In April 2018, the public learned that George Mason University had let the Charles Koch Foundation have a say in the hiring and review of faculty. The revelation confirmed long-held suspicions that Virginia’s largest public university was susceptible to pressure from wealthy people who make big donations to a foundation that solely exists to support the school. The news […] … learn more→
Blog Archives
Why some public universities get to keep their donors secret
University teachers in the digital age: adapt or die
The days of the university professor who gives the master lesson are over. It can be dangerous to have analog teachers, blind to the changes that happen in their environment and disconnected from reality. Especially when the professionals of the future are in their hands and they should have the digital capabilities developed when they finish their […] … learn more→
College entrance exams are RACIST. No kidding.
The edu-fascists running so many of our schools are predictable. The educationists want growth at all costs, while the Progressives want to advance their destructive ideology at all costs. Entrance exams, what used to be a gatekeeper for getting in to higher education, have long been abandoned at many of our open admissions state schools. […] … learn more→
Humanities PhD grads working in non-academic jobs could shake up university culture
PhD graduates in the humanities need to cultivate more varied career paths. Canadian universities need to reform the culture of the humanities so that careers outside the university are seen to be just as valuable as permanent, tenure-track professorships. Changes like these will be good for the graduates, the universities and for Canadian society itself. […] … learn more→
Universities need to learn the early lessons of lifelong learning
For years, future of work reports have warned of major disruption. Artificial intelligence is spreading automation from the factory floor to the offices of university-educated professionals. Workers in jobs that don’t disappear will need different skills and regular retraining. This scenario sounds promising for universities and other education providers, who can prosper from lifelong learners. But recent […] … learn more→
A scholarly look at the social justice takeover of Higher Ed
Scholarly work is a slow thing, and it can take years before academics can officially declare even obvious things to be true…or at least true enough. So, while it was clear to me a decade or more ago that something was going very wrong in higher education, it’s only now that we have an official […] … learn more→
Trump hires Dean of fraud College to investigate College fraud
It’s a strange world we live in today. Most media put so much spin on their “news” that it’s almost impossible to figure out what’s happening just by reading about it. Everything Trump does is spun into the most negative thing possible, meaning all Trump news is taken with a grain of salt. I’ve heard […] … learn more→
A festive gift from patter – a checklist for revising methods chapters
PhDers sometimes find writing the thesis methods chapter a pretty tedious business. But the methods chapter is a key part of the examination process – it shows that the researcher knows how to research. You see, examiners make their decision – yes or no, this person can be Dr – on the back of this […] … learn more→
Professor fired for disputing global warming wins $800,000 in lawsuit
The whole “global warming” nonsense (hint: cooling is more credible) really is remarkable. Time and again when I bring this up with my low-information friends, I’m told (among other talking points to be sure) how scientists by and large agree the world is burning up into a cinder unless we do something about it right […] … learn more→
Success at college is often accompanied by a painful sense of separation from family, friends and community
Two dozen students sat at a circle of desks, engaged in a heated discussion about whether race or class was the most significant disadvantage in our society. These students, like the majority of those who attend the City College of New York, come from working-class families. Most are from racial minorities, several are immigrants themselves […] … learn more→
