Alex Usher
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alexusherhesa.bsky.social
Alex Usher
@alexusherhesa.bsky.social
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/
Every 19th/20th century industry you can think of is getting subsidies.
November 26, 2025 at 11:08 AM
OK, I have now read the Terms of Reference in more detail. My more considered opinion of the review is that the Government has lost its damn mind.
The BC Govt has announced a review of the public post-secondary system. Review will be led by Don Avison, recently Chair of the board at Emily Carr. He's a past Deputy Minister of Education, Skills and Training, and President of the Research Universities Council of BC
news.gov.bc.ca/releases/202...
Province reviews public post-secondary system to ensure long-term sustainability
The Province is launching an independent review to strengthen the public post-secondary education system and ensure it is sustainable and well-positioned to support people in British Columbia and B.C.’s economic growth.
news.gov.bc.ca
November 26, 2025 at 5:57 AM
My first (probably too quick) read of this is that a) most of the report's conclusions have already been decided and b) a lot of the solution is going to be "re-distribute UBC's money to other institutions".
The BC Govt has announced a review of the public post-secondary system. Review will be led by Don Avison, recently Chair of the board at Emily Carr. He's a past Deputy Minister of Education, Skills and Training, and President of the Research Universities Council of BC
news.gov.bc.ca/releases/202...
Province reviews public post-secondary system to ensure long-term sustainability
The Province is launching an independent review to strengthen the public post-secondary education system and ensure it is sustainable and well-positioned to support people in British Columbia and B.C.’s economic growth.
news.gov.bc.ca
November 25, 2025 at 11:08 PM
Super-excited about the bits of the Review's Terms of Reference that have been censored..
November 25, 2025 at 11:02 PM
Reposted by Alex Usher
The BC Govt has announced a review of the public post-secondary system. Review will be led by Don Avison, recently Chair of the board at Emily Carr. He's a past Deputy Minister of Education, Skills and Training, and President of the Research Universities Council of BC
news.gov.bc.ca/releases/202...
Province reviews public post-secondary system to ensure long-term sustainability
The Province is launching an independent review to strengthen the public post-secondary education system and ensure it is sustainable and well-positioned to support people in British Columbia and B.C.’s economic growth.
news.gov.bc.ca
November 25, 2025 at 10:53 PM
More to the point, I think, is that he has a JD Vance-shaped problem
November 25, 2025 at 4:21 PM
I (gratefully) stand corrected.
UBC is even higher - average for all ranks is $201,450 and media is $193,425 vs 198,625 and 192,200 for Queen's, and 195,625 and 190,775 for UofT.
November 25, 2025 at 3:41 PM
Sorry, I labelled this poorly, the Y-axis is percentage of total
Canadian professors by selected age ranges, 1971-2021
November 25, 2025 at 3:15 PM
Canadian professors by selected age ranges, 1971-2021
November 25, 2025 at 3:09 PM
Canadian University salary data is out: Queen's has now passed Toronto in having the highest average professorial salary - $198,875.
November 25, 2025 at 2:59 PM
Reposted by Alex Usher
Injunction sought over Ontario’s international medical graduate residency rule — called ‘unlawful, unreasonable, unintelligible’
Injunction sought over Ontario’s international medical graduate residency rule — called ‘unlawful, unreasonable, unintelligible’
The rule requires candidates to have at least two years of high school in Ontario to be in the first round of matching for medical placements.
www.thestar.com
November 25, 2025 at 12:05 AM
Imagine if, for the last ten years, Abacus had subsumed all economic issues into a different phrase like "the rat race" or "I can't get ahead". I am pretty sure our political environment would be quite different. Specifically, it wouldn't prioritise pocketbooks over institutions.
Regular reminder that other pollsters who don't make this a closed-ended question dont find inflation to be anywhere near this important. Coletto made a bet 10 yrs ago that reducing all economics issues to "affordability" would be good for business, and I guess it's worked out for him.
In my new piece, I dig into a striking finding from our latest tracking: climate change has hit its lowest level of salience in years.

Only 13% of Canadians put it in their top three issues.

Cost-of-living pressures are eclipsing everything.
🔗 davidcoletto.substack.com/p/climate-h...
November 24, 2025 at 2:48 PM
Reposted by Alex Usher
It's almost like when Peter Thiel named his company Palantir, to tout the all-seeing ability of AI, he forgot that in LOTR, Sauron himself was on the other side of the stone spinning lies and deception, corrupting its viewer.
November 24, 2025 at 11:31 AM
Reposted by Alex Usher
RFK Jr. was doing felching the right way.

by Ezra Klein
November 24, 2025 at 3:52 AM
Regular reminder that other pollsters who don't make this a closed-ended question dont find inflation to be anywhere near this important. Coletto made a bet 10 yrs ago that reducing all economics issues to "affordability" would be good for business, and I guess it's worked out for him.
In my new piece, I dig into a striking finding from our latest tracking: climate change has hit its lowest level of salience in years.

Only 13% of Canadians put it in their top three issues.

Cost-of-living pressures are eclipsing everything.
🔗 davidcoletto.substack.com/p/climate-h...
November 24, 2025 at 2:18 AM
Now THAT is a headline.
"Bureaucrates, sadomasochisme et vélos volés" : au cœur d’une saga politico-judiciaire au Danemark
➡️ https://l.lexpress.fr/ciV
November 23, 2025 at 11:32 AM
Reposted by Alex Usher
Aye
November 21, 2025 at 11:16 PM
Un. Be. Leivable

🇺🇦 🇺🇦 🇺🇦 !!!
Day15 Playoff!
Yz Hōshōryū (L)
Sw Aonoshiki (R)
For all the marbles! Ao already soundly beat Hoss ystrdy, Hoss so far has just not been able to find a way to beat Ao in their few meetings. To top it off Hoss lost a playoff to Ōnosato last basho - all things that must really have stuck in his craw.
November 23, 2025 at 9:39 AM
Happy to jump on this bandwagon.
November 23, 2025 at 7:32 AM
About 2 hours before the finale I had a great discussion with my son:

Him: You want to know how bad this finale is going to be? They're going to make Brann king.

Me: No, come on, they're not that stupid.

Him: No, that's *EXACTLY* how stupid they are.
Divisive? I thought it brought most of the globe together, a moment of unity when the whole world cried out "Dear God, what kind of trash is this?"
George R.R. Martin teases the 'Game of Thrones' universe will finally get to the world after the OG show's divisive finale.
November 23, 2025 at 1:02 AM
November 23, 2025 at 1:00 AM