Get Real

William G. Tierney is University Professor Emeritus and Founding Director of the Pullias Center for Higher Education at the University of Southern California. His many books include Relational Sociology and Research on Schools, Colleges, and Universities (coedited with Suneal Kolluri) and The Problem of College Readiness (coedited with Julia C. Duncheon), both also published by SUNY Press; Diversifying Digital Learning: Online Literacy and Educational Opportunity (coedited with Zoë B. Corwin and Amanda Ochsner); and Rethinking Education and Poverty.

• AcknowledgmentsPreface1. A Crisis Is a Terrible Thing to WasteThe Benefits of a Postsecondary EducationThe Worth of Universities to SocietyThe Challenges That ExistGetting Higher Education's Groove Back2. Canaries in the Academic Coal MineThe Twenty-First Century Idea of a UniversityIs Higher Education an Aging Industry or a Hot Commodity? Or Both?Why For-Profit Higher Education Grew"It's None of Your Business." "Yes, It Is!""Good" Public Goods3. The Kids Are Alright—No, They're NotJohn Dewey, Meet Mark ZuckerbergThat Pesky Problem of the First College YearLet's Get Real about the (Lack of) Importance of Attending ClassWhat's Going on Outside of Class4. Safe Spaces, Trigger Warnings, and the Contours of DiversityAmerica's Love Affair with "Merit"Safe Spaces for "Snowflakes"The Imprint of Microaggressions and Trigger WarningsDemands versus Conversations5. Students as CustomersUniversities as Amazon (or Whole Foods)The Lords of the Manor: FacultyThe Parameters of a Good Idea: For-Profit Higher EducationThe Flimflam Man Reexamined: For-Profit Higher Education6. Tear Down That Wall: From High School to CollegeCollege for All?College for Some?Preparing for CollegeCollege Knowledge7. Jobs, Jobs, Not JobsThe Good Old Days: Before Anyone Was "AcademicallyAdrift"Reading and Writing and ArithmeticAhead at the Starting LineKicking the Learning Can Down the Road8. The Cost of Free SpeechUnderstanding Academic FreedomThe Psychic Cost of Free SpeechFake News and Academic FreedomThe Monetary Cost of Free SpeechOn Censoring Others and Oneself9. Goodbye, Mr. ChipsWhy Tenure Came into ExistenceWhy Tenure Is Going AwayThe Color of the Academy10. Paying for CollegeUnderstanding CostsHow Much Is a Degree Really Worth?How to Avoid (or at Least Minimize) DebtThe Pluses and Minuses of Working in College11. Noses In, Fingers Out: Rethinking Shared GovernanceShared Governance No MorePresidents at the Trough: Perks and More PerksBoards Asleep at the WheelMonkey See, Monkey Don'tLeadership for the Twenty-First Century12. Lessons LearnedInconvenient TruthsBuilding a Community of DifferenceThe Way ForwardNotesFurther ReadingAbout the AuthorIndex

"Bill Tierney has been involved in the trenches and citadels of higher education policy and practice issues. This readable and informative book could be (and should be) required reading for new board members at colleges and universities along with presidents, provosts, and deans. Faculty Senate officers will find this primer to be essential, and it will be readable and refreshing for general audiences such as legislators, parents, and alumni." — John R. Thelin, author of A History of American Higher Education, Third Edition