An expert on extremism, far-right movements, and youth radicalization, Cynthia Miller-Idriss is the director of research at American University's Center for University Excellence, where she runs the Polarization and Extremism Research and Innovation Lab (PERIL). PERIL addresses issues of youth polarization and extremist radicalization through…

As an administrator, one who still considers himself to be "faculty" at the core, the author can appreciate the position of Chory & Offstein (2016) in their essay, and understand the intent is to create dialog. In service to that goal, the author thinks we need to place this discussion within the "lived reality" of most…

Is it my job to get to know each student "as a person"? This is the focus of Chory and Offstein's (2016) thoughtful essay. This article examines the many ways that changes in education over recent decades have affected core assumptions around the relationships faculty are expected to have with students. Chory and Offstein (2016) explore…

The article, "Your Professor Will Know You as a Person" (Chory & Offstein, 2016) brings two groups of thoughts to the author's mind. First, postsecondary education is changing in ways that are forcing higher education institutions to reformulate their strategies. These changes are likely to increase the heterogeneity of universities,…

Educators who recognize the need to clarify their programs' goals have focused much effort over the past decade on learning outcome statements that summarize complex academic ideas in succinct terms. But have the projects gone far enough? While faculty have worked to demystify disciplines and programs, the words they use still come across as…

Student voice, namely the institutionalisation of students' contributions to the evaluation, and increasingly, the day-to-day running of higher education, has a wide-ranging influence. It shapes the concerns of management and academics; it changes the organisation and content of degree courses and, at times, challenges authority. Through her…

Through my college experience and my reflection on The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Reconsidered, I have come to recognize several ideas that have greatly impacted me, my views on learning, and my actual learning. My overall experience in college has been beneficial because of the teachers who approached teaching with a more conscious…

The author argues that the excessive desire for a teacher's or mentor's feedback is not exclusive to the current "iGeneration." She suggests that one of the responsibilities of educators is teaching students to be less hesitant to make their own judgments. She then calls upon current teachers and administrators to model reasonable…

Christine McPhail formerly served as president at Cypress College in California and is founder and professor emeritus of the Community College Leadership Doctoral Program at Morgan State University in Maryland. She is the Managing Partner for The McPhail Group LLC and currently serves as a Leadership Coach for more than a dozen community colleges…

In the course of reviewing a recent quantitative survey of approximately 1300 Swedish youths on subjects like religion and leisure activities, I came across a finding which seemed intriguing to me: some 50% of those identifying themselves as Muslims reported that they confided in their teachers (compared to only 5% of non-Muslims) for help with…

"Experience" is a healthy-sounding word, but what do educators really mean by it? And how do educators persuade people that higher education fosters important forms of experience, that "experience" is an integral part of any vital liberal learning? The author suggests that educators might begin by getting clearer in their own minds just what they…

The author shares how he helps a student who is a drug addict and reflects about the role of teachers on the campus. He believes that most teachers on the faculty are caring individuals, often parents themselves who want the best for their students. But the author also realizes that teachers are pressed for time, have a wide range of conflicting…

In this article, the author discusses how today's student generation has a spectacular hunger for life and more life. They want to study, travel, make friends, make more friends, read everything (superfast), take in all the movies, listen to every hot band, keep up with everyone they've ever known. They live to multiply possibilities. The author…

This article considers the emotional and psychological complexities of responding to personal narratives when the focus is war. The author teaches at a community college and she always begins her semester with a narrative assignment for the usual reasons: students write better when they write what they know; teachers should scaffold writing…

Several recent incidents have brought national attention to issues involving male professors and sexual-harassment policies on campuses. Allegations of harassment can involve high stakes for the accused, with dismissal as a possible penalty. Criminal charges for harassment, in contrast to assault, are rare. Within an institution, people accused of…