Alexander C. Kafka
Chronicle
Washington, DC, United States
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Past articles by Alexander:
Campus Counselors Are Burned Out and Short-Staffed
This article is a condensed excerpt from a new Chronicle special report, “Building Students’ Resilience: Strategies to Support Their Mental Health.” → Read More
Does Tenure Impede Diversity?
Yes, some scholars say, but they have ideas on how to fix that. → Read More
Could Political Rhetoric Turn to Campus Violence?
College leaders should be ready for protests, provocations, and lone attacks, experts say. → Read More
Academic Freedom Is on the Ropes
Academics are caught in a pincer grip from the political right and left. → Read More
The Vaccination Dilemma
Should colleges mandate Covid-19 shots? Encourage? Incentivize? All of the above? → Read More
The Cost of Insuring Colleges Continues to Rise. And Covid’s Not the Reason.
Two of the biggest risks? Data breaches and sexual abuse. → Read More
The Pandemic and Racial Turmoil Are Changing Curricula. Here’s How.
The nation is traumatized, and academics say the content of academic programs, not just how they are delivered, must reflect that reality. → Read More
Covid Obstacles Abound, but Colleges Can Successfully Recruit for Fall 2021
It will take a combination of cutting-edge digital advertising and old-fashioned people skills. → Read More
Why Students Should Think Like Shakespeare
Want a complete education? Look to the Bard. → Read More
Overburdened Mental-Health Counselors Look After Students. But Who Looks After the Counselors?
Stress is on these overworked caregivers’ minds after the suicide last week of one of their own at the University of Pennsylvania. → Read More
U. of Michigan’s ‘Opportunity Hub’ Connects College, Career, and Community
The university’s Applebaum Internship Program allows participants to explore how their liberal-arts passions might be developed into full-time jobs in the nonprofit sector of a resurgent Motor City. → Read More
A Jury Found Iowa State U. Partially Responsible for a Student’s Suicide. Here’s What That Could Mean for Other Colleges.
Experts sense a judicial mood shift toward holding colleges more accountable for these deaths. → Read More
‘He Was Just Babbling, Basically.’ Students Say Their Professor Spent Class Time Touting Conspiracy Theories
A Mesa Community College instructor reportedly showed a QAnon video, shared his view that John F. Kennedy Jr. faked his own death, and railed about collapsing media conglomerates, porn, and Satanism. → Read More
Another Year, Another Controversy Over Penn’s Grenade-Throwing Legal Scholar. How Will This One Play Out?
The latest fuss stems from remarks perceived as racist that she made at a conservative conference in Washington, D.C. → Read More
NIH Leader Shuns All-Male Panels. Many Applaud the Gesture, but Not All.
Francis Collins won’t participate in those so-called manels anymore. Many scientists see that as a constructive move toward inclusiveness, but a critic calls the stance unscientific political theater. → Read More
Virginia Tech Has 1,000 More Freshmen Than It Expected, and It’s Offering Some of Them Cash to Defer Enrollment
Its Class of 2023 is overenrolled, so the university is offering $4,000 packages to take a gap year, reimbursements for community college credits before transfer, and free summer classes to ease crowding during the year. → Read More
Colleges Have Anti-Drinking Rules on the Books, but Which Ones Actually Work?
A new study aimed to find out. Tailgating bans? Yeah. Keg registration? Not so much. → Read More
Proposed Cut of Stanford U. Press’s Subsidy Sparks Outrage
Critics call it a backhanded attempt to shut down the scholarly publisher. → Read More
Mean Reading Level of Freshman Summer Books Is Suited to 9th Graders
A new study analyzes the “underresearched and highly criticized” genre of common reading programs. → Read More
For Mentorships to Work, Colleges Have to Commit
Professors’ guidance can be life-changing for students, but the relationships require sustained resources, rewards, and support for the faculty members participating. → Read More