Career Articles

• Is the Outlook for the Law Faculty Employment More Fickle Than Most Juries?
  by Andrew Hibel

  What does the future hold for law school faculty members? In this month's interview, we are fortunate to have the perspective of Lauren Kay Robel, a Val Nolan Professor of Law and Interim Provost and Executive Vice President at Indiana University Bloomington. Dean Robel discusses how the law professor market has changed and potential trends for the future. She also touches on topics such as the role of tenured legal professors, the increased need and importance of adjunct professors as well as female faculty moving into more leadership positions.

• The Higher Education Learning Crisis
  by Richard P. Keeling and Richard H. Hersh

  This purpose of this blog is to shift the national conversation about higher education from a primary focus on the comparisons that make up magazine rankings to a serious discussion about the failure of colleges and universities to fulfill their core mission: higher learning.

• Introduction to Our 2012 Author in Residence
  by Kelly A. Cherwin

  HigherEdJobs is pleased to introduce the 2012 Author in Residence bloggers, Richard P. Keeling and Richard H. Hersh. Beginning next week, their articles about higher education will start appearing on the HigherEdJobs website and the quarterly posts will continue throughout the year. The articles are related to their book We're Losing our Minds: Rethinking American Higher Education.

• The Job Seeker With the Dragon Tattoo
  by Peter Weddle

  By now, you've probably heard of Stieg Larsson's best seller, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. For those who haven't yet read the book, it's (sort of) a murder mystery intertwined with the self-identity quest of a young woman with distinctive body art. While all of the plot's secrets are revealed by the end of the tale, one question is never addressed: what's the meaning of the dragon tattoo?

• The Buzz around Campus -- Looking Inside Campus Activities
  by Andrew Hibel

  The area of Campus Activities is more than just bringing concerts and movies to campus and planning social events. Our guest this month explains that the role of Campus Activities also includes the important tasks of leadership development and professional growth. Dr. Rouse shares information regarding the work her association does to strengthen student growth, as well as tips for tackling interviews and the idea of remaining open to new possibilities in higher education.

• Is it Easy to be Green? Sustainability on the College Campus Explored
  by Andrew Hibel

  The term sustainability, in general, is a term with which we should all be concerned. Protecting our natural environment and resources while thinking of future needs is obviously important, but how does this translate to our college campuses and their surrounding communities? We explore the topic of sustainability and what it means to be “green” through an insightful book review and informative articles from guest authors tackling these ideas. Also, we polled faculty and staff at local colleges and universities on their views of sustainability on their campus and the results are explained.

• Three Key Lessons from Going Green on Campus
  by Heather Henriksen

  The path to a cleaner, healthier campus begins in the classroom, office and dorm room. Across Harvard's 12-plus schools and administrative units we are building a culture of sustainability in partnership with our students, staff and faculty.

• The Green Campus: Meeting the Challenge of Environmental Sustainability.
  by Brian Bialkowski

  University campuses today sit at the forefront of the movement for environmental sustainability: many of their faculty conduct research on the topic, they function as large-scale laboratories where green initiatives can be tested and perfected in miniature, and, as educational centers, universities expose students to sustainable practices that they might implement in their future personal and professional lives.

• The Standout Skill
  by Peter Weddle

  Do you want an advantage in the job market? There is one skill that CEOs today believe is both in critically short supply and critically important to their organization’s success. If you have this skill, it is virtually certain that you will get the attention you deserve from employers, regardless of your profession, craft or trade. What is this standout skill? Leadership.

• Collegiate Sustainability Initiatives Go Far Beyond the Poster Child of Recycling
  by Megan McCarthy Anderson

  There is a great need for our global community to work toward a sustainable future. Not only has higher education taken on this responsibility; the higher education realm is also well-equipped to spread important messages on sustainability, implement sustainability directives, and progressively develop more effective sustainability methods, practices, and technologies on a global scale.

• What Does the History of Faculty Unions Teach Us About Their Future?
  by Andrew Hibel

  For some, the role of faculty unions can be viewed with debate. This month, we explore the early history of faculty unions to their place in today's higher education community. Do they help or hurt faculty? Can faculty be viewed as management? Dr. Timothy Reese Cain, Assistant Professor at the College of Education at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, answers these questions and discusses reasons for formation beyond salary and tenure, perceptions of faculty unions, definition of academic freedom and the potential direction of faculty unions.

• Optimize Your ROL - Your Return on Luck
  by Peter Weddle

  According to Jim Collins, the author of Great By Choice, the difference between companies that are merely good and those that are considered great is often how they use luck. Good and bad luck happens to every company, he believes, but only those that optimize their return on luck - their ROL - are able to excel. I think that's true for job seekers as well.

• A Thoughtful Look at Female Careers in Science
  by Andrew Hibel

  How do female science faculty think about their career? This month, our expert, Paula K. Kleintjes Neff, Ph.D., Professor of Biology at the University of Wisconsin Eau-Claire, discusses her career as a female entomologist, researcher, teacher, advocate and role model. Dr. Kleintjes Neff shares her views on how opportunities for women science have changed, what can still be done to improve the face of women in science and thoughts on how women can successfully balance their personal life as well as being an accomplished scientist.

• The College Campus of 2015, Part II - A Day in the Life of a Professor
  by Henry J. Eyring

  As we saw in the life a Sarah, a hypothetical college student in 2015, the rhythm of the traditional campus is changing. Students who value the on-campus experience will want to enhance it with the freedom and unique learning resources of the Internet. Face-to-face learning will become less common, but richer. The implications for professors will be profound and, for those who adapt well, positive.

• Presidents Say Colleges and Universities Vital to Local Communities
  by Kelly A. Cherwin

  Although the national unemployment rate remains high (9.0% as of October 2011), many college presidents are optimistic about their local economies. A recent survey 2 of college presidents by the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU), funded in part by TIAA-CREF, shows that nearly two-thirds of the presidents who responded to the survey had a positive outlook on hiring in their local communities.

• The One Word You Should Avoid in a Job Search
  by Peter Weddle

  In today's highly competitive job market, the worst word you can use is "can." I realize that's a stunning turn of events for a people who have historically seen themselves as the "can do" nation. Nevertheless, what employers now want from candidates is a verb they believe has far greater potential. The word they want to hear is "will."

• Rethinking the Role of Internships
  by Kelly A. Cherwin

  Not everyone chooses to further their studies at graduate school. This may be a fairly obvious statement, but are colleges and universities losing sight of this? Are they doing enough to prepare their undergraduates for the workforce or do they assume they will be going to graduate school, medical school, law school or other?

• An Investment of Caring
  by Peter Weddle

  There's a view these days that successful networking is based on a very simple mathematical formula. A lot of contacts equals a lot of employment opportunities. If that were so, however, all of those who are now feverishly connecting, friending and following would be happily ensconced in a new job instead. Networking is important in a job search, but what many people are doing today is "notworking" and, as a consequence, wasting their time.

• An academic career case study: Do you go where the path takes you?
  by Andrew Hibel

  We often receive feedback about professionals who are experiencing a career transition. So, taking this into consideration, we thought it would be interesting to show an example of a higher education professional who recently went through a transition in his career route and what he has experienced and learned through this path.

• The College Campus of 2015, Part I-A Day in the Life of a Student
  by Henry J. Eyring

  Things are changing on the traditional college campus, and the pace of change will increase. In as few as three years, the daily experience of both students and professors is likely to be very different. Because the students' needs and preferences will drive most of the change, we'll look at their future lives first.

• Make Yourself a "Will Do" Candidate
  by Peter Weddle

  Americans are a "can do" people. We pride ourselves on getting the job done. It's a trait that's stood us in good stead for centuries. We've relied on it to create the nation in the Revolutionary War and to save it in World War II, to build the world's most modern economy and to put the first human on the moon. If we depend on it to find a job, however, we'll likely see our hopes dashed and our dreams cancelled.

• A Snapshot of Online Learning at Community Colleges
  by Andrew Hibel

  As Aristotle once said, "The whole is more than the sum of its parts." This month we examine how collaboration on a college campus can lead to success, specifically in the area of online learning at a community college.

• Equitable Pay for College Instructors
  by Henry J. Eyring

  The typical college student would be surprised by the differences in what her professors make. An adjunct professor may receive a few thousand dollars per course, with no healthcare or retirement benefits, while a full professor effectively can make $20,000 per course, plus benefits.

• The New Car Rule of Career Education
  by Peter Weddle

  It's a longstanding rule of thumb: A new car loses ten percent of its value the minute you drive it off the dealer's lot. It doesn't matter whether you've bought a Mercedes or a Chevrolet, your vehicle's worth starts declining as soon as you start to use it. The same is true with training and education in our careers. Its employment value begins to degrade the nanosecond we complete the coursework.

• Media and Marketing in Higher Education
  by Rob Freedman

  In reading The Innovative University, I found Chapter 20, New Models to be of particular interest from a media and marketing perspective. The messages in advertising by many for-profit and online/hybrid institutions have one common thread running throughout; In the way of your goals is a 4 year, expensive commitment, we can help you get to your goal faster, cheaper, and more conveniently.

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