Based on the authors’ experiences in academe over seventy-five years, The Higher Education Scene in America: Some Observations discusses a number of issues that confront America’s higher education scene today. Those issue embrace such problems as: (1) the missions(s) of our colleges and universities and the development of critical thinking and/or employability; (2) the role of for-profit academic institutions; (3) the impact of online technology; (4) diffusion of power and achievement of consensus between administrators and faculty; (5) the importance of financial matters, embracing budgets, fundraising, and endowments; (6) the insidious problem of conflicts of interest; (7) the scandalous impact of big-time, big-money Division 1 sports on academe; (8) the growth of non-academic functions; and (9) the importance of leadership in consensual institutions and how leaders are chosen.

"It is this open acknowledgment that institutions, and those actors inside them, are working with multiple – sometimes harmonious and sometimes contentious – missions in mind, which makes the Gitlows’ book a refreshing read. Perhaps it is due to the fact that this father and son team have spent a combined seventy-five years in academia, not just as scholars but also as administrators, that their combined work presents such a reasoned approach. . . .While a must read for anyone contemplating a future career as a university president or provost, this book also proves to be insightful to administrators, faculty, and policy makers, or anyone whose professional life is grounded in the world of higher education." - Reflective Teaching