iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Alex Karner @alexkarner.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

I'm curious what other folks think and would love to hear about successful examples of organizing within the university among adjunct or tenure-track faculty as well as other workers within the system.

010

Alex Karner @alexkarner.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

The author can write about whatever he wants of course, but it's worth thinking about who stands to gain if his diagnosis is taken as correct.

110

Alex Karner @alexkarner.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

I'm more concerned about non-academics increasingly being elevated to positions of power, faculty voices being removed from decision making, departmental erasure, and violations of academic freedom.

110

Alex Karner @alexkarner.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

There are plenty of things to critique about the university, but a group of faculty trying to add course content about race/power/privilege isn't it.

110

Alex Karner @alexkarner.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

My question for the author: does he think that providing fuel for the anti-DEI fire is actually a way to get the justice that he seems to seek for non-tenure-track faculty?

110

Alex Karner @alexkarner.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

But we know from other reports and common sense that there was plenty of labor support among regular faculty. Administrators face different incentives and it also seems reasonable that they'd favor shifts in optics to actually redistributing power to contingent faculty.

110

Alex Karner @alexkarner.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

The author intentionally fails to distinguish between academic administrators and rank-and-file faculty to bolster his argument that the people pushing curricular reform were hypocrites because they opposed the unionization efforts of adjunct faculty.

110

Alex Karner @alexkarner.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

I wrote about affirmative action, labor unions, and current attacks on higher education in response to the Atlantic piece about a faculty member resigning apparently because of DEI. I have a number of issues with the arguments and evidence the author presents.

alexkarner.substack.com

Should we be outraged by Tyler Austin Harper’s experience?

No. There are bigger higher-education fish to fry.

111

Alex Karner @alexkarner.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

once a candidate clears the viability threshold, many other considerations come into play: are they likely to get competing offers? do they have familial ties to this place? do they have a spouse who also needs a job? kids? the idea that the "most qualified" always gets the TT job is not true.

000

Alex Karner @alexkarner.bsky.social · 21/07/2026

TRB rolling over for the administration actually didn't protect the NAS. Suprise surprise.

130

Reposted by Alex Karner

Nathan K. Hensley @nathankhensley.bsky.social · 14/05/2026

Weird not to see real estate expansion projects, chatbot TAs, or ed-tech privatization on this report of what makes university experience valuable to students

5338114

Alex Karner @alexkarner.bsky.social · 11/05/2026

Just had a paper desk rejected five weeks after submission because the editor considered the preprint we posted on a public server to be a prior publication. For good measure, he accused us of academic misconduct as well. How is this still happening? Sometimes you have to laugh to keep from crying 🤦🏼‍♂️

000

Alex Karner @alexkarner.bsky.social · 20/04/2026

Following. I was going to try to rig up some kind of Raspberry Pi solution for this, so I'm curious to see what others have come up with.

010

Alex Karner @alexkarner.bsky.social · 24/03/2026

Not monitoring, but this idea was in the original undated Duffy memo when he became SecTrans.

transportation.gov

021

Reposted by Alex Karner

Bikepedantic @pedantic.bike · 12/03/2026

Ten times more than the usual annual Federal spend on walking and bicycling transportation projects

15311

Alex Karner @alexkarner.bsky.social · 07/03/2026

I wrote about how creeping authoritarianism in higher ed and the proliferation of AI are combining and creating terrible outcomes for our students. Curious how other faculty are dealing with these issues.

alexkarner.substack.com

Higher Education in Crisis

A report from Texas on creeping authoritarianism and AI

010

Alex Karner @alexkarner.bsky.social · 24/02/2026

it just seems like a very indirect way to produce affordable housing. people earning 50% AMI or below need options too.

000

Alex Karner @alexkarner.bsky.social · 23/02/2026

I'd want to know more about the affordability characteristics of the vacated units. They were 40% cheaper--okay, but then affordable to what %AMI?

230

Reposted by Alex Karner

Texas Tribune @texastribune.org · 19/02/2026

The University of Texas System’s Board of Regents unanimously approved a rule requiring its universities to ensure students can graduate without studying “unnecessary controversial subjects,” despite warnings it could leave them less prepared for the real world.

texastribune.org

University of Texas regents OK limits on controversial subjects

Opponents warned the policy’s vagueness could push professors to self-censor and leave students less prepared for the workplace.

126653300

Reposted by Alex Karner

Jessica Luther @jessicawluther.com · 12/02/2026

🧵 bsky.app/profile/chad...

0132

Reposted by Alex Karner

Jessica Luther @jessicawluther.com · 12/02/2026

This is a univ that, despite whatever efforts they've put in since 1954, still has a Black student population that sits between 5% and 6%, despite Black ppl making up 12% - 13% of the Texas population. In 1979, 2.4% of the student pop was Black. They've barely doubled that in almost half a century.

2307

Reposted by Alex Karner

Jessica Luther @jessicawluther.com · 12/02/2026

This is AWFUL. Univ of Texas is consolidating 4 depts into 1: African and African Diaspora Studies and Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies, American Studies, and Mexican American and Latino Studies will become "a Social and Cultural Analysis department." www.texastribune.org/2026/02/12/t...

texastribune.org

UT-Austin to merge race, ethnic and gender study programs

More than 800 students are pursuing degrees in the affected departments, which include African, Latino and gender studies.

15241144

Alex Karner @alexkarner.bsky.social · 13/02/2026

We knew something like this was coming. Still--a big shock.

020

Alex Karner @alexkarner.bsky.social · 31/01/2026

This is not a sample—it’s the population of crashed that have occurred. CIs are not appropriate.

100

Reposted by Alex Karner

Kea Wilson @keawilson.bsky.social · 25/01/2026

They will create a world so dangerous that you feel you have no choice except to drive a car, or own a gun, or flee a country that they violently destabilized. And they will use that car, that gun, that decision to seek asylum as an excuse to shoot and kill you.

213528

Reposted by Alex Karner

Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 23/01/2026

One day, if we are lucky, the erasure of American history will itself be remembered as a shameful chapter in American history

10444251364

Reposted by Alex Karner

Yonah Freemark @yonahfreemark.com · 23/01/2026

The actions of a pitiful, cowardly government

26818

Alex Karner @alexkarner.bsky.social · 20/01/2026

I didn't catch this panel but it seems like Dr. Patterson was just talking about multimodal solutions--de-emphasizing highway construction, reinvesting in public transit and nonmotorized modes. Understanding the transportation needs and barriers that exist and trying to address them.

000

Reposted by Alex Karner

America Walks @americawalks.bsky.social · 15/01/2026

Some interpret "abundance" to mean an "abundance of highways." Ben of America Walks is leading a panel at the #crossroadsconvening on "Centering Transportation Equity in the Abundance Agenda" to do better than that. FYI, "some" is the Abundance Caucus in Congress, cdn.sanity.io/files/ifn0l6...

cdn.sanity.io

2152

Reposted by Alex Karner

Anson Stewart @ansonstewart.com · 15/01/2026

"We are at a crossroads, figuratively and in reality" Do we choose disinvestment and harm or repair and renewal? @theycallmeoboi.bsky.social at #CrossroadsConvening

122

Alex Karner @alexkarner.bsky.social · 14/01/2026

As a defining voice in racial equity, Oboi brings a critical perspective to this work. We couldn’t ask for a better leader to ground our discussions and energize the group as we kick off the day.

110

Alex Karner @alexkarner.bsky.social · 14/01/2026

Update for tomorrow's #CrossroadsConvening: We send our best to Dr. Bullard who is unable to join us. However, we're grateful to announce that @theycallmeoboi.bsky.social, President & CEO of Equiticity, will now be giving the keynote address!

130

Alex Karner @alexkarner.bsky.social · 13/01/2026

Good q! Nothing planned. How about #CrossroadsConvening? Other ideas?

100

Alex Karner @alexkarner.bsky.social · 11/01/2026

Nah, come to Crossroads on Thursday 😁

110

Reposted by Alex Karner

Fergus McKee @fergusmckee.bsky.social · 27/12/2025

Post a perfect album from the 90s that isn't Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden or Alice in Chains.

101158

Reposted by Alex Karner

Yonah Freemark @yonahfreemark.com · 12/12/2025

This is going to be a fun event where—unlike at the @nationalacademies.org Transportation Research Board—we're going to actually talk about issues of equity, justice, and mobility. Register if you can make it to DC in January!

0133

Alex Karner @alexkarner.bsky.social · 12/12/2025

There will be documentation--some kind of proceedings and a report--but probably not recordings of individual sessions. We may be able to live stream a selection of the program though. Stay tuned for more information about that.

010

Alex Karner @alexkarner.bsky.social · 12/12/2025

If you want to hear about work that's being censored/suppressed by the Transportation Research Board and other historical funders, this is the place to be. Hope you can join us.

000

Alex Karner @alexkarner.bsky.social · 12/12/2025

Free public registration is now open for the Crossroads Convening on Transportation Equity and Justice, 1/15/26 at the MLK Library in DC. Registration is free. We've got three sessions across four tracks. Confirmed speakers include Robert Bullard, Anna Zivarts, Naomi Doerner, and Gretchen Goldman.

secure.ucs.org

Crossroads: A Transportation Equity and Justice Convening

Join the Union of Concerned Scientists and our transportation partners for a one-day event to discuss transportation equity and justice. Thursday, January 15, 2026, 8:30 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. ET, at the Ma...

385

Alex Karner @alexkarner.bsky.social · 08/12/2025

I posted some thoughts on Deborah Archer's book Dividing Lines. She recommends creating something called a "racial equity impact study" for transportation projects and I don't think that's a good idea. We need actions that planners and engineers can undertake now, given the laws/regs we have.

alexkarner.substack.com

Do We Need Racial Equity Impact Studies?

Thoughts on Deborah Archer's 2025 book Dividing Lines

020

Reposted by Alex Karner

AAUP chapter @UT Austin @utaustinaaup.bsky.social · 18/11/2025

We appreciate University Baptist Church!

Signs reading Protect Academic Freedom and Reject the Compact.

010916