Reporting on Higher Education

Reporting on Higher EdJeffrey R. Young2014 Nieman FellowSenior Editor, The Chronicle of Higher Education

Why It’s the Best Time to Cover College

Some of the biggest issues facing the country are bound up in higher education.

College Cost

Increasing Scrutiny

Technological Change

National Outlets Expanding Education Coverage

National Outlets Expanding Education Coverage

National Outlets Expanding Education Coverage

Why ‘Shared Governance’ Is Your Friend

But…

Data You Should Know About

Where To Look For Stories

A Social-Media Fishbowl

Original Vision of MOOCs

"High-quality education will move from being something that is a privilege of the few to being a basic human right.”

Daphne Koller, co-founder of Coursera, 2012.

Auto- or Peer-Graded Homework

Free (Large Student Groups)

Short Video Lectures

What’s a MOOC again?

The Web’s A.I. Moment

The Web’s A.I. Moment

The MOOC Premise…

IF the new power of this Smart Web is to mix the wisdom of the crowd with the ability to deliver targeted information.

THEN education could be the killer app.

Professor Everybody

Made $218,935 in a year teaching online.

Jake’s Tips - @eCN_Jake

* As a student journalist, you are still a real journalist. But also remember that not everyone you deal with will think this way. Some will be incredibly dismissive. You're going to have to work harder than many journalists with professional publications to prove yourself.

Jake’s Tips - @eCN_Jake

* Get the name of the dog. This is an old cliche at this point and you may have heard it before, but it just means to really take in details and make note of them, even if they don't end up in the story.

Angela’s tips - @chengela

Get on as many listservs as possible - student government listservs are a must, and various high-profile club ones are worth it -- I've gotten a lot of my best story ideas (both news and features) from these. Oftentimes, people will forget these listservs are public, which can be useful.

Angela’s tips - @chengela

Join the "Class of 20XX" Facebook groups, even though they're annoying. Follow r/yourschool because a lot of stuff comes from there, and search for mentions on Twitter. If you/your section doesn't already, set Google alerts for things related to coverage ("ucsd" "UC San Diego" "higher ed").

Angela’s tips - @chengela

Read through your paper's archives -- it gives a good idea of important continuing issues, past coverage, context, etc. Especially important because college newsroom turnover=poor institutional memory, and you probably don't have prior knowledge on a beat. 

Angela’s tips - @chengela

Use more professors as background resources.I didn't do this enough  and tended only to quote professors if they were directly involved in the story, but asking a professor to comment on his research that might be relevant to the story makes the story more legitimate, builds relationships with professors, and is also what people do professionally anyway.

Ben’s Tips - @benbwieder

* Dress the part -- College administrators are already inclined to not take you seriously, wearing jeans or flip-flops to a board meeting only hurts your case.

Ben’s Tips - @benbwieder

Hit up the faculty -- Faculty senate meetings are typically undercovered, but are a great way to get the scoop on what's really going on at your college.

Ben’s Tips - @benbwieder

* Documents are your friend -- Page through budgets and proposals to come up with story ideas and challenge administrators.

Ben’s Tips - @benbwieder

* Don't be put off by a records request, and be willing to fight for it (Assuming you're at a public institution)

Dean’s Tip - @daesayingstuff

Avidly read literature. Journalism classes are centered on rigid writing, reading and analysis skills, and it's important for us, as young student journalists, to continue thinking about words and sentences in new, exciting, abstract ways.