Resources

Robert and DeMethra’s book, Me-Searching and Re-Search, has caught my fancy in a number of ways. The book title cleverly captures what SPN is all about—it is about self narratives (the “me-search” part) and about scholarly meaning making (the “re-search” part). This eye-catching title also illuminates the authors’ intent to turn this seemingly intimidating method of self-inquiry into something very accessible and doable. Their jargon-free language is friendly and inviting. Although they don’t intend to make their many methodological tips and tools too prescriptive, their practical suggestions provided in this guide book are, indeed, helpful and useful. I believe that Robert and DeMethra have demonstrated admirable talents as effective educators by unpacking the complex method of SPN writing into bite-sized steps. I am fully convinced that the steps will help both novices, and the experienced researcher, to reach the ultimate height of producing engaging, and scholarly significant, SPN’s. The book is also fun to read. The authors intersperse throughout their own SPN’s, pedagogical insights from their doing and teaching, and real-life stories, in order to illustrate the methodological process, challenges, and triumphs. (From the Publisher)

A large number of institutions are now providing online programs, requiring instructors to change the way they think about teaching and master a distinct set of workload management skills. The first book to discuss workload management for online instructors, Managing Online Instructor Workload offers practical strategies, advice, and examples for how to prioritize, balance, and manage an online teaching workload. Based on surveys and interviews, the timely and comprehensive insight in this book is essential for online instructors, instructional designers, faculty developers and others involved in online learning.

New Directions for Teaching & Learning, Number 131 While issues of interpersonal boundaries between faculty and students is not new, more recent influences such as evolving technology and current generational differences have created a new set of dilemmas. How do we set appropriate expectations regarding e-mail response time in a twenty-four-hour, seven-day-a-week Internet-connected culture? How do we maintain our authority with a generation that views the syllabus as negotiable? Complex questions about power, positionality, connection, distance, and privacy underlie these decision points. This sourcebook provides an in-depth look at interpersonal boundaries between faculty and students, giving consideration to the deeper contextual factors and power dynamics that inform how we set, adjust, and maintain boundaries as educators. This is the 131st volume of this Jossey-Bass higher education series. New Directions for Teaching and Learning offers a comprehensive range of ideas and techniques for improving college teaching based on the experience of seasoned instructors and the latest findings of educational and psychological researchers. From the Publisher

Until very recently, American universities were led mainly by their faculties, which viewed intellectual production and pedagogy as the core missions of higher education. Today, as Benjamin Ginsberg warns in this eye-opening, controversial book, "deanlets"--administrators and staffers often without serious academic backgrounds or experience--are setting the educational agenda. The Fall of the Faculty examines the fallout of rampant administrative blight that now plagues the nation's universities. In the past decade, universities have added layers of administrators and staffers to their payrolls every year even while laying off full-time faculty in increasing numbers--ostensibly because of budget cuts. In a further irony, many of the newly minted--and non-academic--administrators are career managers who downplay the importance of teaching and research, as evidenced by their tireless advocacy for a banal "life skills" curriculum. Consequently, students are denied a more enriching educational experience--one defined by intellectual rigor. Ginsberg also reveals how the legitimate grievances of minority groups and liberal activists, which were traditionally championed by faculty members, have, in the hands of administrators, been reduced to chess pieces in a game of power politics. By embracing initiatives such as affirmative action, the administration gained favor with these groups and legitimized a thinly cloaked gambit to bolster their power over the faculty. As troubling as this trend has become, there are ways to reverse it. The Fall of the Faculty outlines how we can revamp the system so that real educators can regain their voice in curriculum policy. Features • Powerful and stinging critique of one of the most powerful trends in academia: the shift in power to non-academic administrators • Exceptionally well written polemic that will stir controversy at universities across the country • The author is well known throughout academia, and has coauthored one of the bestselling textbooks on American government in recent history (From the Publisher)

Twenty-two essays explore topics such as feminism in the liberal arts disciplines; the relationship of the liberal arts to the larger university; the costs and rewards for women in administration; the corporatization of university campuses; intergenerational and transcultural tensions within feminist communities; balancing personal life with professional aspirations; the relationship of feminism to cultural studies; women, social justice, and the liberal arts. Not Drowning But Waving is a welcome progress report on the variety of feminisms at work in academe and beyond. It provides crucial insights for university administrators, faculty, and literate non-specialists interested in the Arts and Humanities. (From the Publisher)

In university teachers’ hectic lives, finding space to reflect, restore, renew, and recommit can seem impossible. Jean Koh Peters and Mark Weisberg believe regular reflection is critical and have designed A Teacher’s Reflection Book to help teachers and other professionals find that space. Growing out of the authors’ extensive experience facilitating retreats and leading teaching and learning workshops, the book builds on their discoveries in those settings, supporting and promoting teachers’ self-directed development. Inviting that development, A Teacher’s Reflection Book is a cornucopia of stories, exercises, and examples that will inspire teachers to make reflection a cornerstone of their daily lives. With its multiple suggestions and strategies, it offers something for every reader, and is responsive to teachers’ needs at all stages of their careers. The book’s six chapters offer readers several perspectives from which to reflect. Some sections offer glimpses of teachers in the midst of their daily teaching lives, while others step away, inviting readers to reflect on what it means to have a vocation as a teacher. The book explores how we listen, a crucial yet rarely taught skill, essential for reflecting, as well as for learning and teaching. And it invites teachers to reflect on their students: who they are, and what and how they learn. For those latter reflections, the authors turn the focus on fear, which so pervades university life and which can distort learners’ and teachers’ perspectives and responses. Throughout this book, readers will visit several classrooms and listen to the evocative voices of several thoughtful students. (From the Publisher)

The Effective, Efficient Professor: Teaching, Scholarship and Service develops methods to improve the proficiency and time management skills of faculty in all areas of their careers. Most faculty are discipline experts but have not studied methods to improve their teaching, scholarship or service. This book applies efficiency and time management methods to academe. Throughout the book, the author shows how student learning and academic productivity can be improved by being aware of effective time management techniques. A variety of efficient and effective teaching methods are explored. Scholarship, service, and working with graduate students are also discussed. This book will help college faculty at all levels of instruction take charge of their careers! For college professors in all disciplines. (From the Publisher)

Navigating an academic career is a complex process – to be successful requires mastering several 'rites of passage.' This comprehensive guide takes academics at all stages of their career through a journey, beginning at graduate school and ending with retirement. A Guide to Surviving a Career in Academia is written from a feminist perspective, and draws on the information offered in workshops conducted at national meetings like the American Society of Criminology and the Society for the Study of Social Problems. Through the course of the book, an expert team of authors guide you through the obstacle course of finding effective mentors during graduate school, finding a job, negotiating a salary, teaching, collaborating with practitioners, successfully publishing, earning tenure and redressing denial and, finally, retirement. This collection is a must read for all academics, but especially women just beginning their careers, who face unique challenges when navigating through these age-old rites of passage. (From the Publisher)