Chronicle of Higher Education Audio: Interviews

Google has scanned millions of books through its Book Search program and making snippets available online. The project has taken heat from authors and publishers, but Adam Smith, Google's director of product management, says it's a good thing for academe.

Florida's top public universities face one of the nation's worst budget challenges but have largely managed to cope with the money shortages, for now.

The recession is presenting college governing boards with big challenges, says Richard D. Legon, president of the Association of Governing Boards of Colleges and Universities. In a conversation with The Chronicle, Mr. Legon describes how boards can be strategic in tackling financial-planning problems.

Residential liberal-arts colleges are expensive to run, so the flagging economy has forced them to take a close look at how they do business. Brian C. Rosenberg, president of Macalester College, describes which liberal-arts institutions will survive and thrive in a newly cost-conscious era.

Mark G. Yudof, president of the University of California, believes the budget structures of public universities are unsustainable. He talks about how federal and state governments could change their approach to financing higher education and the shifts colleges themselves should consider in how they operate.

Mark R. Hamilton, president of the University of Alaska Statewide System since 1998, has dramatically reduced the number of federal earmarks the system receives. Mr. Hamilton, a retired Major General in the U.S. Army, explains why in this interview.

Charles B. Reed, chancellor of the California State University system, wants the federal government to provide direct aid to four-year colleges based on the number of students they enroll who are eligible for Pell Grants or who are from underrepresented minority groups. He says that such a program, which he estimates would cost $12-billion to $14-billion, would help institutions meet President Obama’s goal for the United States to have the world’s highest proportion of college graduates by 2020. It would do so by covering some costs of remediation and other support services for students who need extra help to remain in college and earn a degree.

With the economy on the ropes, moving academic inventions from the lab to the marketplace is increasingly important -- and increasingly challenging. James R. Zanewicz, director of the Office of Technology Transfer at the University of Louisville, says universities need to be more flexible in the deals they negotiate and more realistic about the money they expect to earn.

College chiefs have to be careful to adopt the right tone when discussing the recession with trustees and professors. Carolyn A. (Biddy) Martin, new chancellor of the University of Wisconsin at Madison, describes how she navigated a series of public forums on the university’s financial situation.

Joseph E. Aoun, Northeastern University's president, explains how the financial struggles of the middle class will lead to shifts in the traditional model of higher education -- and how his university is coping with the economic downturn.

As colleges pare down their budgets, it’s important they focus on “cuts that will actually reduce their long-term expenditures,” rather than simply putting off needed expenses, says Sandy Baum, a senior policy analyst with the College Board. Ms Baum and Michael S. McPherson, president of the Spencer Foundation, both of whom are economists, spoke with The Chronicle about how the recession could affect both colleges’ costs and the price that students pay.

We don't just want our students to be educated about solar panels and more efficient light bulbs, but about the sustainability movement in technology and it's importance as a whole, says Debra Rowe, a professor of renewable energy, energy management, and psychology at Oakland Community College.

Institutions must be strategic and resist the temptation to retrench as they recruit students in a tight economy. Robert A. Sevier, senior vice president for strategy with the consulting firm Stamats, discusses what colleges should and shouldn’t do in a Chronicle podcast.

In their new book, "Closed Minds?: Politics and Ideology in American Universities," three professors at George Mason University argue that colleges are not saturated in politics, as some critics charge. In fact, the authors say, professors often shy away from political debate.

This year Rep. Peter F. Welch, a Vermont Democrat, has sought the attention of higher education officials on college costs and endowment spending. He has succeeded, but he has also left some college administrators wondering why a Democratic fan of higher education has assumed such a role. The Chronicle spoke with Mr. Welch at his Capitol Hill office.