "This is not hypothetical — I’ve had to deal with it a couple of times now. I keep asking for ethical advice but no one yet has offered me any that I find really satisfactory. We hire someone to work in a temporary position, and are thus able to do so without a national search. This person turns out to be extremely good, and we convince the administration to give us a new line so we can hire them permanently. University policy nevertheless requires us to conduct a national search to fill the position. So we find ourselves in effect recruiting for a slot that has already been filled."

Dear Dr. Matloff. Thank you for contributing to our community's discussion about the pros and cons of MOOCs. I thought that your critique of the limitations of the current MOOC offerings in your Bloomberg opinion column Dumbed-Down Math and Other Perils of Online College made many valid points about the challenges of bringing a college course to scale.

With all the talk about the unbundling of higher education, some recent developments have me wondering whether some of the newer developments we’re seeing are actually reinforcing the existing hierarchy in this market to the benefit of elite schools. . . and at the expense of everyone else.

I attended the Ann Arbor Film Festival (AAFF) this past weekend. Ken Burns, who was raised in Ann Arbor by a college professor dad, and claims to have seen his “first breasts” on the screen of the Michigan Theatre was also present. The festival is internationally known for showcasing experimental filmmakers such as Andy Warhol, Barbara Hammer and Pat O’Neill, whose work was featured this year. Historical documentaries by Burns, which cover a good swath of American history and are used in educational settings around the globe, are not typically included in the experimental or underground film categories.

As of January it had been 15 years since I last taught a class. That was back when I was a student. This winter quarter (which just ended - a fast and furious ten weeks!), I jumped at an opportunity to teach an introductory biology lab.

In Straight Man, Richard Russo has a wonderful line to the effect that there’s nothing scarier than a happy liberal arts dean, since the possibility of happiness in that role suggests a world other than the world that exists. It’s true. I had to smile when I saw IHE tackle the same theme.

Some not-so-random thoughts and observations about the current state of education.