By James Patterson. In the conservative imagination, the archetypal professor is Grady Tripp from Wonder Boys, Dave Jennings from Animal House, or Dr. Talc from A Confederacy of Dunces. They have old corduroy sports coats with worn suede elbows, stale lectures, incomprehensible publications, poorly kept offices, and leering stares for young co-eds. The truth is far different. Most professors are men and women in worn-out clothes from their senior year of college (the last time they could afford clothes). They no longer have offices, but they have up-to-date lectures. They chase jobs, not co-eds. The only continuity, perhaps, is the prose of their academic papers, when they have time to work on them. In other words, the archetypal professor is now the adjunct, and she is miserable.
The Once Silent Majority
Adjunct professors comprise upwards of 70 percent of university faculty nationwide. Often, they teach the introductory courses that tenured or tenure-track faculty wish to avoid. More...

By Frank McCluskey. This is the story of a university many academics have never heard of. This university doesn’t advertise much or pay for the naming rights for stadiums. It doesn’t have a football or basketball team. But this university grew from a few thousand students to 100,000 in just a few years by knowing how to differentiate itself from its competition. More...

By Frank Fromherz. A contract dispute at Portland State University churns on. There may be a faculty strike.  Instead of vision at the PSU helm we have a deficit of trust.  What sort of ship is this?
Many students work low-paying jobs.  They try to squeeze in time for classes.
Professors are not being respected in governance, nor are students.  Students and teachers together form the mind, heart and soul of any good school of character.  When this truth is only paid lip service, the soul of the institution is in peril.   Consider the PSU Vikings mascot.  Two horns of aggression adorn the headgear. The top administration places real estate acquisitions and hefty remuneration for some folks above the common good. More...