Blogs

So, last night was the first Twitter chat of #femlead, which is a new project of the University of Venus. You can read more about the logic behind it through the link, but the main goal is to provide a space “for those who lead, those with vision, those who seek to support one another in the challenges and opportunities facing us in all areas of academic life”. I’d count myself in the second and third categories, and I’d like to be in the first category one day, so I thought this was a good thing to take part in – particularly given the lack of women in leadership roles in higher ed. My immediate concerns going into the chat were centred around what opportunities there are to develop leadership in the world of the short term contract, and what I could do to develop my skills and my career path.

I have to admit enjoying Senator Santorum’s assertion that Satan controls higher education in America. To be fair, there is some evidence for his claim. If you’ve ever tried finding a student parking space around noon on a Tuesday in September at a major public university, you know that Satan has major influence in the world of parking deck architecture.

It's different. It's shiny. It's the fairly new hotness. Yes, it's time for me to ponder Pinterest. Like almost every other social media service that came before it, Pinterest is riding a massive wave of adoption and excitement. Student Affairs, which has gotten on the social media train, is experimenting with Pinterest from several different angles.

I'm not a PhD student anymore, but I'm not full faculty, either.

As I rolled into work on Monday, I was greeted by a friend from the Chemistry department rushing out of the building. She frantically told me that there had been a shooting at her daughter’s school. She said that five students had been shot, that she was off to see if her daughter was ok, and to please pass the word on to her department chair. She was off before I could give her a hug, but the scene haunted me all day as more bits of information became available and the story grew more horrible.

What’s New at UVenus: ● UVenus at the Guardian - Janine Utell - To Manage or Lead? Applying management theory...

Dave Newport (UC-Boulder) posted to his blog at ridiculous-o'clock this morning, reiterating his perception that a key reason environmentalism hasn't had much effect is that it's given its social justice component short shrift. Dave's point is valid, but I see it as merely one example of something Naomi Klein comments on in a recent interview in the journal Solutions.

Late Nite Labs is a startup that offers schools Web-based science labs. Can this type of virtual lab replace the offline version? And can a more accessible, and perhaps even more imaginative, lab help keep students engaged in science classes and STEM majors?