Blogs

Coursekit's announcement on 1/2/12 that it had secured a $5 million Series A round of venture capital financing is important news in our industry. Perhaps more interesting than the money is that the investment is being led by a venture firm, Social+Capital Partnership, that was started by former Facebook executive Chamath Palihapitiya. This investment will give the founders of Coursekit something perhaps even more valuable than development capital, that is networks and guidance within and from experience and plugged-in Silicon Valley veterans.

This semester I signed up for the University of Venus Networking Challenge. The challenge asked readers to reach outside of their departments and meet people in other disciplines, in other institutions, and/or in other countries. Because of my current employment position, I find myself getting in touch with a lot of people from other departments. Thus, I thought it would be unfair to count that as part of the challenge. However, the U Venus challenge prompted me to think about my interactions with faculty and staff from other schools and offices differently.

It's still not clear what Apple will announce at its big "education event" on Thursday. But no matter the outcome, it seems clear that the world of textbooks is changing. How will this influence the textbook rental giant Chegg?

Nope, no thoughts about mathematics. Well, no thoughts that are explicitly about mathematics although -- where sustainability is concerned -- math is always implicitly part of the conversation.

For all of our talk about the college’s carbon footprint, we at Alma have lately been discussing the many ways in which even a small college impacts the local community and environment.

MFA candidate Sean MacIntyre interviews Okla Elliott on his new story collection, From the Crooked Timber.

My childhood set the stage and grad school ruined me.

The Presidents of the Chicago area community colleges will keep or lose their jobs based on the graduation rates at their respective colleges. This is an awful and great idea. I’d hate to be in their shoes, though.