Willingness and ability to learn identified as key traits for CEOs

"The C.E.O.’s are not necessarily the smartest people in the room, but they are the best students," writes Adam Bryant in an article adapted from The Corner Office: Indispensable and Unexpected Lessons From CEOs on How to Lead and Succeed. The article appeared in the New York Times, April 16, 2011.

In the book, which was just published, Adam Bryant analyzes interviews he has conducted with 70 leaders to determine traits that indicate what it takes to be a leader. The five traits he identifies in the article are: 1. "Passionate curiosity," 2. "Battle-hardened confidence," 3. "Team smarts," 4. "A Simple Mind Set," and 5. "Fearlessness"

We are ordering Adam Bryant's book for the GGU University Library, so you can soon come and check it out.

Student Success in Higher Education Report from AFT

Academic Impressions today alerts us to the report, "Student Success in Higher Education," from the American Federation of Teachers Higher Education.

According to the AFT website http://www.aft.org/yourwork/highered/studentsuccess.cfm
"The report outlines a number of key elements of college student success, recommends ways to create effective programs and outlines the roles and responsibilities of all stakeholders in creating the conditions for students to succeed. The publication is based on extensive outreach with AFT higher education members and education policymakers, as well as a series of focus groups among higher-risk first- and second-year college students that are documented in the companion report "Exploring Student Attitudes, Aspirations and Barriers to Success."

Quote is from http://www.aft.org/yourwork/highered/studentsuccess.cfm

retrieved April 4, 2011. Both reports, Student Success in Higher Education, and Exploring Student Attitudes, Aspirations and Barriers to Success, are available at the website for downloading.

Enhanced Access to Chronicle of Higher Education

The University Library has provided online access to The Chronicle of Higher Education to GGU faculty, students and staff for over a year now. We now have an enhancement to the online service.

The University's email domain "@ggu.edu" has been added to the authentication database. As a result, anyone who has, or creates, a free Chronicle account using this email domain, will now be able to do a number of things, including,

1. Access premium content posted at Chronicle.com from any location without going through your institution's proxy server
2. Access premium content from one's smart phone
3. E-mail articles to colleagues.
   

Just a reminder, the GGU subscription also provides the following:

• Sign up for any of our free e-newsletters such as Academe Today,
• Chronicle Review, the Global Edition, and others
• Sign up for job alerts
• Participate in Chronicle forums
• Comment on Chronicle articles

You can use the link above to go to the web site to create your personal account now.

How to read a paper

Although this relates to "hard" science, the basic principles of reading an academic or purportedly academic paper remain true. Perhaps this may serve as a reading assignment for a brief introduction to critical reading?

How to read a paper, by Ben Goldacre.

Virtual Education Goes Mainstream

There's a new page on the Chronicle of Higher Education, a special report about Online Learning: Virtual Education Goes Mainstream

Browse the page for links to articles on various aspects of online education, including its evolution, case studies about specific programs, The role of video, Faculty training and more.

Some of the articles require a subscription. If you find an article you would like to read in the online version of the Chronicle of Higher Education but lack your own subscription, current GGU faculty, students and staff can contact the University Library for an e-mail copy of the full-text.

Confessions of a custom-essay writer

The Chronicle of Higher Education has a rather unsettling story by the man who writes your students papers. This is a must-read for anyone concerned about plagiarism and academic integrity. Some of the more disturbing pieces of information he shares include the fact that none of his "clients" have ever complained about getting caught.

The anonymous writer boasts of how much money he makes, how business is booming. Then he adds the usual invective the dishonest use to deflect responsibility for their actions: he blames us.

I live well on the desperation, misery, and incompetence that your educational system has created.

Don't worry - it gets worse:

For those of you who have ever mentored a student through the writing of a dissertation, served on a thesis-review committee, or guided a graduate student through a formal research process, I have a question: Do you ever wonder how a student who struggles to formulate complete sentences in conversation manages to produce marginally competent research? How does that student get by you?

Like it or not, "Ed Dante" poses a valid question. Do students here at Golden Gate University "get by us" using unique, custom-made papers? Do you have in-class writing assignments that allow you to compare "live" writing samples to finished assignments? What other strategies do you use to detect or deter plagiarism? How do they relate to custom-written papers? Please share your thought in the comments.

Plagiarism has grown into a major problem given the ubiquitous and anonymous nature of internet and internet-based businesses. To give you some perspective, the company Dante works for employs about 50 writers. And there are many more such companies "out there." What do we do about this?

Google scooping up WiFi info

Recently, Google was caught by "German data authorities" acquiring confidential information from its fleet of street mapping vehicles. According to Google it was gathering information to improve its service to WiFi users, but it also scooped up e-mail addresses and passwords. While Google apologizes for the mistake,

Google said its cars were supposed to collect only the names of and identifying information from Wi-Fi routers, which it uses as an ad-hoc GPS system to localize searches for mobile users. The company said it inadvertently captured internet traffic as well, but never looked at it. While it has apologized for the collection, Google is arguing in court that Wi-Fi sniffing is not illegal.

Although the Federal Trade Commission has closed its investigation without bringing charges, Google faces other government investigations and class actions suits around the world.

Read the story on Wired