What Would Durkheim Do?

A year after politicians and pundits started talking about three-year degrees, more colleges are starting programs or considering them.

Rev. Liza Neal describes a different model for nurturing student spirituality in a diverse academic environment.

The director of the National Science Foundation explained numerous changes that the Obama administration aims to make in the agency's approach to science research and education in testimony before a Congressional science panel Wednesday. Arden L. Bement Jr., who is leaving the NSF to head a research center at Purdue University, told members of the House of Representatives Science Committee about the administration's plan to continue a drive to double spending on the physical sciences and to revamp funding for minority college students in science fields.

Advocates argue that time is of the essence for the American Graduation Initiative and officials need to withhold criticism to help get the bill passed.

The Council of Chief State School Officers and the National Governors Association on Wednesday published a draft of proposed "common core standards" that are designed to help states reach consensus on what it means to be "college ready." Most states have agreed in principle to embrace the standards once they are agreed on, and groups of college faculty members in English and mathematics plan to assess the standards.

Black science students are more likely to stay in their field if they have at least one black instructor, according to new study, which finds no similar impact based on gender.

Bart Hildreth, dean of the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies at Georgia State University, said that he was told to resign for speaking out against the idea of merging the school with another college at the university, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. Georgia's public colleges are currently in the midst of considering a range of proposals to deal with deep budget cuts that they face already -- and the prospect of still more on the way. A spokeswoman for the university said that while officials disagree with the former dean's characterization of events, they were not speaking out in detail out of respect for the confidentiality of personnel matters.

Governor issues order protecting colleges' nondiscrimination policies from demands by attorney general that they be changed.

Why is a somewhat pathetic fictional character among the the distinguished lawyers honored on its Web site?

The Education Writers Association honored Inside Higher Ed with first prize for beat reporting for a series of articles about college rankings. The articles included a look at the apparently self-serving ways some colleges evaluate the reputations of others, an unusually frank account of how one college uses rankings, an exploration of whether some colleges may provide questionable information to those doing rankings, and an examination of how adjuncts are ignored by some colleges in key figures provided U.S. News & World Report. Congratulations to all of the winners in the EWA contest.

Colleges may be freezing many salaries this year, but a new athletic competition has emerged in the salaries of top assistant football coaches, USA Today reported. Last year, only two assistant coaches earned more than $650,000, but this year, six will be earning at least $700,000. And nearly a dozen universities have signed contracts increasing the compensation for offensive or defensive coordinators by at least 38 percent.

Community colleges in Nebraska have reached a compromise over a funding dispute that led Metropolitan Community College, in Omaha, to sue the state's five other community colleges, The Omaha World-Herald reported. Metro State has argued that the state's funding formulas favor rural institutions unfairly. Under the deal reached to resolved the dispute, the suit will be dropped, Metro will receive $1.8 million this year from the other colleges while keeping the formula in effect for the year, and the six colleges will negotiate a new state formula for use in the future.

Webster U. has long maintained a separate but equal system for faculty who prefer frequent sabbaticals to absolute job security.

Two administrators at Connecticut College describe how they and their faculty colleagues changed the way professors are recruited and hired

A recent book on Depression-era culture is both lively and all too timely. Scott McLemee interviews its author.

College leaders in the U.S. urged to enhance unity of North American higher ed on same day European academics issue study on how unified their institutions have become.