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Viji

@vijisathy.bsky.social
1.6K followers 89 following 191 posts

Author: Inclusive Teaching | Professor | Speaker | Writer | she | “vidg-ee” | விஜி inclusifiEd.com vijisathy.com

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Viji @vijisathy.bsky.social · 07/11/2025
Appreciated this distinction… AI literacy: learning how the tech works & understanding its impact on society (could be a part of nearly all classes) AI fluency: The working-with-AI-responsibly part (may be a part of some classes but not without AI literacy) www.insidehighered.com/opinion/colu...
insidehighered.com
Agentic AI Invading the LMS and Other Things We Should Know
A Q&A with Marc Watkins, director of the AI Institute for Teachers.
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Viji @vijisathy.bsky.social · 06/11/2025
Was sprinting across campus earlier in the week and this view stopped me in my tracks. Between the music and art buildings—pure gold. I almost missed this. What made you stop and smile this week? Here’s to finding more moments of lightness and joy (and maybe even gold!). 💛
Brick walkway lined with yellow leaved ginkgos
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Kevin Gannon (now a Moo Deng fan account) @thetattooedprof.bsky.social · 24/09/2025
My latest column for the Chronicle of Higher Ed is now live. It's an argument for including AI-critical voices in campus conversations and policymaking workgroups, and I'm proud to get this dissenting piece into the mainstream genAI/higher ed discourse. Please read and share if you're so inclined 🙂
chronicle.com
Advice | Sometimes We Resist AI for Good Reasons
Why higher ed needs to listen to the contrarians in setting policies on using tools like ChatGPT in faculty work.
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Viji @vijisathy.bsky.social · 18/09/2025
Great response by Chris to the question “What argument would you make to university leaders that continued investment in their CTLs is strategic and necessary?” www.insidehighered.com/opinion/colu...
insidehighered.com
3 Questions for Springfield College’s Chris Hakala
A conversation with the director of the Center for Excellence in Teaching, Learning and Scholarship.
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Viji @vijisathy.bsky.social · 10/09/2025
Really curious if schools will see a Selingo bump after his book comes out.
Google search with schools advertising their appearance in Selingo’s book. Elon, Loyola, TCNJ, St. Olaf, Augustana
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Viji @vijisathy.bsky.social · 12/08/2025
Really creative use of a flexible space classroom for a teaching workshop with new faculty. The concept of “sparkshops” with 15-min sessions in designated areas that are of interest to faculty. They could attend 3 in the time allotted. Excellent post lunch activity. #CFE #FacultyFoundations
Flexible classroom space utilizing 5 stations for spark shops Example sparkshop on GenAISlide with sparkshop logistics being shared with participantsSparkshop instructions with stations indicated on a projected map of the classroom
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Viji @vijisathy.bsky.social · 01/08/2025
At our Center for Faculty Excellence retreat today, Joanna Foland designed a fun and restorative ice breaker with the Rest Deck by #NapMinistry Tricia Hersey. In awe of the creativity of this team and kudos, Joanna!
Joanna Foland sharing the rest deck in front a slide about the deck
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Viji @vijisathy.bsky.social · 24/07/2025
I’m enjoying newly published book season!!! What’s on my desk now? It’s @geekypedagogy.bsky.social Snafu Edu. The book is rich with practical suggestions and skillful integration of teaching and learning scholarship. Congratulations, Jessamyn!
Copy of snafu edu on my red metal desk in my office
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Kara McKinley @karalmckinley.bsky.social · 23/07/2025
A beautifully written piece on a terrible time www.science.org/content/arti...
science.org
My academic job offer was rescinded. I’ll keep going—but U.S. researchers are running out of road
Despite an uncertain future, this postdoc will “keep doing the science I love while I still have a bench”
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Viji @vijisathy.bsky.social · 23/07/2025
Great leadership insights by @jenheemstra.bsky.social in here. “Navigating turbulence requires constant course correction. We need people who can strategize, communicate and lead with empathy.” www.insidehighered.com/news/governm...
insidehighered.com
The Leadership Skills Scientists Need Right Now
Jen Heemstra, chair of the chemistry department at Wash U. in St. Louis and author of a forthcoming book on leadership for scientists, has some advice for navigating the Trump administration’s sweepin...
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Viji @vijisathy.bsky.social · 17/07/2025
Excited to see this one out! I got to read an advance copy and it is a great read. Kudos @dgooblar.bsky.social!
Copy of One classroom at a time on my desk in my office
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Viji @vijisathy.bsky.social · 03/07/2025
Day 2 at the new job & someone I work with handed me this book that her whole team read and asked me to please read it because “it’s amazing!” @katiepryal.bsky.social you have huge fans here at the Center for Faculty Excellence! (I didn’t let on that we met in a CFE summer writing group years ago!)
Cover of Katie’s book called A light in the tower
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Viji @vijisathy.bsky.social · 03/07/2025
In 1997 I was freshly admitted to graduate school and assigned to TA a course. I marched myself to Wilson Library to the Center for Teaching and Learning determined to use every resource I could to improve…
Photo of Wilson library building
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Viji @vijisathy.bsky.social · 24/06/2025
I had so much fun with this one! Thanks for the invite @derekbruff.bsky.social!
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Viji @vijisathy.bsky.social · 24/06/2025
I oscillate wildly between being incredibly worried about the state of world affairs and mundane things like being excited to be at my kid’s college orientation trying to imagine normalcy. Thanks for the reprieve today @utaustin.bsky.social
Me in heart glasses wearing a giant hand signal for hook em and a large longhorn necklace
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Viji @vijisathy.bsky.social · 21/06/2025
“America’s promise doesn’t happen by accident. It happens because throughout our history ordinary people have called out our country’s contradictions and called on the government to live up to the principles of equality established at our founding.”
nytimes.com
Opinion | Senator Padilla: This Is How an Administration Acts When It’s Afraid (Gift Article)
If this is how the administration treats a senator on camera, imagine what it could do to you.
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Viji @vijisathy.bsky.social · 20/06/2025
Teachers like me are the trained professionals & content specialists whose primary role at the university is to develop citizens, leaders, & human beings who can empathize…and imagine a better tomorrow. My question is: Has the university forgotten its purpose?
chronicle.com
Opinion | My University Values Football More Than Education
At the University of Colorado at Boulder, athletics gets all the attention — and funding.
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Josh Stein @joshsteinnc.bsky.social · 19/06/2025
Juneteenth is a day of celebration but is also sobering. Too often, we believe that the long arc of history bends towards justice itself.     But WE bend the arc of history. It is up to us to recommit ourselves to fight inequality and ensure justice for all.     Happy Juneteenth, North Carolina!
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Viji @vijisathy.bsky.social · 19/06/2025
WHEREAS, the State of North Carolina encourages people to observe Juneteenth as an opportunity to reflect, rejoice, and work together toward a brighter future as we continue to address racial injustices in our society today… @joshsteinnc.bsky.social
ONE STATE o
NORTH
GREAT SE
State of Narth Caralina
JOSH STEIN
GOVERNOR
JUNETEENTH
2025
BY THE GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA
A PROCLAMATION
WHEREAS, Juneteenth is recognized as National Independence Day and has been celebrated annually since June 19,
1866, to mark the abolition of sanctioned slavery in the United States; and
WHEREAS, Juneteenth is about freedom, liberation, and celebration; it is a holiday for North Carolinians to
acknowledge our history and the sacrifices that were made for freedom; and WHEREAS, on September 22, 1862, President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, declaring that as of January 1, 1863, all enslaved people in the rebellious areas would be thenceforward and forever free, changing the nature of the Civil War; and
WHEREAS, in addition to freeing enslaved people held in Confederate States, the Emancipation Proclamation enabled
the enlistment of African Americans in the Union Army as U.S. Colored Troops; and
WHEREAS, it took almost three more years of conflict and loss to win the Civil War and the ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution in December 1865 to officially end slavery in the United States; and
WHEREAS, the news of freedom disseminated gradually throughout the nation; on June 19, 1865, two months after the official surrender of the Confederacy at Appomattox, Union Soldiers arrived in Galveston, Texas, and issued General Order No. 3 announcing freedom to some of the last enslaved people in the United States; and
WHEREAS, in 2026, America will celebrate the 250* anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence
marking the freedom of the United States, though not all Americans were truly free; and
WHEREAS, despite more than 150 years passing since the abolition of slavery, there remain economic, institutional,
and social barriers for Black people in America; and
WHEREAS, on this anniversary each year, organizations and individuals throughout North Carolina an…
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Cate Denial @cjdenial.bsky.social · 19/06/2025
Happy Juneteenth! nmaahc.si.edu/explore/stor...
nmaahc.si.edu
The Historical Legacy of Juneteenth
Juneteenth is an often overlooked event in our nation’s history. On June 19, 1865, Union troops freed enslaved African Americans in Galveston Bay and across Texas some two and a half years after Presi...
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Viji @vijisathy.bsky.social · 18/06/2025
Minute 16. What delightful watch. “It is possible to move discomfort into joy.”
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Viji @vijisathy.bsky.social · 16/06/2025
I know this is positioned for student success but I’ve been thinking, speaking and writing more about rekindling joy for faculty. Connections can cultivate that joy in a landscape of burnout. www.insidehighered.com/news/student...
insidehighered.com
Data Shows Attendance Improves Student Success
Faculty say attendance is known to promote learning and improve student outcomes. Students say they want more flexibility to manage outside pressures.
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Viji @vijisathy.bsky.social · 16/06/2025
We know connections are important. A survey “found that 35 percent of respondents think their academic success would be most improved by professors getting to know them better,” highlighting the importance of student-professor connections. www.insidehighered.com/news/student...
insidehighered.com
Data Shows Attendance Improves Student Success
Faculty say attendance is known to promote learning and improve student outcomes. Students say they want more flexibility to manage outside pressures.
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Sarah Rose Cavanagh @sarosecav.bsky.social · 12/06/2025
Or, as @allisonpugh.bsky.social puts it, “being able to have a human attend to your needs has become a luxury good.” www.nytimes.com/2024/12/04/o...
nytimes.com
Opinion | Human Interaction Is Now a Luxury Good
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Viji @vijisathy.bsky.social · 16/06/2025
Really good advice here by @rcolesworthy.bsky.social, with a mention to @derekkrissoff.bsky.social: “universities should celebrate the success of their faculty’s books as much as any big research award or sports championship.” www.chronicle.com/article/how-...
chronicle.com
Advice | How to Promote Your Scholarly Book
An acquisitions editor offers eight tips for marketing-shy academics.
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Qasim Rashid, Esq. @qasimrashid.com · 14/06/2025
I'm a human rights lawyer. If you're exercising your human right to protest on June 14, here are 13 rules I recommend you follow. No paywall. Free access. Please do read and share: www.qasimrashid.com/p/13-rules-t...
qasimrashid.com
13 Rules to Protect Yourself While Protesting
Read & Share if you're joining the No Kings protest on June 14, or know anyone who is
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Mike X. Nichols @mikexnichols.bsky.social · 13/06/2025
PSA for everyone going to protests
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Viji @vijisathy.bsky.social · 13/06/2025
Feeling sentimental about wrapping up my position UE, so I had Claude make a graphic summarizing my 10 yrs of work here. It’s of course a bit hokey but also pretty decent. I am so proud of the work I’ve been able to accomplish in undergrad ed supporting student success. New position reveal 7/1/25!
10 Years in Undergraduate Education
Transforming undergraduate learning through innovation & leadership
2015-2021
Special Projects Assistant to Senior Associate Dean
2022-Present
Associate Dean for Evaluation & Assessment
•
Curriculum Innovation
General Education Curriculum Revision, chaired University Teaching Awards
Research Program Launch
Established Townsend Program for Education
Research with Fellows initiative
•
COVID Response Leadership
Helped to transition to emergency online teaching, launched Class Features, published on pedagogy
Strategic Leadership
Serving on Provost Al Committee, leading curriculum evaluation, and steering policy
Data Tools Development
Built MCAD, departmental dashboards, syllabus manager, and check-in systems
Innovation Continues
Advancing College Thriving curriculum, makerspace advisory, graduate training
•
Faculty Development
Designed orientation programs, teaching institutes, and peer review systems
Student Success Focus
Championing student success initiatives and emergency preparedness training
10
Years Experience
20+
Major Projects
15+
Committees
4
Data Tools Built
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Viji @vijisathy.bsky.social · 13/06/2025
At an engineering conference last year, a colleague introduced me to water coloring. There’s a lot of trial and error but there is a lot of fun in the journey. Ahhh, summertime.
Image of 2 watercolor cards, one a bouquet od flowers the other a single flower, along with the travel kit.
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Viji @vijisathy.bsky.social · 02/06/2025
Join me in the NYT 5-day creativity challenge? Not quite summer days yet, but it’s beginning to feel it… www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
nytimes.com
The Creativity Challenge: Start With Some Quick Doodles (Gift Article)
Today, a fun way to feel less stuck.
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Anna Kornbluh @annakornbluh.bsky.social · 16/05/2025
"We are not the elites the billionaires claim we are. Most professors don’t have tenure. The humanities professoriate don’t even have full time jobs, have been known to sleep in their cars. How did these inconsequential people become enemies of the state?" www.houstonchronicle.com/opinion/outl...
houstonchronicle.com
I'm a professor. We're not the 'elite' the powerful billionaires say we are.
Most professors don't have tenure. An increasing number don't even have full-time jobs. How did these inconsequential people become enemies of the state?
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Viji @vijisathy.bsky.social · 18/05/2025
Holy smokes. A high school senior from my son’s school wrote this for this week’s newsletter and now the commencement tears are flowing. The future looks brilliant. Brava, Ms. Gibson!
This week, we seniors celebrate a milestone-but we must also acknowledge the weight of what it took to get here. Some of us crossed this finish line running. Some of us crawled. Some carried more than others: grief, fear, injustice, silence. And still
—we made it. That alone is a kind of brilliance.

We often talk about resilience as if it's loud-like it roars, or charges forward. But most of the time? Resilience is quiet. It's the voice that whispers, "Try again," when everything in you says, "I can't." It's the choice to get up, to speak up, to hold space for others when the world has made it hard to hold space for yourself. It's choosing to keep your eyes open in a world that wants you to look away. It's feeling deeply in a culture that rewards disconnection. It's listening-truly listening-even when what you hear is hard. The truth is, we are not graduating into a perfect world. A world that has taught us that our worth depends on where we were born, what language we speak, what we believe in, who we love, or the color of our skin. But we are exactly the people this imperfect world needs.We are the generation that understands complexity. That sees identity as layered, liberation as collective, and progress as non-linear-but still necessary. We are the ones who've learned to grieve and fight at the same time. To hope and rage in the same breath. That is a kind of wisdom older than any textbook, and more valuable than any diploma. We are here because we are the ones who can imagine better. Who can see the systems that are broken and ask not just why, but how-how we begin again. And we won't always get it right. But we must try.
Because what the world needs now-what it has always needed
-is people brave enough to stay tender. Brave enough to listen.
Brave enough to build.
Class of 2025, we've been told to go out into the world and make something of ourselves. But I hope that we can also make something with ourselves:
Make solidarity.
Make space.
Make mistakes, and take accountability.
Make change-but don't do it alone.We've learned that resilience is not about ignoring the world's pain. It's about bearing witness to it-and choosing to act anyway. Choosing to care anyway. Choosing to hope anyway.
And in a world that pushes you to numb yourself, to turn away, to go silent-staying open is an act of revolution. Because hope is not naive. Hope is radical. And it is the most powerful form of resistance we possess. So, as we step forward-into college, into careers, into communities, into change-don't leave behind the hard-earned lessons. Don't dull the edge of your empathy to survive. Don't shrink to make anyone else comfortable.
Instead:
Speak truth, and lead with radical hope.
Rest when you need to-but don't stop showing up. Not just for yourself, but for the people who never had the chance to sit in these seats. We owe this to each other, and to our futures. Not just because of our diplomas or our résumés. Because of what we've learned-and unlearned—about ourselves and our world.
Because of the questions we've begun to ask. Because of the voices we've found and the silence we've refused to keep.
Class of 2025, our resilience is brilliant. Let it light the way forward, for us, and for forever.
Naomi Gibson
DA '25
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Viji @vijisathy.bsky.social · 15/05/2025
“I’m ultimately an introvert who pretends to be an extrovert for work.” 🙃 Pre-ordered @amandalitman.bsky.social book When We’re in Charge. Ready to learn more about how millennials & Gen Zers lead. I’m not either, but I can relate to the idea that leadership will need to be even more human.
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Viji @vijisathy.bsky.social · 14/05/2025
Fascinating read… www.nytimes.com/2025/05/14/t...
nytimes.com
The Professors Are Using ChatGPT, and Some Students Aren’t Happy About It
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Science Magazine @science.org · 09/05/2025
Exclusive: National Science Foundation staff were told today that the agency’s 37 divisions—across all eight directorates—are being abolished and the number of programs within those divisions will be drastically reduced.
scim.ag
Exclusive: NSF faces radical shake-up as officials abolish its 37 divisions
Changes seen as a response to presidential directives on what research to fund
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Viji @vijisathy.bsky.social · 09/05/2025
“Teaching is a cornerstone of this university, as evidenced by the mission statement posted on our website, which currently leads to a 404 error page.” www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/int...
mcsweeneys.net
Introducing Our University’s New, Totally Reasonable Criteria for Promotion and Tenure
Since the founding of our august institution, we have awarded promotion and tenure based on how many pages of your research we could read before fa...
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Viji @vijisathy.bsky.social · 07/05/2025
I got my blue chair moment!! Had the great pleasure of getting to give the class of 2025 some advice. Love this shot that our university photographer captured for the piece. www.unc.edu/story/tar-he...
Photo of me seated in a blue upholstered chair in an empty lecture hall
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Viji @vijisathy.bsky.social · 12/04/2025
Love a good midday nappuccino with the pups.
2 pups in my bed, up close!
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Viji @vijisathy.bsky.social · 12/04/2025
This was a remarkable series. Dr. King was my favorite character. Warning: spoiler alerts in piece. time.com/7275814/the-...
time.com
Dr. Mel King Is a Small but Meaningful Step Forward for Neurodivergence Onscreen
Here's why resident Dr. Mel King, played by Taylor Dearden, is such a refreshing depiction or a neurodivergent-coded character.
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Jessamyn Neuhaus @geekypedagogy.bsky.social · 08/04/2025
I'm going to Wisconsin! Looking forward to the U of WI spring teaching conference this week. My keynote is titled: "A SoTL Reality Check: Three Underrecognized, Underexamined, and Underestimated Truths about Teaching and Learning." www.wisconsin.edu/spring-confe...
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Viji @vijisathy.bsky.social · 07/04/2025
Snack and active learning materials recommendations to mail participants? I’m part of a team offering a weeklong online workshop in May. We have a budget to send snacks and materials to participants in advance. Here’s what we’ve started with. Any other suggestions? Thanks!!!
Snacks
Bobo's Oat Bars
Siete Sea Salt Tortilla Chips
Hippeas Organic Chickpea Puffs
MadeGood Granola Bars
Enjoy Life Soft Baked Cookies chocolate (nut free)
Vegan gummy bears
Popcorn
Teaching Activity Materials
Lego's
Bingo Card
Play Doh
Post card
LCD Writing Tablet
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Dr. Liz Norell @liznorell.bsky.social · 04/04/2025
For some time, disabled educational developers have been advocating for more inclusive professional learning opportunities from the POD Network. Tonight, they published an exhaustive, unflinching, and with-receipts account of that fight. engagedlearningcollective.substack.com/p/what-happe...
engagedlearningcollective.substack.com
What Happened to POD’s Virtual Conference?
The POD Network refuses to host a virtual conference. That’s harming all educational developers, especially those who are disabled, vulnerable, or marginalized. But POD leaders don't seem to care.
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Viji @vijisathy.bsky.social · 01/04/2025
Ahh, spring time in the south.
Picture of my feet covered in yellow pollen
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Carolyn Bertozzi @carolynbertozzi.bskyverified.social · 17/03/2025
"If science is to honour one of its core values — a commitment to the truth wherever it might lead — scientists must stand up when DEI matters" www.nature.com/articles/d41...
nature.com
Don’t wait out four hard years: speak truth to power
The importance of diversity in science is an unshakeable reality that the scientific community must stand by.
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Viji @vijisathy.bsky.social · 12/03/2025
This one hits close to home. I know people who do this research. It’s far from wasteful. Examining what works and how is the bedrock of improvement, accountability, and transparency. When these are stripped we can’t know or produce effective action. www.nytimes.com/2025/03/12/u...
nytimes.com
Are Schools Succeeding? Education Department Cuts Could Make It Hard to Know (Gift Article)
At least 800 education department research employees and outside partners have lost jobs. The cuts will decimate research and data collection.
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Viji @vijisathy.bsky.social · 12/03/2025
It’s spring break, and although I have some meetings, I’ve decided to tackle a few projects on my create to do list. First up: customized 📱 Home Screen. I enlisted my son in the design work. We made this using google slides. Note that a certain book made it onto the shelf! 😉
Home Screen where apps on bookshelf and my book on the shelf.
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Travis T. York, Ph.D. (he/they) @travisyork.bsky.social · 12/03/2025
🧪The entire staff of the Department of Education’s NCES-a vital independent statistical agency - has just been RIFed. The continued erasure of data and evidence allows for the Trump administration to hide the impact of their corruption. #EduSky #Scisky @aeraedresearch.bsky.social @cossa.bsky.social
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Science Magazine @science.org · 07/03/2025
Breaking news: Thousands of researchers and their supporters, including recently fired federal workers, have gathered across the U.S. in response to layoffs and funding cuts ordered by the Trump administration. scim.ag/41zlPv4
scim.ag
Thousands gather across U.S. in Stand Up for Science events
Scientists rally across the country in response to layoffs and funding cuts ordered by the Trump administration
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Deborah Pearlstein @debpearlstein.bsky.social · 07/03/2025
Hours late to this, but what an unerring response. And imagine how different things might look if every university, every media organization, every independent corporation, every congressional committee met the current authoritarian overreach with similar clarity about their own rights and power.
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