Okay.  So, maybe it is because I am a professional mentor that I hear a lot of horror stories about so-called mentors...  When I saw an article in the Careers Section of the May 23rd edition of the Chronicle of Higher Education entitled, Do You Have a Bad Mentor?  I was all over the essay. 

Jason and I totally agreed with David D. Perlmutter's advice on making sure new faculty get good mentoring.  We also add a few more thoughts on the matter.

Jason also brings up the article "Off the List," also from the May 23rd Careers Section.

We could have gone on and on and on and on about this topic.  Obviously, it is something we both feel very passionate about!

Right there on the front page of the May 16th edition of the Chronicle of Higher Education, was the article, The Lectures Are Recorded, So Why Go to Class?

In this lively discussion (because we're both feeling better), we ponder that very question.  We wonder what the purpose is of recording an entire semester's worth of lectures.

Listen and then illuminate us, please!

I've been hit by a sinus infection.  No fun.  But, when Jason asked me if I wanted to postpone, I decided to go ahead and give it the ol' college try. Isn't it funny?  When Jason was under the weather, he took care of himself and rested.  I didn't.  Is it just a "woman thing" to forge ahead?

In today's podcast, Jason and I discuss Tuition Rises as Spending on Instruction Slows from the May 9, 2008, Chronicle of Higher Education.

The report that the article discusses can be obtained as a PDF here.  It is worth taking a look at it, I think.

We are back after being away for a week.  Jason was under the weather and my laptop was getting a new fan so that it wouldn't sound like an airplane engine anymore.

This week's podcast focuses on two items from the Information Technology section of the May 2, 2008 edition of the Chronicle of Higher Education.

The first one is a "Linked In With" interview with Eszter Hargittai, an assistant professor in Northwestern University's sociology department.  Dr. Hargittai studies the technological fluency of students.  Even though it is a one column article, it stopped me dead in my assumptions about our students' technological know-how.

We explore the second item, Free Textbooks, An Online Company Tries a Controversial Publishing Model, within the framework of the information we gleaned from Dr. Hargittai's short interview.