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Alex Usher

@alexusherhesa.bsky.social

5.1K followers 630 following 2.8K posts

Higher Education. All of it. All around the world. Also: snark, sumo, Winnipeg Jets triumphalism and bitching about Toronto FC. I blog here: https://higheredstrategy.com/blog/ I podcast here: https://worlded.transistor.fm/

higheredstrategy.com

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Alex Usher @alexusherhesa.bsky.social · 7h

Where is the new money being spent?

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Reposted by Alex Usher

Kevin Carey @kevincarey1.bsky.social · 1d

It's clearer by the day that Columbia making a deal with Trump in July was a catastrophe for higher education as a whole. It gave terrible people a bottomless appetite for extortion. The other eight universities must follow MIT's lead.

www.nytimes.com/2025/10/10/u...

M.I.T. Rejects a White House Offer for Special Funding Treatment

www.nytimes.com

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Alex Usher @alexusherhesa.bsky.social · 1d

"What's death like?"
"You know the chicken at Tresky's restaurant? It's worse."

RIP

Mark Harris @markharris.bsky.social · 1d

Terribly sad news about one of the greats. Diane Keaton has died at 79.
people.com/diane-keaton...

Diane Keaton, Famed for Roles in 'Father of the Bride,' 'First Wives Club' and More, Dies at 79 (Exclusive)

Diane Keaton has died at age 79. Keaton was best known for roles in movies like 'Annie Hall,' 'The First Wives Club,' 'Something's Gotta Give' and 'The Godfather.'

people.com

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Alex Usher @alexusherhesa.bsky.social · 1d

It's just the way the American right has twisted the term:

Fast Facts: Adopting Institutional Neutrality

Institutional Neutrality is the idea that colleges and universities should not, as institutions, take positions on social and political issues.

www.thefire.org

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Alex Usher @alexusherhesa.bsky.social · 1d

That was the passage I was thinking of when writing the OP.

Alex Usher @alexusherhesa.bsky.social · 1d

who gets to decide what is direct or not?

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Alex Usher @alexusherhesa.bsky.social · 1d

The new Alberta report on PSE.

Expert Panel on Post-Secondary Institution Funding and Alberta’s Competitiveness : report and recommendations - Open Government

open.alberta.ca

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Alex Usher @alexusherhesa.bsky.social · 1d

Fair point and I should have been more specific. There is a line of the institutional neutrality of the argument which argues that educational institutions qua institutions need to be "politcally neutral" & the example that specifically tends to be trotted out is institutional investment policies.

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Alex Usher @alexusherhesa.bsky.social · 1d

Genuine question for Canadian PSE folk who advocate for "institutional neutrality" on political issues:

Are you guys really arguing for Canadians to resume academic relations with Russian universities?

Are you really arguing we shouldn't have divested from South Africa?

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Alex Usher @alexusherhesa.bsky.social · 1d

yes.

Alex Usher @alexusherhesa.bsky.social · 1d

Wednesday's blog.

Reposted by Alex Usher

Catelli @catelli.bsky.social · 1d

This has to be blatantly unconstitutional. This is an arbitrary rule that creates two classes of Canadian citizen based on where they went to high school.

www.thestar.com/news/ontario...

‘Discriminatory and devastating’: New Ontario rule for medical residency that would exclude most immigrant physicians sparks outrage

The province’s health ministry now requires international medical graduates to have attended an Ontario high school for at least two years. This excludes the majority of immigrant physicians from the ...

www.thestar.com

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Reposted by Alex Usher

The Pleasure Vice Principle (he/him/his) @hannibaltabu.bsky.social · 1d

I saw the dot coms crash from a front row seat. AI is running out of money way faster.

The evangelism is insecurity from people who made the wrong bet. I’ve seen it before. futurism.com/future-socie...

AI Data Centers Are an Even Bigger Disaster Than Previously Thought

An investment manager realized he made a crucial mistake — and that his grim prediction about AI investments may not have been cynical enough.

futurism.com

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Alex Usher @alexusherhesa.bsky.social · 1d

Interesting, thanks.

Alex Usher @alexusherhesa.bsky.social · 1d

This is more interesting than it sounds.

How Denmark Built a $50 Billion Innovation Economy: 8 Lessons for Global Business Leaders

Discover eight key lessons from Denmark’s $50B innovation economy that global business leaders can apply to drive sustainable growth.

www.europeanbusinessreview.com

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Reposted by Alex Usher

Dare Obasanjo @carnage4life.bsky.social · 1d

When I said I wanted my life to be a movie, this isn’t what I meant.

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Alex Usher @alexusherhesa.bsky.social · 1d

How'd Shaff miss that?

Alex Usher @alexusherhesa.bsky.social · 1d

yup

Reposted by Alex Usher

NightMar on Hicks Street, Part 4: The Rabbit’s Revenge @histoftech.bsky.social · 1d

The Virginia Senate just told UVA it’s not getting state funding if it accepts the compact since UVA exists to serve Virginia, its residents, & their interests—not be a tool of the federal govt. Scoop from our student newspaper, who’ve been doing vital reporting www.cavalierdaily.com/article/2025...

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Alex Usher @alexusherhesa.bsky.social · 1d

UVic's former President Kevin Hall re-surfaces in Dubai

Former UVic president Kevin Hall named CEO of university in Dubai, Abu Dhabi

Former University of Victoria president Kevin Hall is taking up a new position as CEO and president of Zayed University, which has campuses in Dubai and Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates.

cheknews.ca

Alex Usher @alexusherhesa.bsky.social · 1d

Taiwanese police finally jail a man who has specialized in campus theft for over a decade

Serial campus thief convicted of theft once again - Taipei Times

Bringing Taiwan to the World and the World to Taiwan

www.taipeitimes.com

Alex Usher @alexusherhesa.bsky.social · 2d

Meanwhile in Pyongyang...

North Korea bans 'unsocialist' cosmetic breast surgery | The Jerusalem Post

Two women face being sent to a labour camp after allegedly paying a medical school drop-out to fit them with breast implants smuggled in from China.

www.jpost.com

Alex Usher @alexusherhesa.bsky.social · 2d

Rec 11 is about EDI. Which apparently does As I said earlier, it's written so both the culture warriors and institutions can claim they are both correct (IMHO).

Oddly, it implies indigenization = good and EDI = bad. Which, you know, interesting.

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Alex Usher @alexusherhesa.bsky.social · 2d

The idea is govts will set a max price by "study cluster" & institutions will have "discretion" to set fees up to that max. 99% certain this won't work. As in UK, unis will all go to the max, immediately so in practice govt will still set fees. If NDP get back into power, they will set growth at $0.

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Alex Usher @alexusherhesa.bsky.social · 2d

rec 5 is about tuition. It is mealy-mouthed. It wants to give students "price certainty" - once they get to school, their tuition can;t move up by more than 2% per year (same as now). But it also wants to give institutions "discretion" (in an upward direction in setting fees because $s.

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