iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Isabel McMullen @isabelmcmullen.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

A much more circumspect take on Hong's loss (or, very closely almost succeeding?!) than what we immediately saw Wednesday morning.

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Taylor Odle @taylorodle.bsky.social · 13/05/2026

Loved working on this Chalkboard piece with a rockstar Ph.D. student @isabelmcmullen.bsky.social and @brookings.edu! We discuss insights from our new working paper on what pre-college advising programs actually move college-going at scale and explore some important design features. Check it out! 👇

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Katharine Meyer @katharinemeyer.bsky.social · 30/04/2026

🚨 Getting state ‘free college’ right: Design choices that matter In a new report, @isabelmcmullen.bsky.social and I highlight what we know about state free college and suggest how policymakers can update programs for a changing higher education landscape: www.brookings.edu/articles/get...

brookings.edu

Getting state 'free college' right: Design choices that matter | Brookings

Katharine Meyer and Isabel McMullen assess state "free college" designs, showing how simple, generous aid boosts completion.

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Isabel McMullen @isabelmcmullen.bsky.social · 09/03/2026

🚨New data alert! I published data from my working paper on university governing boards on the Harvard Dataverse. This is the 2023 wave of data, but I'm working with a team of RAs on many more years. Let me know if you use the data! Data: doi.org/10.7910/DVN/... Paper: edworkingpapers.com/ai25-1212

edworkingpapers.com

Portraying Governance: Demographic Misalignment in University Board Representation

Higher education governing boards are important bodies with far-reaching powers over the institutions they oversee. Yet little is known about individual board members, how the composition of boards va...

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Rachel M. Perera @rachelmarisa.bsky.social · 23/02/2026

In a new Brookings piece, I wrote about how the US Department of Education has turned civil rights enforcement into a tool to promote segregation and discrimination. www.brookings.edu/articles/how...

brookings.edu

How the US Department of Education has turned civil rights enforcement into a discriminatory tool | Brookings

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Annenberg Institute @annenberginstitute.bsky.social · 27/01/2026

📢 #EdWorkingPapers: @taylorodle.bsky.social & @isabelmcmullen.bsky.social evaluate Advise TN’s expansion across 33 communities and find the program increased college enrollment by 6%. 📄 Read more: edworkingpapers.com/ai25-1371

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Isabel McMullen @isabelmcmullen.bsky.social · 02/12/2025

Helpful report for situating boards within broader inter/national trends of partisan control of higher ed. I increasingly think we need focus on reforms that fall between letting boards oversee themselves and those that rise to state constitutional amendment www.americanprogress.org/article/how-...

americanprogress.org

How University Governing Boards Can Protect the Independence of Colleges and Universities

Shifting toward merit-based selection of public university board members can better protect academic freedom than politically appointed boards, which have increasingly exerted influence over state col...

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Institute for Research on Poverty @irpwisc.bsky.social · 12/11/2025

Attending #2025APPAM? Check out IRP scholar @isabelmcmullen.bsky.social of the Dept of Poli Sci at the UW-Madison, presenting this paper: “Exploring the Mechanisms and Direct Impact of College Access Advising: The Case of AdviseTN.” Th 11/13, 3:30-5pm, Hyatt Regency Seattle, 5th Flr, Rm: 505

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Upjohn Institute @upjohninstitute.bsky.social · 30/10/2025

A new analysis by the Upjohn Institute finds that the Rx Kids program delivers measurable economic benefits to families and the broader local economy in Flint, Michigan. Read the full report www.upjohn.org/research-hig...

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Taylor Odle @taylorodle.bsky.social · 01/10/2025

🍎🦡 I'm recruiting a PhD student in Ed Policy (fall '26) at @uwmadison.bsky.social! Come work with me on college access, admissions, & fin aid in our top-ranked, fully-funded program. I’m especially excited for this student to immediately join our direct admissions RCT team.

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UW–Madison @uwmadison.bsky.social · 03/09/2025

Good morning, Badgers. Welcome to the Fall 2025 semester. We wish you a successful start to your academic year. Let’s begin.

Aerial view of Bascom Hall at sunrise, with campus buildings, Picnic Point, and Lake Mendota in the background.

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AFL-CIO @aflcio.org · 26/08/2025

An @afm-union.bsky.social and @sagaftra.org gal. An NFLPA guy. We love a union love story. Congrats Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce!

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Isabel McMullen @isabelmcmullen.bsky.social · 23/07/2025

This piece pulls together a lot of recent examples of board-driven actions in higher ed, and rightfully points out that when boards become politicized, they are then subject to those politics at all levels of government: apnews.com/article/harv...

apnews.com

Far beyond Harvard, conservative efforts to reshape higher education are gaining steam

Far beyond Harvard University and its standoff with the Trump administration, Republican officials in several states have been pushing for changes at public universities.

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Isabel McMullen @isabelmcmullen.bsky.social · 21/07/2025

The job market for PhDs may be terrible, but the spectrum internet person that just helped me transfer my internet ended the call by telling me I'm gonna do great things with my degree, so there's that.

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Dominique Baker @bakerdphd.bsky.social · 26/06/2025

Morning! I did a lil analysis and turns out that, when ED employees are illegally fired and contracts are canceled, ED is unable to fulfill its congressional mandate to publish national statistics on the condition of education. Why does that matter? Well... www.brookings.edu/articles/the...

Screenshot of policy brief that reads: This delay (or outright refusal) to compile a robust COE weakens our nation’s ability to accurately assess the current condition of education and the progress we have made. Policy actors such as the Congressional Research Service use Digest tables. Scholars leverage the COE to explain in policy briefs the effects of K-12 class-size reduction policies or whether an “enrollment cliff” actually looms for higher education. The press also uses this data to help the public understand issues like the rise in total cost of attendance at colleges and universities or challenges in the teacher labor market in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Isabel McMullen @isabelmcmullen.bsky.social · 05/06/2025

This piece picks up on a lot of important threads of board dynamics, one of which is that for publics, while there isn't the same conspicuousness as with Harvard/Columbia, the same politics are playing out, just more quietly and with less opportunity to rally against www.nytimes.com/2025/06/05/u...

nytimes.com

Republicans Trying to Control Indiana University Meet Little Resistance

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Isabel McMullen @isabelmcmullen.bsky.social · 04/06/2025

Governing boards are at the center of every higher ed story these days. What do we know about board governance? What does board composition look like nationwide, and how is it shaped by partisan appointments? My new working paper introduces new data to these questions: edworkingpapers.com/ai25-1212

edworkingpapers.com

Portraying Governance: Demographic Misalignment in University Board Representation

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Isabel McMullen @isabelmcmullen.bsky.social · 04/06/2025

You might as well just hold on to your convictions, since abandoning them all is clearly not a viable strategy against eroding higher ed governance

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Upjohn Institute @upjohninstitute.bsky.social · 18/04/2025

The Upjohn Institute is looking for a research analyst to support our research on employment issues. Please share with your networks. #econsky #hiring www.upjohn.org/employment-o...

upjohn.org

Employment Opportunities | Upjohn Institute

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Better Things Are Possible @internethippo.bsky.social · 18/04/2025

Weather is getting nice, what if 10 million people went outside at the same time

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Women’s Nonprofit Leadership Initiative @wnli.bsky.social · 15/04/2025

Board composition, transparency, and accountability to stakeholders matters to the future of higher ed. Inclusive boards of trustees have the intellectual dexterity and structural muscle to make insightful, valued-based decisions that serve missions in harmony with the needs of the stakeholders.

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Isabel McMullen @isabelmcmullen.bsky.social · 10/04/2025

Playing this as my hype music before my dissertation proposal defense today

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Isabel McMullen @isabelmcmullen.bsky.social · 08/04/2025

With all of the targeting of higher ed, it's critical that we have a good understanding of who governs our institutions - I wrote this piece for Brookings to summarize what we know. I also show some new data on the politics and representativeness of public boards. www.brookings.edu/articles/und...

brookings.edu

The political stakes of who sits on university boards

Isabel McMullen shares research on the demographics of public higher education boards and how representative they are of students and faculty.

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Isabel McMullen @isabelmcmullen.bsky.social · 06/04/2025

My dad's sign for the #handsoff rally in my hometown of Kalamazoo where apparently a few thousand turned out!

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Isabel McMullen @isabelmcmullen.bsky.social · 02/04/2025

Wisconsin is critical for any presidential candidate, and Wisconsin LOVES when a sharp, no-nonsense, hometown woman on the ballot. Just saying.

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Isabel McMullen @isabelmcmullen.bsky.social · 02/04/2025

Calling results from November "overwhelming" means we need a new word to describe this massive 10 point win by Crawford. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

nytimes.com

Wisconsin Supreme Court Election Results 2025: Crawford vs. Schimel

Get live results and maps from the 2025 Wisconsin spring elections.

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Isabel McMullen @isabelmcmullen.bsky.social · 25/03/2025

What comes next for higher ed? @katharinemeyer.bsky.social and I wrote this piece on pandemic-era funding streams and the window they give into what turning decision-making to the states might mean. Plus more on district implications here too: www.brookings.edu/articles/wha...

brookings.edu

What comes next now that pandemic aid for education has ended?

Education experts examine how pandemic-era federal aid was allocated, its impact on schools and students, and future funding risks.

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Isabel McMullen @isabelmcmullen.bsky.social · 11/03/2025

Thoughts on turning @aefpweb.bsky.social this year into, oh I don't know, one giant protest?

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Rachel M. Perera @rachelmarisa.bsky.social · 25/02/2025

🚨 Join us this Fri 2/28 @ 1:30PM, ET for an online webinar with education and legal scholars, including experts in civil rights enforcement, to discuss the legality of the Department of Education's Feb 14 Dear Colleague Letter & the potential threat of enforcement. www.brookings.edu/events/what-...

brookings.edu

What do education leaders need to know about the Department of Education's new guidance on race and civil rights?

On February 28, join Brookings for a webinar with education and legal scholars to discuss the legality of the February 14 guidance letter

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Katharine Meyer @katharinemeyer.bsky.social · 25/02/2025

Two new pieces in our series on why we have and need a US Department of Education! First up, from the past, current, and presidents-elect of AEFP and SREE - "Cutting research funding would make education less effective and efficient" www.brookings.edu/articles/cut...

brookings.edu

Cutting research funding would make education less effective and efficient

Presidents of education research associations explain the impacts of recent funding cuts to the Institute of Education Sciences (IES).

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Jennifer N. Victor @jenvictor.bsky.social · 19/02/2025

Letter signed by 800+ people who hold PhDs in political science expressing grave concern about the degredation of US institutions, rule of law, and democracy. Share with Congress, print for dramatic display, or cite as evidence of experts’ collective alarm. drive.google.com/file/d/1lGk2...

drive.google.com

Political science statement.pdf

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Isabel McMullen @isabelmcmullen.bsky.social · 11/02/2025

An important part of the legacy work of IES is the predoc program that trains and launches education scholars - I'm worried for existing grants and sad to think there likely won't be a cohort coming up behind us.

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Prof Dynarski @dynarski.bsky.social · 11/02/2025

Every Child Left Behind

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Jill Barshay @jillbarshay.bsky.social · 13/01/2025

National Student Clearinghouse just emailed a big correction to ed reporters: freshman enrollment did not fall by 5% in Fall 2024, it INCREASED. We all blamed the FAFSA roll out fiasco with tamping down college going. But that was wrong. Revised figs to come out Jan 23

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Kathleen Bolter, PhD @kathleenbolter.bsky.social · 31/12/2024

Here are some of my favorite data visualizations, charts, and graphs, I created for the @upjohninstitute.bsky.social Policies for Place this year! (1/8)

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Kathleen Bolter, PhD @kathleenbolter.bsky.social · 31/12/2024

From my report "The Kalamazoo Promise: A Piece in the Puzzle of Housing Preferences" but based on research by @bradhershbein.bsky.social and @isabelmcmullen.bsky.social Since the introduction of the Kalamazoo Promise, more graduates of Kalamazoo Public Schools report staying in the community. (5/8)

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Wisconsin Examiner @wisconsinexaminer.com · 30/12/2024

Carbon dioxide emissions from Big Ten football team travel for regular-season conference games more than tripled in 2024 compared to 2023 after 4 West Coast schools were added. A report from @cnsmd.bsky.social

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The new Big Ten is resulting in sharply higher carbon emission • Wisconsin Examiner

Big Ten football has dramatically increased its carbon footprint with frequent air travel to distant competitions.

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Dominique Baker @bakerdphd.bsky.social · 03/12/2024

I do not donate to my employer because we are already in a labor for compensation relationship. I'm very confused by these emails.

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Rep. Mark Pocan @pocan.house.gov · 02/12/2024

Amazon has repeatedly violated labor standards with unsafe and inhumane working conditions and continues to do so today. This Cyber Monday, consider shopping somewhere else.

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Kalamazoo Institute of Arts @kiarts.bsky.social · 15/11/2024

Introducing ourselves on Bluesky like a true Michigander.

A color etching by artist Stephen Hansen depicting the ubiquitous habit, in Michigan, of mapping the outline of the Lower Peninsula upon our own bodies. In the foreground, a helpful Michigander points to their hand. In the background, local architecture and monuments are assembled in a compressed Kalamazoo skyline, while caricatures humorously represent the people of the city with reference to local history, cultural institutions, business, and agriculture. And of course, the windows of the KIA reveal a festive event—perhaps the opening of Hansen's 1992 retrospective for which this print was made.

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Upjohn Institute @upjohninstitute.bsky.social · 11/11/2024

Dissertation Award first-prize winner Angela Wyse is an assistant professor of economics at Dartmouth College. Wyse’s dissertation considers fundamental questions around the U.S. homeless population, using data that is detailed, accurate, longitudinal and nationally representative. 📉📈(1/4)

upjohn.org

Upjohn Institute announces 2024 Dissertation Award winner and honorable mentions

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Upjohn Institute @upjohninstitute.bsky.social · 12/10/2023

New paper from @isabelmcmullen.bsky.social and @dcollier74.bsky.social , both late of the Upjohn Institute, looks at some of the bumps of even generous free-tuition college scholarship programs such as the Kalamazoo Promise. #EduSky

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Isabel McMullen @isabelmcmullen.bsky.social · 11/10/2023

🎉My first ever first-author paper is published! With my perennial coauthor @dcollier74.bsky.social, we look at enrollment change during COVID among tuition free recipients at a community college. It's one of many great articles in the latest NDCC issue! onlinelibrary.wiley.com/toc/15360733...

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Isabel McMullen @isabelmcmullen.bsky.social · 21/09/2023

My network on here is so professional-leaning I'm at real risk of this just being academic LinkedIn. Anybody have suggestions for fun follows??

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