November, 2012 // Posts published in November, 2012
Rankings
The recent news that yet another institution has provided inaccurate data for the US News and World Report survey—however inadvertently—is yet another reminder of the importance of not taking any of the surveys too literally. Several cases of inaccurate submissions, both for the main US News ranking and for the law school version, suggest how […]
University Life
Recently, the President decided to shift the reporting status of University Life to the Provost. The move did not reflect a sense of huge problems to be solved. Rather it reflected a desire to improve further what is already a fairly constructive coordination of academic and co-curricular efforts in dealing with students. For my part […]
Super Sandy
We’re still assessing lessons learned from Sandy, and the process remains interesting particularly as it impinges on “the next time”. First, of course, we were very lucky, and my continued sympathies for colleagues in NY-NJ who face ongoing adjustments both on campus and at home. Second, Mason is pretty well organized now, a large team […]
Mason’s Forum on Higher Education
The Forum has come and gone. This is not a formal or detailed review (though it will be a bit longer than my usual blog). The presentations and conversations were lively – it was even better than I’d expected in that regard. Attendance was terrific, over two days overlapping into weekend, which was in itself […]
Ethics and Academic Leadership
How’s that for an unusually pompous title? Actually, until a few years ago I would have hesitated to venture anything formal on ethics. I’m obviously not a professional ethicist—that remains the case—and I also have some hesitations about seeming to be preachy. But after some years as Provost, I do have some firmer views about […]
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