Teaching and Learning
Next Semester: Do Less That Matters More (John Warner, Inside Higher Ed, June 20, 2025): The threat of LLMs is an invitation to get to the roots, rather than layering on more, more, more.
Beyond ‘Grit’ and ‘Growth Mindsets’ (Jarek Janio, Inside Higher Ed, June 18, 2025): Focusing on internal traits distracts us from the work of encouraging behaviors that support student success.
The Handwriting Revolution (Johanna Alonso, Inside Higher Ed, June 17, 2025): Five semesters after ChatGPT changed education forever, some professors are taking their classes back to the pre-internet era.
Why I Stopped Starting Class with Content – and What Happened Instead (Jeff DeGraff, Faculty Focus, June 16, 2025): The answer? Engagement.
Marking Rubrics in Education (Carolina Kuepper-Tetzel, Learning Scientists, June 13, 2025): Marking rubrics for assessments can be a powerful tool to set marking expectations and criteria for an assessment and support students in understanding the feedback they receive.
Academic Freedom, DEI, Admissions, and Speech
What Is Replacing DEI? Racism (Richard Amesbury, Chronicle of Higher Education, June 5, 2025): The logic of the multi-pronged assault on DEI in higher education — which includes, among other elements, a Supreme Court case, a Dear Colleague letter, and purges at service-academy libraries — sees racial inequality not as something to be overcome but as the natural order of things.
Universities in the Crosshairs
Negotiation or Capitulation? How Columbia Got Off Trump’s Hot Seat (Sharon Otterman, New York Times, June 16, 2025): The university has largely complied with the administration’s demands, but has adjusted them in meaningful ways. One department offers a window into that effort.
International Students and Scholars
State Department Restarts Student Visa Interviews with Tougher Social Media Rules (Washington Post, June 18, 2025): The new requirements could affect hundreds of thousands of visa applications each year, raising concerns about staffing requirements.
Extra Credit Reading
Are We There Yet? Rebuilding Trust in the Value of Education? (Bonni Stachowiak, Teaching in Higher Education, June 19, 2025): 44-minute podcast with Rolin Moe.
Behind the Turmoil of Federal Attacks on Colleges, Some States Are Going After Tenure (Jon Marcus, Hechinger Report, June 18, 2025): Faculty say this long-held academic practice is a safeguard of their right to free expression.
What Will Be Left of Higher Ed in Four Years? (Brendan Cantwell, Chronicle of Higher Education, June 18, 2025): The Trump administration’s moves are impoverishing the sector.
Federal Judge Strikes Down NIH Directives Against DEI Research (Laura Spitalniak, Higher Ed Dive, June 17, 2025): U.S. District Judge William Young ordered NIH to reinstate the plaintiffs’ canceled research funding. I’ve never seen a record where racial discrimination was so palpable,” Young said during the hearing. “I’ve sat on this bench now for 40 years. I’ve never seen government racial discrimination like this.” He added: “You are bearing down on people of color because of their color. The Constitution will not permit that.… Have we fallen so low? Have we no shame?”
Future Imperfect
Trump Administration Attempts to Rush Changes to Civil Rights Regs (Johanna Alonso, Inside Higher Ed, June 16, 2025): But instead of the Education Department taking the lead, the Energy Department proposed a regulation targeting transgender student athletes and other changes to equal rights in education.
Future Conferences
AI and the Liberal Arts Symposium (Connecticut College, October 17-19, 2025): Visit their website for more detailed information and to submit proposals.