A very interesting issue of the American Association of University Professors' publication, *Academe*, has just been published online. It raises important questions about the "assessment" juggernaut. -- more information -- Assessment. Accreditation. Accountability. Administrators, politicians, and, yes, a few ideologues throw these higher education terms around with ease. Most faculty members tend to flinch, or yawn in a way that suggests both boredom and anxiety. But either shunning or trying to ignore these terms isn’t working so well for us. Nor is holding up the sanctity of our research and the academic freedom of our classrooms like crosses to ward off the vampires of market ideology, conservative attacks, and encroaching federal regulations. Indeed, Margaret Spellings’s Commission on the Future of Higher Education feels remarkably undead, as more federal mandates loom under Obama’s Department of Education than did under George W. Bush’s. And we’re witnessing conservative ideology masquerading as transparency in Texas, hailing the return of the repressive. That’s why we first have to get a firm handle on the problems, so we can then get a grip. Elucidating articles on assessment by president emeritus of the American Council of Learned Societies Stanley Katz and on accreditation by Council for Higher Education Accreditation president Judith S. Eaton, as well as articles by faculty members Greg Gilbert and Debra Ellen Clark, lay out the reality faculty need to face—and challenge. Lisa Colletta and Max Page artistically and humorously test the prevailing winds of assessment from the corners of two continents, while Academe intern Joel Morgan Kearney gives a student’s perspective on learning outcomes. Scott Jaschik, editor of Inside Higher Ed, suggests that if faculty learn how to talk with reporters, it might be the beginning of a beautiful relationship—or at least a much better one. And faculty member Timothy G. Delaney shows how he made that relationship work for his own writing and research. In a final, important article, two library scholars look at the unhealthy state of scholarly publishing and suggest ways to take back the stacks. http://www.aaup.org/AAUP/pubsres/academe/ -- Jeremy Butler www.TVStyleBook.com www.ScreenLex.org www.ScreenSite.org www.TVCrit.com www.ShotLogger.org www.AllThingsAcoustic.org Professor - TCF Dept. - U Alabama ---- Learn to speak like a film/TV professor! Listen to the ScreenLex podcast: http://www.screenlex.org