"Tuning the blend" is a phrase that educators hear a lot these days. It refers to finding the correct balance of online activities and face-to-face instruction in hybrid--or blended--courses. Finding a mix that meets the needs of both faculty and students requires experimentation, experience, and constant tweaking. And, as with coffee, the same…

A freak blizzard, a mentally ill and armed student, a record-breaking flood. No matter how idyllic a campus may feel, no matter how cocooned the ivory tower, disaster can strike. If a campus is unprepared, it comes like a sucker punch, potentially turning a crisis into a tragedy of unimagined proportions--and causing reverberations that will be…