It's probably for the best that Voltaire (at right) isn't around to see what's going on in the best of all possible states, by which we mean Kentucky. The new Republican governor, Matt Bevin, told reporters last week that he wants to change funding formulas for public higher education so that colleges and universities receive more money for study in fields like engineering and less for others. Read more...

The University of Oxford has decided not to take down a statue of Cecil Rhodes at its Oriel College despite alumni threats to withdraw millions in donations, the college announced. The statue, like a plaque about Rhodes elsewhere on the campus, has been caught up in the debate that has swept campuses in Britain, the U.S. and elsewhere about honoring historical figures whose pasts included racist or other detrimental acts or statements. Read more...

By Thomas Magaldi. In October 2008, three scientists received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for their discovery and development of green fluorescent protein, a jellyfish protein that was used as an innovative tool in cell and molecular biology. Read more...

By Tanya Golash-Boza. In order for email to have less control over your life, you need to start to take control of it, argues Tanya Golash-Boza. Read more...

By Kerry Ann Rockquemore. Most mentor matches don't work, argues Kerry Ann Rockquemore, because they are based on a fundamentally flawed and outdated model. Read more...

By Saundra Loffredo. By the time a new president greets the faculty or grants the first media interview, he or she has probably experienced professional and personal upheaval. Scott D. Miller offers advice for ways to make it all go smoother. Read more...

By Saundra Loffredo. The impression you give when you first meet people can make or break your career opportunities. Saundra Loffredo provides tips for ensuring the former. Read more...

By Scott McLemee. No Exit by Jean-Paul Sartre involves three characters who are condemned to spend their afterlives together in a shabby but not especially uncomfortable room -- “condemned” because it’s the Devil himself who brings them together. Evidently some kind of infernal algorithm has been used to select the group, designed to create optimal misery. Sartre’s dialogue is quite efficient: we soon learn the broad outlines of their time on Earth and how it was shaped by wishful thinking and self-deception. Read more...

By Cathy Trower and Peter Eckel. Despite their affinity for the colleges and universities that they govern, too many boards have not found ways to add important and consistent value. As we wrote in a previous article for Inside Higher Ed, they are mired in mediocrity. Read more...

By Matthew Sigelman. Policy makers, politicians and the general public have been doing a lot of hand-wringing over the idea that liberal arts programs are fatally out of touch with the job market. Read more...