Students, Faculty, Administrators Student athletics are a longstanding and valued part of undergraduate education. For many students, participation in sports provides structure, discipline, teamwork, and a sense of belonging that enriches the overall college experience. Athletic programs also contribute to campus identity and, in many institutions, play a role in student recruitment and retention. Research frequently cited in discussions of athletics and academics suggests th

Faculty, Student, Administrators At undergraduate institutions, research is primarily a teaching tool, not a driver of major discovery, which is by design. However, in the process of learning, students still generate ideas, methods, and solutions that may carry some degree of novelty, even if modest. What is missing is any framework to recognize or think about that and a structured way of recognizing and acting on that value. Most of the time, ideas move directly from lab not

Faculty, Students The Teaching–Scholarship Paradox at Undergraduate Institutions is often described as a workload problem. That framing is convenient, but it is not accurate. The issue is not that faculty are asked to do too much. The issue is that the system evaluates what they do using a framework that was never designed for the environment in which they operate. At its core, the PUI model is built on a dual commitment: teaching and scholarship are not separate activities,

Tags: Students, Faculty, Administrators Student athletics are a longstanding and valued part of undergraduate education. For many students, participation in sports provides structure, discipline, teamwork, and a sense of belonging that enriches the overall college experience. Athletic programs also contribute to campus identity and, in many institutions, play a role in student recruitment and retention. Research frequently cited in discussions of athletics and academics sugge

Tags: Faculty, Administrators, Policy Makers In recent years, several universities have reported that administrative salaries now account for a larger share of their budgets than faculty salaries. This reversal of priorities is not an accounting oddity. It is a reflection of how deeply higher education has shifted from an academic to a managerial culture. The university, once organized around teaching and scholarship, now exists primarily to sustain its own administrative m

Tags: Faculty, Administrators In a recent post, we discussed how tenure and academic freedom should not serve as shields for faculty espousing political opinions outside their academic expertise while on campus or in their professional capacity. The principle of tenure was never meant to justify partisan activism under the guise of scholarship. But the same conviction that guides this view, the belief that academic freedom must be grounded in fairness, also demands that we de

The principle of tenure has long been central to higher education. It is designed not to guarantee lifelong employment but to protect...

It is no secret, and in fact common knowledge, that undergraduate campuses and PUIs have faced an uphill struggle when competing for...

Tags: Faculty, Administrators, Policy Makers A Quick Opinion Piece from the PUI Connect Editorial There was a time when U.S....

Tags: Faculty, Administrators, Students, Policy Makers This is a brief opinion take on the changing role of professors in society. There...

Tags: Students, Faculty, Policy Makers The Trump Administration’s Efforts to Dismantle the Department of Education: What It Means for...

Tags: Faculty, Administrators In Part 1 of this series, we explored what it means to work at a Primarily Undergraduate Institution (PUI),...