This week you are reading a reflection from Jay Larson on the impact of the campus environment on the university experience. A Murphysboro native and veteran, Jay has a BA and MA from SIUC in history, specializing in China/Asia and taught…
Halloween marks a number of occasions but none more important than the nailing of Luther’s 95 Theses on the Castle Church door at Wittenberg — the birth of a reformation that transformed the modern world on October 31, 1517. This…
Seventh in a series on teaching excellence Possibly the most important thing that excellent teachers pass on to students is the sense of a prevailing moral fabric resembling what someone gains from a healthy family situation, religious teaching, or association…
Sixth in a series on teaching excellence Great teaching is almost always accompanied by controversy, if not for the teacher, for the student; if not for the student, for the board; if not for the board, for the general public;…
Fifth in a series on teaching excellence It matters not how strait the gate, How charged with punishments the scroll, I am the master of my fate: I am the captain of my soul. — William Ernest Henley One of…
Fourth in a series on teaching excellence Thousands of times during any school day at any university students walk into a classroom, armed with a computer, a cell phone, an iPod, a vision of what they might do for the…
Third in a series on teaching excellence Over the past few years there has been incessant talk about university marketing to increase enrollment. There is more competition to be sure. Research university presidents refer to regional universities and community colleges…
Second in a series on teaching excellence Teaching is leadership. There are many distinctive views of teaching but, in the end, teaching is about leadership. I do not think it possible to find a great leader who is not a…
First in a series on Teaching Excellence The purpose of any university is to help people change the way they think. For example, a student who wants to be an attorney comes to the university and, in effect, says “I…
Fifth in a series on Integrity Free inquiry is the basis for university excellence. When a faculty member produces research findings in contrast, at odds, or inconsistent with a position of the university, the board, or a donor, academic integrity…
Merit is a concept that is uncomfortable to many on university campuses. Years of service are seen as the golden coin, but longevity and excellence are not always cousins. Confusion between meritorious performance and meeting performance expectations kills the recognition…
Knowing the character of any organization requires multiple perspectives. One powerful way to gauge the character of a university is to see it through the eyes of those who leave it. As I participated in graduation exercises this week, I…
Abraham Lincoln said, “Character is like a tree and reputation like a shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing”. Any university with strong character and commitment to academic excellence will have…
Students in classes at all universities are lied to, cheated and stolen from every day through grade inflation. Recently at Louisiana State University, a faculty member who refused to lie, cheat or steal was removed from her class of biology…
One of the greatest challenges for leadership is to get people, in all parts of the organization, to tell the truth about how things are. It is not that they actively lie, but that they never want to be bearers…
If B.F. Skinner was a university leader who wanted to foster excellence in teaching, research, and service, as do all intelligent university leaders, he would have come up with a dynamic suggestion, one that many inside and outside of the…
There are hundreds of institutions in the United States recognized today as universities that were called “teachers colleges” a half century ago. As these institutions grew and developed diverse areas of study the title “university” was deemed more appropriate. No…
Faculty members should spend 51 percent of their time serving the state and students, and 49 percent of their time serving themselves in personal intellectual development. Faculty work is unique. Imagine any employment setting where leadership says split your time…
