[The Montana Professor 25.2, Spring 2015 <http://mtprof.msun.edu>]
Philip Gaines, PhD
Associate Professor of Linguistics and Chair, Department of English
Montana State University Bozeman
Welcome to the latest issue of Montana Professor. In Critical Issues in Higher Education, we lead off with a full-on rant from Prof. John Snider about administrative bloat in the Montana University System. As with any unbridled polemic, you'll find it crowded with hyperbole and sarcasm, but don't miss the earnest concern Snider has about priorities in higher education.
In Focus on Teaching, English Education professor Allison Wynhoff Olsen walks us through the elements of a deeply learning-centered and visionary approach to training future middle- and high school teachers. Good chance you'll be inspired by the ways that her students are responding and reaching out.
Considerable space is given in this issue to developments with and for Native American populations in Montana Professor. Blakely Brown shares her Current Research on understanding the problems of overweight, obesity, and diabetes among Indian people; her findings are at the same time troubling and encouraging. In New Programs, we offer an adapted press release about a major grant providing support for recruiting and retaining Native graduate students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Finally, President Billy Jo Kipp of Blackfeet Community College shares with us a Tribal College Report on the history, achievements, and challenges of their forward-thinking institution.
In this issue's MP Interview, Sen. Mary Sheehy Moe offers an open, honest critique of the efforts and shortcomings of Montana's 64th legislature with regard to issues in higher education. I found it compelling reading.
MP editors Henry Gonshak and Marvin Lansverk give us two highly readable Book Reviews—both of fairly recent monographs dealing with unnerving trends in American higher education and offering apologias for keeping to the higher ground.
A (final) personal note: After several years of service as general editor of Montana Professor, the time has come for me to make a change. I am embarking on a major new research project—work that demands more time and attention that I am currently able to devote. I have genuinely enjoyed working with the many contributors to the journal, the dedicated and caring editors and board, and the production staff—particularly Kristen Drumheller, a graphic artist and designer whose talent and imagination has never failed to impress me. My thanks goes also the respective presidents and provosts of the University of Montana and Montana State University; their very generous financial support has provided a sturdy stage for this voice of the Montana professoriate. Questions about the future of MP should be directed to the editor of your choice (see masthead of .pdf version). My very best wishes to all of you who care about teaching and research in the Montana University System!
—PG
[The Montana Professor 25.2, Spring 2015 <http://mtprof.msun.edu>]