Volume 1, Number 3, Aug/Sept 2000

Recently Found in the Periodicals

Leibman, C. (2000). Mediation as Parallel Seminars: Lessons from the Student Takeover of Columbia University's Hamilton Hall. Negotiation Journal 16(2): 157-181.

In this article, Leibman describes her experiences serving as a co-mediator with a colleague during the 1996 student takeover of a Columbia University building. The building takeover was the culmination of a year-long debate at Columbia over the inclusion of Ethnic Studies in the curriculum. The student protesters and university administration agreed to a settlement following four days of mediation.

Kihnley, J . (2000). Unraveling the Ivory Fabric: Institutional Obstacles to the Handling of Sexual Harassment Complaints. Law and Social Inquiry 25(1).

In this article, Kihnley examines the complexities of implementing sexual harassment response systems on college campuses. As readers may know, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Title IX of the Educational Amendments of 1972 make universities liable for sexual harassment that occurs within both the employment and academic contexts.

To deepen our understanding of various systemic issues that may effect practice, Kihnley employs in-depth interviews with personnel at each campus of a public university system on the West Coast. The interviews explore how universities implement and enforce the mandates of both Title VII and Title IX via their sexual harassment complaint procedures. The research sheds light on problems with inserting a complaint resolution process into an institution that simultaneously strives to eliminate sexual harassment, while wanting to protect itself from liability. This inherent conflict of goals is reflected in the differing roles of the Title IX office and the Women's Resource Center, in creation of a user friendly policy, and in the two branches of dispute resolution.

The Chronicle of Higher Education recently ran a cover story on a bitter departmental conflict. While this in nothing new, the article did spur some dialog regarding civility within academic departments. On the discussion list for instructional and faculty development specialists, POD, a query was posted regarding references on promoting civility in departments, and a summary of the findings was posted. Readers of the report might be interested in some of the results.

Materials that address civility/ collegiality in academic departments cited on the POD list

Bennett, J. (1999) Collegial Professionalism. ACE Series on Higher Education, Oryx Press.

Ehrle, E. B., & Bennett, J. B. (1988). Managing the academic enterprise: Case studies for deans and provosts. New York, NY: American Council on Education/Macmillan.

Hecht, I. W. D., Higgerson, M. L., Gmelch, W. H., & Tucker, A. (1999). The department chair as academic leader. Phoenix, AZ: American Council on Educators/The Oryx Press.

Higgerson, M. L. (1996). Communication skills for department chairs. Bolton, MA: Anker.

Holton, S. A. (1998). (Ed.) Mending the cracks in the ivory tower: Strategies for conflict management in higher education. Bolton, MA: Anker.

Leaming, D. R. (1998). Academic leadership. Bolton, MA: Anker.

Lucas, A. F., & Associates (2000). Leading academic change: Essential roles for department chairs. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Braxton, J. and & Bayer, A. E. (1999) Faculty Misconduct in Collegiate Teaching Johns Hopkins University Press

Susan Kullmann Puz (California State Polytechnic University, Pomona) put together a web site about "Civility in Cyberspace" as part of a workshop on Civility in the Classroom. There may be some useful links: http://www.csupomona.edu/~faculty_computing/
core/civility.html

Young, R. (1997) No Neutral Ground: Standing by the Values We Prize in Higher Education. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Available in the POD Essays on Teaching Excellence. "Academic Civility Begins in the Classroom" by Roger G. Baldwin appeared in the 1997-98 series. Scheduled for the forthcoming 2000-01 series is: John B. Bennett, Quinnipiac College, "Teaching with Hospitality". He discusses hospitality (a concept inclusive of civility) as "practiced more than it is preached. A cardinal academic virtue, hospitality is essential in the classroom as well as in relationships with colleagues. This essay looks at why this is so." Provost Bennett also has an article entitled "Hospitality and collegial community: An Essay", forthcoming in the Journal of Innovative Higher Education, vol. 25/2. See webpage http://www.isd.uga.edu/ihe/ihe.htm

Anker Publishing's quarterly publication "The Department Chair: A Resource for Academic Administrators" has had articles on this topic over time, several in the last few issues.