By Robert Berdahl, former president of AAU, former chancellor of the University of California, Berkeley, former president of the University of Texas at Austin  At the recent APLU conference, I heard many important and familiar themes. These included concerns over public perceptions of higher education, worries related to the funding challenges universities face, and the resilience of universities amid these challenges.   But one theme was different and  came up repeatedly in conversations with presidents and provosts: the emergence of a [...]

By Peter Lange, former Provost, Duke University and Senior Advisor, Academic Analytics. Only one decade ago, few higher education institutions had adopted databases or analytical tools to assist with faculty and research-related strategic decisions. Today, such tools are more broadly adopted. An important question follows: how and why did mindsets and perspectives change so that analytical tools are now often used by senior administrators in making important decisions?   Some of the factors that changed include:   The societal context [...]

By George Walker, former Vice President of Research and Dean at multiple research institutions; Senior Advisor, Academic Analytics. As a former Vice President of Research, I’ve been to many CoR (Council on Research) meetings. Here are four thoughts that stood out from the recent 2018 CoR Summer Meeting in Bozeman, Montana. 1. Diverse institutions, similar stresses One of the attractions of CoR – one of APLU’s (Association of Public & Land-Grant Universities) many councils – is the diversity [...]