It may be a result of a very specific sample, and it’s been fascinating talking with research participants about AI this semester. These are undergrads who have been universally opposed to it.

*inserts into class-relevant screencap folder*

Finally got a moment to catch up on some news and @bakerdphd.bsky.social's newest column is once again a must-read. www.insidehighered.com/opinion/colu...

This is the type of thing I keep trying to talk to people about for higher ed. Not conference rooms where I "listen to diverse perspectives" but actually doing work to imagine what strengthening the US higher education system in furtherance of a democracy would look like.

From Stanford to Gallup, nearly every organization that produces good information about anything of importance is in one way or another beholden to federal contracts. They are also deeply connected to elite political and economic networks thorough interlocking directorates and affiliations.

*insert Brigitte Nielsen laughing in disbelief gif* www.insidehighered.com/news/faculty...

Small win today: a positive R&R that included reviewers affirming the work in kind ways, good suggestions on where to revise, *and* places to cut to make the suggestions happen!

No excuses

I shared some context with the Washington Post (whose education team survived the mass layoffs) on the Trump administration's efforts to go after the National Student Clearinghouse and NSLVE. I expect red-state publics to drop out of what used to be a bipartisan effort.

Reading The Chronicle as a professor is really hard today.

Consider the suite of “reforms” for public higher education in Iowa. This is a sweeping package that would dismantle public universities. The justification? Public money should go only to training people for high demand jobs. In the Postliberal University we call this a “neoliberal Trojan Horse”

Cool workshop in DC in June for higher ed policy academics with less than 10 years of research experience. Deadline to apply is March 1. www.peer-center.org/research/sum...

Julia is a tireless supporter of student loan borrowers who worked to ensure that companies, and the federal government, did not take advantage of people. She is exactly the type of person we want looking out for people.

I am not being snarky. I need my colleagues who wrote on covid school lockdowns to engage with this. To be as loud as they have been about prior "learning loss." Hell, you can cite Tom & Mark's AERJ paper so you feel better that there's some econ somewhere in your argument.

Through all the horrors, my little corner of happiness is for Delroy Lindo’s Oscar nom today

the oscars are not my thing but No Other Choice should have got nominations

Boards, Bills and the Boot: Virginia Dems Move Fast to Reshape Higher Ed www.insidehighered.com/news/governa...

The Kansas Board of Regents passed a workload policy that expects faculty at research universities to teach at least two classes per semester and those at comprehensive universities to teach four classes.

In addition to pushing out board members at UVA, Virginia's new governor has fired the lead attorneys at VMI and George Mason. Things are happening quickly as political control fully flips to Democrats.

That Baker lady is way less optimistic and thinks some real Truth and Reconciliation moves will be necessary

On the Friday afternoon before a three-day weekend, the Department of Education announces that borrowers will not have their wages or tax refunds garnished for being in default on their student loans. This could be driven by political considerations or difficulties in actually collecting funds.

You know what you get from @bakerdphd.bsky.social always? Incisive analysis with clear stakes and pop culture references! Finally got to sit down and take this brilliance in. Looking forward to what comes from this great new column in IHE!

Everyone set your radio dials to make sure you get @bakerdphd.bsky.social's new EPIC @insidehighered.com column series!!

Harper's Letter folks are being kind of shy lately about free speech issues. Maybe they are writing an extra long letter this time.

It would appear I am now a columnist at Inside Higher Ed. My first piece focuses on McCarthyism, censorship, and our current moment in higher education. This is an essay I started nearly 6 months ago so I'm glad to finally share it with y'all. www.insidehighered.com/opinion/colu...

I just—

Last week, we received a single email announcing the provost’s departure, a new associate provost appointment, an interim provost, and an interim dean. Today, we get this email about the real constraints on institutional finances due to many national and state factors that would require a ~9% cut.

Within me, there are two wolves. One despises how much I revise my courses. The other goes “oooo that’s such a good change” as I make my Canvas shell.

In a slow labor market, it's not surprising that employers are limiting where they recruit on college campuses to elite institutions and ones close to home. It's also why I expect to see degree requirements tightened--it's an easy and legal way to screen applicants.

Twice

Not *the* clip but sorry to the students in my classes as I will be using this to discuss: * institutions making first-order changes only * deflections from developmental growth * shared governance * the hilarious things I saw this break

I *need* the clip of them pushing the stage back off the field 😂

I have *many* a Miami fan in my family (cause duh) and I’m very excited for them and the way this coach actively describes his desire for his team to be “violent” is…something.

This legislation is gutting. I cannot adequately convey the amount of trans youth and young adults I’ve talked to, worked alongside, and supported who have discussed the ways transition-related care saved their lives and increased their life chances.

"I didn’t have the courage to come out until I was 21, and that means 21 years of pain, 21 years of unwavering homesickness that only went away when I was able to get the care that I needed. And my biggest regret in life is that I never had a childhood without that pain.”

“This bill... creates an incredibly dangerous precedent far beyond the specific care at issue, criminalizing care based on ideology and placing Washington politicians between families and their doctors." -Mike Zamore, ACLU

Tenth and final defense of the semester is here (fifth as chair); thankful for great advisees working hard and the semester being *almost* over

Last day of book club—and I’ve got plenty more notes to take—but I broke out the Apple Pencil for @drkevinrmcclure.com’s _The Caring University_

Comedian Tig Notaro tells me losing her friend Andrea Gibson has been "one of the most confusing grieving processes I've gone through." The death of Colorado's poet laureate has made Notaro open to the idea of an afterlife. Read/listen to our chat about the new documentary Notaro co-produced:

The tree outside my office never fails to deliver a good workday view

The founder of Black Pride Colorado, an LGBTQ organization, posted that their office was broken into. They believe it to be targeted. Not too long ago, The Center on Colfax was also vandalized. “Another fracture in our ecosystem that has held so many of us when the world would not.”

Don’t read this if you haven’t watched the new Knives Out movie but I wrote about how the series only works because Blanc doesn’t treat the mysteries like a game but is always protecting the most vulnerable individual in the case open.substack.com/pub/somethin...

The Colorado Sun sat down with Chancellor Marielena DeSanctis to talk about the future of the state’s 13 community colleges, each of which she calls an “economic development engine.”

"The report suggested Education has not landed on its statutory authority for making the changes. The unobligated funds to transfer over and the authority for doing so 'must be identified before the transition begins,' it said in the report. " www.govexec.com/management/2...

Still haven't read the full agreement because I deserve nice things occasionally. But there's really a need for a propublica-type investigation into the social network of these boards, presidents, & donors with the admin. At the same time, exploring the similarities and differences across deals.

“Come See Me In The Good Light” helps us understand the immensity of what we lost with the death of Colorado Poet Laureate Andrea Gibson. It’s streaming on Apple TV. Maybe the holiday gives you time to watch. Wednesday on Colorado Matters, I’ll speak with Andrea’s friend Tig Notaro, a co-producer.

Sick to my stomach. They are cutting a really, really strong Educational Administration department with some top-notch faculty. There is very little public service ethos left in higher ed. You either contribute to revenue/prestige in particular ways, or you are expendable.