Inside Higher Ed Logo
Mobile Edition

Confessions of a Community College Dean

In which a veteran of cultural studies seminars in the 1990’s moves into academic administration and finds himself a married suburban father of two. Foucault, plus lawn care.

Top

Recent Posts

Just Say No?

By Dean Dad
September 8, 2009 9:19 pm

Tenured Radical has a wonderful post up about saying 'no' to excessive service requests. It's a thoughtful piece, and it raises the caliber of discussion of the topic well beyond the usual "I'm ...

First Day Haiku

By Dean Dad
November 4, 2009 11:29 pm

To the parking gods: Forgive us, for we know notwhat students will do. Yes, I know that you "don't need no English comp class"but I think you do. Hand sanitizer. Times changing. ...

Swine Flu and Attendance Policies

By Dean Dad
September 3, 2009 9:47 pm

My friend Lesboprof is fighting the swine flu, which I imagine is no fun at all. Apparently, her Uni has already suffered an outbreak, and since she's a relatively public figure there, she got ...

Ask the Administrator: Thinking About Crossing Over

By Dean Dad
September 2, 2009 9:36 pm

A returning correspondent writes: After five years, I am resigning from my tenure-track position in a humanities field. My book is not done, I would not have a sustainable tenure case, and I've ...

If Stephen Colbert Did the Annual Kickoff Meeting...

By Dean Dad
September 1, 2009 9:42 pm

(in the style of "The Word") Faculty and distinguished colleagues, (Slide: "And the undistinguished among you, too...") welcome back from what I hope was a restful ...

Whack-A-Mole

By Dean Dad
September 1, 2009 4:28 am

Keeping with the amusement park theme from yesterday (variations on a theme park?), most of yesterday was devoted to a real life version of whack-a-mole. Whack-a-mole is a game wherein you have ...

Click...Click...Click...

By Dean Dad
August 30, 2009 8:42 pm

Fans of roller coasters know that feeling when you're getting to the very top of a steep hill, and the chain is going click...click...click ever so slowly. You know you're about to go over the top ...

Ask the Administrator: The Smackdown

By Dean Dad
August 27, 2009 9:00 pm

A longtime correspondent and fellow administrator asks: Is there any time when a public smackdown of a campus victim bully is appropriate? Does this serve any useful purpose? (For the ...

Museum Hopping

By Dean Dad
August 26, 2009 10:24 pm

This summer we've made a point of taking the kids to every children's museum and science museum within a day's drive. (TG loves the local art museum, too, but TB can only do so much art.) They're ...

Edupunks and Credit Hours: Fumbling Towards a Theory

By Dean Dad
August 25, 2009 8:56 pm

An alert reader sent me (last week) the link to this article about how the open-content movement will explode higher education as we know it. Apparently, newly empowered 'edupunks' will cobble ...

Top