Sign in

Kris Olds

@oldskris.bsky.social
493 followers 691 following 84 posts

I'm a geographer/planner w interests in (de)globalization of services (incl #highered & #research) <> #cities, governance of HE, high impact teaching, ice hockey, jazz, photography. #Firstgen grad.

PostsRepliesMedia
Kris Olds @oldskris.bsky.social · 06/04/2026
Never boring in Wisconsin #highered: www.wpr.org/news/uw-univ...
wpr.org
UW Board of Regents to consider firing President Jay Rothman at Tuesday meeting
The Universities of Wisconsin Board of Regents will meet Tuesday to discuss whether to fire Jay Rothman from his job as president of the the university system.
051
Reposted by Kris Olds
Mark Chadbourn @chadbourn.bsky.social · 06/04/2026
France has sold off the last of its gold held in the US Federal Reserve and now holds all its gold in Paris. German groups are now pressuring the government to repatriate its own gold.
rfi.fr
French central bank nets €13bn by pulling gold out of US reserves
France’s central bank has sold off the last of the gold it held in the United States Federal Reserve and replaced it with higher quality bars in Paris, taking advantage of rising prices to make nearly...
27363332414
Reposted by Kris Olds
Dan Garisto @dangaristo.bsky.social · 03/04/2026
Okay, NSF is for some reason under an appendix, but they do have directorate-level numbers. Cuts pretty much across the board, including zeroing out SBE? which I suppose is what would happen with a 54% cut. Also worth looking at those FY26 estimates... www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/u...
NSF budget overview
41813
Kris Olds @oldskris.bsky.social · 02/04/2026
Universities of Wisconsin leaders looking to oust system president who refuses to quit apnews.com/article/univ...
apnews.com
Exclusive: Universities of Wisconsin leaders looking to oust system president who refuses to quit
The president of the 25-campus Universities of Wisconsin has said in letters obtained by The Associated Press that he’s been told to resign or he will be fired.
052
Reposted by Kris Olds
Veena Dubal @veenadubal.bsky.social · 08/01/2026
“Faculty at Texas A&M Univ were told..that roughly 200 courses…could be affected by a new system policy restricting classroom discussions of race & gender, the implementation of which has.. led administrators to direct a philosophy prof to remove Plato readings” www.texastribune.org/2026/01/07/t...
texastribune.org
Texas A&M restrictions on race, gender could affect 200 courses
With the semester set to begin next week, professors have been directed to alter courses, and some classes have been removed or reassigned from the core curriculum at the College Station campus.
53021
Kris Olds @oldskris.bsky.social · 19/12/2025
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill [foolishly] cuts all six area studies research centers, effective 2026 dailytarheel.com/article/univ...
dailytarheel.com
UNC cuts all six area studies research centers, effective 2026
As part of the University's plan to make $70 million in budget cuts across the institution, Vice Chancellor for Finance and Operations Nate Knuffman projected that cutting 14 centers and institutes in...
092
Reposted by Kris Olds
Brett Christophers @brettchristophers.bsky.social · 06/11/2025
Striking Economist chart in the latest Tooze newsletter. Presumably NY's vertiginous rents would make NY's _real_ real wages (i.e. real wages post housing costs) look even worse by comparison. New mayor really has got a challenge on his hands
0114
Kris Olds @oldskris.bsky.social · 04/11/2025
At USC, more than 900 employees laid off since July amid 'difficult' fiscal crisis www.latimes.com/california/s...
latimes.com
At USC, more than 900 employees laid off since July amid 'difficult' fiscal crisis
The private university, long known for its wealth, has eliminated more than 900 positions and introduced other cuts in an effort to close a deficit of $200 million-plus.
030
Kris Olds @oldskris.bsky.social · 03/11/2025
“Applications to the European Research Council (ERC), the EU’s funding organisation for basic research, and the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA), the EU’s initiative for doctoral and postdoctoral research, hit all-time highs in 2025.”
140
Kris Olds @oldskris.bsky.social · 02/11/2025
“It’s the combination of great [universities] in the UK and Europe, a good regulatory framework, and tradition,” Raffaele Savi, global head of BlackRock’s quantitative investing teams
020
Kris Olds @oldskris.bsky.social · 22/10/2025
This could go sideways...The US Commerce Department Moves to Take Cut of Research Patents www.aip.org/fyi/commerce...
aip.org
Commerce Moves to Take Cut of Research Patents
The agency has opened the possibility in a recent funding announcement and threatened to take control of Harvard’s patents.
010
Reposted by Kris Olds
Eileen Clancy 🧿 @clancyny.bsky.social · 17/10/2025
CDC IRB. Gone. "Staff with the CDC’s institutional review board, which reviews the design of studies, and the ethics office, which oversees all conflicts and interests for CDC leaders and advisory committee members, were also let go."
24227
Kris Olds @oldskris.bsky.social · 17/10/2025
Harvard suffers $113mn loss after Trump’s cuts to research funding www.ft.com/content/1b3c... via @financialtimes.com
ft.com
Harvard suffers $113mn loss after Trump’s cuts to research funding
University’s losses are the largest since 2011 and have forced lay-offs and freezes on hiring and salary increases
000
Reposted by Kris Olds
Robert Kelchen @robertkelchen.com · 13/10/2025
After getting zero firm commitments to this point from the first nine invitees, the Trump administration is extending its proposed compact to all colleges. Expect some red-state publics to say yes.
bloomberg.com
Trump Offers All Colleges Preferential Funding Plan Rejected by MIT
The Trump administration is inviting all US colleges to participate in a compact — initially rejected by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology — that would grant preferential federal funding in re...
25399157
Reposted by Kris Olds
American Council of Learned Societies @acls1919.bsky.social · 06/10/2025
ACLS has released a statement regarding the White House “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education”: bit.ly/3IviMig
We call for the immediate rejection of the “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education”...No institution that is committed to the free pursuit of knowledge should submit to the degradation of autonomy and academic freedom contained in it. -ACLS Statement Regarding White House “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education”
27035
Kris Olds @oldskris.bsky.social · 01/10/2025
The Ontario Teacher’s Pension Plan certainly does get around... www.oxfordnorth.com/news-events/...
010
Kris Olds @oldskris.bsky.social · 29/09/2025
"The University of Chicago, renowned for producing world-leading research in economics and finance, is selling a prized research centre as it struggles with heavy debt and lacklustre endowment returns" www.ft.com/content/4501... via @financialtimes.com
ft.com
UChicago sells prized institute amid high debt and low returns
Endowment of famed finance school posted weak investment gains as it borrowed heavily to invest in research capacity
023
Kris Olds @oldskris.bsky.social · 26/09/2025
As Trump Tries to Limit Foreign Workers, China Woos Them. A new visa for science and engineering graduates is part of China’s effort to establish itself as the world leader in science and technology. www.nytimes.com/2025/09/26/w...
nytimes.com
As Trump Tightens Visas, China Woos World’s Science Graduates
020
Kris Olds @oldskris.bsky.social · 26/09/2025
Austria hails 'brain gain' in luring 25 academics away from US after cuts www.reuters.com/world/austri...
reuters.com
Austria hails 'brain gain' in luring 25 academics away from US after cuts
Austria has lured what it calls 25 "top researchers" away from U.S. institutions including Harvard, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Princeton with grants set up in response to the Trump administration's funding cuts targeting universities.
030
Kris Olds @oldskris.bsky.social · 25/09/2025
Vanderbilt Eyes National Expansion The university plans to build a campus in Florida, has leased a site in New York City and aims to establish a foothold in California in its quest to grow beyond Nashville. www.insidehighered.com/news/busines...
insidehighered.com
Vanderbilt Eyes National Expansion
The university plans to build a campus in Florida, has leased a site in New York City and aims to establish a foothold in California in its quest to grow beyond Nashville.
010
Kris Olds @oldskris.bsky.social · 15/08/2025
UChicago Reducing, Freezing Ph.D. Admissions for Multiple Humanities [& Public Policy] Programs www.insidehighered.com/news/busines...
insidehighered.com
UChicago Freezing Ph.D. Admissions for Multiple Programs
The indebted institution tasked committees of faculty and staff with planning for changes. But this week, a dean forged ahead and announced broad cuts. Two other units are also pausing admissions.
120
Kris Olds @oldskris.bsky.social · 13/08/2025
National self-harm viewed via one prominent US university: www.insidehighered.com/news/quick-t...
insidehighered.com
ASU Projects 18% Drop in International Student Enrollment
Arizona State University typically welcomes over 17,900 international students to its four campuses each year, but this fall, due to a variety of complications, the university expects only 14,600 inte...
010
Kris Olds @oldskris.bsky.social · 11/08/2025
The Harvard-Trained Lawyer Behind Trump’s Fight Against Top Universities www.nytimes.com/2025/08/11/u...
nytimes.com
The Harvard-Trained Lawyer Behind Trump’s Fight Against Top Universities
010
Reposted by Kris Olds
Robert Kelchen @robertkelchen.com · 08/08/2025
The Commerce Department threatening to take over Harvard's patents shows the extent to which the federal government is trying to pressure the university into a settlement. They are trying everything possible. (gift link)
wsj.com
Trump Administration Threatens to Take Over Harvard’s Patents
The move is the latest escalation in the White House’s battle with the Ivy League school.
68710345
Reposted by Kris Olds
Jennifer Ouellette @jenlucpiquant.bsky.social · 08/08/2025
New executive order puts all grants under political control arstechnica.com/science/2025...
arstechnica.com
New executive order puts all grants under political control
All new funding on hold until Trump administration can cancel any previously funded grants.
0128
Kris Olds @oldskris.bsky.social · 07/08/2025
Fluctuating tariffs exacerbate US science funding woes pubs.aip.org/physicstoday...
pubs.aip.org
Fluctuating tariffs exacerbate US science funding woes
For new faculty and others ordering big-ticket items, the import taxes can be a gut punch.
010
Reposted by Kris Olds
Halloween III: Season of the Ben @franzferdinand2.bsky.social · 04/08/2025
A fun reminder that a loss of 60,000 jobs in and around academia is ~50% more than all coal mining jobs in the entire country.
4953041762
Reposted by Kris Olds
Jess Calarco @jessicacalarco.com · 04/08/2025
Go, a college student, has a dependent visa (her mother, an Episcopal minister, is here on a religious worker visa), which doesn't expire until Dec. But when she tried to renew it early, ICE nabbed her and sent her halfway across the US to a detention center. www.wthr.com/article/news...
wthr.com
Purdue student detained by ICE and taken to troubled Louisiana holding facility
Yeonsoo Go, 20, was detained after her immigration hearing in Manhattan and taken away by ICE agents.
8831921610
Reposted by Kris Olds
PROFS @profsuwmadison.bsky.social · 31/07/2025
Wisconsin GOP Congressman Tom Tiffany introduced a bill that would eliminate the exception that allows colleges and universities to hire an unlimited number of specialized international workers as part of the H-1B visa program. Tiffany said the practice "hands good-paying jobs to foreign workers..."
jsonline.com
Rep. Tom Tiffany targets visa program exception that UW uses to hire for hard-to-fill jobs
U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany seeks to end an exception in the H-1B visa program that allows universities to hire an unlimited number of specialized workers from overseas.
233
Kris Olds @oldskris.bsky.social · 29/07/2025
Nashville-based Vanderbilt University considering establishing a campus in San Francisco: www.insidehighered.com/news/quick-t...
insidehighered.com
Vanderbilt Reportedly Considering a San Francisco Campus
Vanderbilt University is in talks with the city of San Francisco to establish a campus there, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. A Vanderbilt spokesperson confirmed to the Chronicle that the univer...
221
Reposted by Kris Olds
Dave Levitan @davelevitan.bsky.social · 23/07/2025
Me literally yesterday when NASA employees did this www.splinter.com/catastrophic...
This is where the federal scientific enterprise has landed after a mere half year of the second Trump administration: employees at science-related agencies, at great personal risk given leadership’s vindictive nature, yelling publicly about that leadership’s ongoing attempts to ruin just about all of it.
216955
Reposted by Kris Olds
Inside Higher Ed @insidehighered.com · 18/07/2025
4 Things to Know About In-State Tuition Benefits for Undocumented Students The federal government is suing states that offer in-state tuition to noncitizens. These state laws were once bipartisan efforts. #HigherEd #EDUSky #AcademicSky bit.ly/44E4zrw
U.S. Attorney General Pamela Bondi stands at a podium and speaks into a microphone. She is a blonde white woman wearing a black suit.
164
Reposted by Kris Olds
Sarah T Roberts, PhD @ubiquity75.xyz · 18/07/2025
Nice. I worked at Duke for more than seven years. Don’t get me started. www.dukechronicle.com/article/2025...
dukechronicle.com
Duke School of Medicine plans salary cuts for tenured faculty who do not meet grant expectations
Set to go in effect in 2026, the proposed policy would apply to the School’s basic sciences units. These units rely heavily on grants from the National Institutes of Health, which have been increasing...
1506
Reposted by Kris Olds
Financial Times @financialtimes.com · 18/07/2025
Threats to the Fed go beyond firing Powell on.ft.com/4nV9CeF | opinion
on.ft.com
Threats to the Fed go beyond firing Powell
Curtis Yarvin’s ideas are going ever more mainstream in Trump’s Washington — and investors should be worried
22616
Kris Olds @oldskris.bsky.social · 18/07/2025
University of California fund ditches hedge funds with scathing rebuke www.ft.com/content/1674... via @financialtimes.com
ft.com
University of California fund ditches hedge funds with scathing rebuke
Chief investment officer says stocks and bonds would have prevented ‘all the drama’
001
Reposted by Kris Olds
Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 15/07/2025
This guy gets it www.nytimes.com/2025/07/15/o...
“Our institutions are not acting as if American democracy is under threat,” Donald Moynihan, a professor of public policy at the University of Michigan, contended in an email. It has become routine, Moynihan wrote,

for Trump to fire people in independent agencies or civil servants, or to impound funds and even close agencies. All of these things were widely assumed to be illegal. While the courts are not making definitive rulings on such powers, they are allowing Trump to exercise them. Maybe they will clip Trump’s wings later, but in the meantime enormous damage will be done and undoing that damage will be extraordinarily difficult. For example, ending U.S.A.I.D. without congressional action is illegal, but it is happening, and millions will die as a result.
843488
Kris Olds @oldskris.bsky.social · 15/07/2025
USC signals layoffs as deficit surpasses $200 million amid 'volatile external environment' www.latimes.com/california/s...
latimes.com
USC signals layoffs as deficit surpasses $200 million amid 'volatile external environment'
Layoffs will be implemented at USC, interim President Beong-Soo Kim said in a letter to the university's faculty and staff on Monday.
002
Reposted by Kris Olds
Shannon Mattern @shannonmattern.bsky.social · 14/07/2025
"Universities have become increasingly dependent on a proliferation of outsourced services, database providers + info mgmt systems, w/ spiraling costs... Understanding [the uni as an infrastructure stresses] that the tech it chooses to adopt follow a colonial + extractivist model...
culturemachine.net
CM Vol 25 CfP University as Infrastructure
Culture Machine Vol. 25 Call for Papers: University as Infrastructure  Guest-edited by: Alexandra Anikina, Johannes Bruder, Megen de Bruin-Molé, Stephen Cornford, Kwame Phillips & Geoff Cox  …
48437
Reposted by Kris Olds
Robin Bisson @robinbisson.bsky.social · 09/07/2025
As the UK pivots to defence, a shift towards research security and away from open collaboration is “inevitable”, says Nicola Searle, whose report found security lapses in “sensitive economic areas” “Everyone’s going to have to work on it more because of regulations” she told @annamckie.bsky.social
researchprofessionalnews.com
Focus on national security ‘will bring chilling effect’ to UK research - Research Professional News
UKRI-funded report finds “sensitive economic areas” leak most knowledge, but crackdown could affect open science
004
Reposted by Kris Olds
Science Magazine @science.org · 08/07/2025
“There is a lot of pressure to essentially leave the country or not pursue research.” scim.ag/3Gz4VWW
scim.ag
‘It’s a nightmare.’ U.S. funding cuts threaten academic science jobs at all levels
“There is a lot of pressure to essentially leave the country or not pursue research,” one Ph.D. student says
58733
Reposted by Kris Olds
Paul Langley @paullangley.bsky.social · 05/07/2025
New from colleagues @geogdurham.bsky.social @benandersongeog.bsky.social and @ajsecor.bsky.social
084
Kris Olds @oldskris.bsky.social · 05/07/2025
Meanwhile the University of Toronto hires a few famous tenured Yale U faculty and hopes for accolades…
060
Reposted by Kris Olds
Rebecca Spang @rlspang.bsky.social · 04/07/2025
As has been often remarked “the Cold War was fought in the Midwest.” Bloomington used to teach 3 years of Romanian and 2 of Hungarian. One of three universities in the country to offer Serbo-Croatian. The biggest library collection of Tibetan materials, etc. Etc.
12432147
Reposted by Kris Olds
Ben Williamson @benpatrickwill.bsky.social · 20/06/2025
Platforms, data, and AI are impacting higher education systems and universities internationally. @jkom.bsky.social and I have a short piece on the political economy of digital transformation in HE just out ihe.bc.edu/pub/499eknm0...
ihe.bc.edu
The Political Economy of Datafication and Platformization: Digital Transformation in Higher Education
Platforms, data, and artificial intelligence are impacting higher education systems and universities internationally. Future research is required to examine their concrete effects, and to understand t...
2299
Reposted by Kris Olds
Craig Nicholson @clanicholson.bsky.social · 19/06/2025
Free-to-read opinion: Research security in Europe needs a more coordinated approach, write researchers Andrew James and Kieron Flanagan www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-euro...
researchprofessionalnews.com
Research security in Europe needs a more coordinated approach - Research Professional News
Survey of national efforts reveals uneven but developing picture, say Andrew James and Kieron Flanagan
012
Reposted by Kris Olds
Bradley Busch @handle.invalid · 18/06/2025
New research from MIT found that those who used ChatGPT can’t remember any of the content of their essays. Key takeaway: the product doesn’t suffer, but the process does. And when it comes to essays, the process *is* how they learn. arxiv.org/pdf/2506.088...
19136851507
Kris Olds @oldskris.bsky.social · 16/06/2025
Anthro degree…Britain’s MI6 spy agency promotes ‘Q’ to be first female head on.ft.com/4l4Hq6C
on.ft.com
Britain’s MI6 spy agency promotes ‘Q’ to be first female head
Appointment of Blaise Metreweli comes as agents grapple with competing threats
010
Kris Olds @oldskris.bsky.social · 13/06/2025
Whiplash still = damage www.insidehighered.com/news/quick-t...
insidehighered.com
In Reversal, Trump Says Chinese Students Are Welcome
President Trump said that Chinese international students would be welcome in the U.S. in a post on Truth Social on Wednesday announcing the terms of a pending trade agreement with China.  In exchange ...
000