Problems are inherent in any organization. When people have to work together, differing opinions and strong personalities will eventually lead to conflict. In an increasingly polarized society opposing viewpoints seem to be the norm, not the exception. Unfortunately, that culture won’t build a successful academic institution. CT+LE will be hosting the webinar presentation of "Strategies to Build and Sustain a Successful Academic Unit" on Tuesday, April 26 at noon. The interactive session will last one and one-half hours. Please contact CT+LE for registration information. This webinar is recommended for department chairs, deans, and directors but is open to everyone. Bernard Fryshman has given us a lot to think about in his essay on the merits of trying to quantify everything. He offers that numbers fascinate and inform and add precision and authority to an observation (although not necessarily as much as often perceived). The social sciences face a challenging task, dealing with the behavior of people who have an unfortunate tendency to think for themselves, and who refuse to behave in a manner predicted by elegant theories. If you are putting together an application for cohort 3 of the ACES Fellows program, you should take a look at the book How Assessment Supports Learning: Learning-oriented assessment in action by David Carless, Gordon Joughlin, and Ngar-Fun Liu. They provide a number of active learning methods that could be implemented in your class to create a student-centered environment. The book is available for loan from CT+LE.