The Still Divided Academy

How Competing Visions of Power, Politics, and Diversity Complicate the Mission of Higher Education

By (author) Stanley Rothman, April Kelly-Woessner, Matthew Woessner

Publication date:

16 January 2011

Length of book:

296 pages

Publisher

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Dimensions:

239x162mm
6x9"

ISBN-13: 9781442208063

The Still Divided Academy is a wonderful examination of the academic community that shows their inner workings by addressing a broad range of issues including: academic politics, tenure, perceived and real political imbalance, academic freedom, and diversity. Administrators, professors, and students have very different priorities, values, and expectations and therefore, often have conflicting opinions on these issues. Drawing on data collected in a specially commissioned public opinion survey as well as other recent research on higher education, Rothman, Kelly-Woessner, and Woessner, create an incredibly readable presentation of both the similarities and differences between those running our universities and those attending them. The authors manage to remain impressively neutral; instead they give us a fuller perspective of the people on our college campuses.

Part 1 Acknowledgements
Part 2 Preface
Part 3 Chapter 1: Introduction
Chapter 4 Previous Studies of the Academy
Chapter 5 The NAASS Survey
Chapter 6 Layout of the Book
Part 7 Chapter 2: Visions of the University
Chapter 8 Goals of Education
Chapter 9 Encouraging Cultural Understanding and Minority Perspectives
Chapter 10 Perceptions of Educational Quality
Chapter 11 Problems Facing Higher Education
Chapter 12 Conclusion
Part 13 Chapter 3: Perceptions of Power and Control in the American University
Chapter 14 The Faculty-Administrative Divide
Chapter 15 Varied Perceptions of Influence
Chapter 16 Conflict as a Predictor of Influence
Chapter 17 Collective Bargaining
Chapter 18 Student Demands and Influence
Chapter 19 Conclusion
Part 20 Chapter 4: Politics and Culture Wars
Chapter 21 Political Views of the Faculty
Chapter 22 Politics of the Administration
Chapter 23 Students' Political Values
Chapter 24 Divisions within the Professoriate
Chapter 25 Generational Differences Among Faculty
Chapter 26 Politics and Scholarly Achievement
Chapter 27 Conclusion
Part 28 Chapter 5: Campus Diversity
Chapter 29 The Campus Climate for Diversity
Chapter 30 Personal Experiences with Ongoing Discrimination or Harassment
Chapter 31 Campus Support for Diversity
Chapter 32 Impact of Diversity
Chapter 33 Conclusion
Part 34 Chapter 6: Academic Freedom, Tenure, and the Free Exchange of Ideas
Chapter 35 The Politics of Academic Freedom
Chapter 36 Other Sources of Threat
Chapter 37 Perceptions of Academic Freedom
Chapter 38 Support for Tenure
Chapter 39 Free expression on campus
Chapter 40 Spiral of Silence?
Chapter 41 Conclusion
Part 42 Chapter 7: Conclusion
Chapter 43 Access and Affordability
Chapter 44 Accountability and Assessment
Chapter 45 Social Change
Chapter 46 Politics and Ideology in American Higher Education
Chapter 47 Campus Dialogue
Part 48 Appendix 1: A List of Questions Used in the NAASS Survey
Part 49 Appendix 2: A Professor's Assessment of Institutional Success in Educating Students
Part 50 Appendix 4: A University Rankings by Tier
Part 51 Appendix 5: A Models of Trust for Students, Faculty and Administrators
Part 52 Appendix 5: B The Impact of Varying Exclusion Methods on College Satisfaction Results
Part 53 Appendix 6: A Why Professors Think Academic Tenure is Important
Part 54 Bibliography

The report on the major NAASS survey is important and timely. The survey instrument goes in novel directions and yields rich results. The report is clear, thorough, and accessible. The results bring important confirmations, new insights, and surprises that will challenge folks from various quarters.