Lee Gardner
@leegee.bsky.social
Reporter at @chronicle.com, music nerd, lotsa other kinds of nerd too. Half of @essentialpod.bsky.social and all of @vgplusrecs.bsky.social. He/him
Pinned
Why Workforce Pell Programs Have Been Slow to Materialize
The federal policy is seen as a game-changer, but mismatches with the ways colleges actually work have curbed its rollout.
www.chronicle.com
I wrote about why the long-awaited advent of workforce Pell hasn't resulted in a flood of approved programs, or even a flood of applications for approval!
John Coltrane was born 100 years ago today. We should all get off work and schools should close.
September 23, 2026 at 11:30 AM
John Coltrane was born 100 years ago today. We should all get off work and schools should close.
Strongly recommend this deep cut if you need some sass in your day.
Thanks to @leegee.bsky.social and Shazam, I've been hooked on this song (which was new to me) for the past week.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=3uIE...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=3uIE...
You Can Have Him
YouTube video by Dionne Warwick - Topic
www.youtube.com
September 22, 2026 at 1:45 PM
Strongly recommend this deep cut if you need some sass in your day.
Brb bailing out from the tsunami of ranking emails.
September 22, 2026 at 1:31 PM
Brb bailing out from the tsunami of ranking emails.
I wrote about why the long-awaited advent of workforce Pell hasn't resulted in a flood of approved programs, or even a flood of applications for approval!
Why Workforce Pell Programs Have Been Slow to Materialize
The federal policy is seen as a game-changer, but mismatches with the ways colleges actually work have curbed its rollout.
www.chronicle.com
September 21, 2026 at 8:12 PM
I wrote about why the long-awaited advent of workforce Pell hasn't resulted in a flood of approved programs, or even a flood of applications for approval!
Reposted by Lee Gardner
The workforce Pell program is starting slowly (which I think is a feature, not a bug), as only about five programs have qualified since July 1 in spite of a lot of media attention.
This tidbit from here in Tennessee made me chuckle. Implementation is tough.
www.chronicle.com/article/work...
This tidbit from here in Tennessee made me chuckle. Implementation is tough.
www.chronicle.com/article/work...
September 19, 2026 at 9:29 AM
The workforce Pell program is starting slowly (which I think is a feature, not a bug), as only about five programs have qualified since July 1 in spite of a lot of media attention.
This tidbit from here in Tennessee made me chuckle. Implementation is tough.
www.chronicle.com/article/work...
This tidbit from here in Tennessee made me chuckle. Implementation is tough.
www.chronicle.com/article/work...
💸
Does your school's NIL arm sell a university-branded whiskey?
Then you should know it is a Silicon Valley-incubated, venture capital-backed, AI-native disruption play.
www.foiaball.com/p/nil-whiske...
Then you should know it is a Silicon Valley-incubated, venture capital-backed, AI-native disruption play.
www.foiaball.com/p/nil-whiske...
September 18, 2026 at 1:12 PM
💸
Just so you know, flannel shirts should not have button-down collars. Follow me for more critical fashion rulings.
September 17, 2026 at 8:57 PM
Just so you know, flannel shirts should not have button-down collars. Follow me for more critical fashion rulings.
So many assumptions bound up in this term, and all reliably off base.
Been wanting to write this piece for years. My magnum opus on not using the term "the working class." newrepublic.com/article/2155...
The Term “Working Class” Is Useless
Too many political analysts and pollsters are relying on education to define the working class, and it’s leading us to the wrong conclusions.
newrepublic.com
September 17, 2026 at 6:28 PM
So many assumptions bound up in this term, and all reliably off base.
Once again feeling pretty good about my long-ago decision to reclaim the section of my brain I had previously allowed to be overgrown by half-hearted attention to sports.
Inside the SEC's tangled legal battle with LSU and Lane Kiffin
It's a twisted tale of grandstanding politicians, colorful characters and college football's most polarizing figure.
www.espn.com
September 17, 2026 at 4:23 PM
Once again feeling pretty good about my long-ago decision to reclaim the section of my brain I had previously allowed to be overgrown by half-hearted attention to sports.
I feel like having gambling on our phones is going to turn out to be a bad idea.
September 12, 2026 at 10:54 PM
I feel like having gambling on our phones is going to turn out to be a bad idea.
Only the Americans, and it wasn’t easy. Wish we could have gotten figures for everyone.
remember when the city paper had a running tally on the front cover of the casualties in the forever war
"An additional 30 US troops have been wounded in the war with Iran, according to the Pentagon’s casualty database.
This brings the total number of US troops wounded to 820, while 18 have been killed since the US war on Iran began on 28 February."
www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/li...
This brings the total number of US troops wounded to 820, while 18 have been killed since the US war on Iran began on 28 February."
www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/li...
September 9, 2026 at 4:06 AM
Only the Americans, and it wasn’t easy. Wish we could have gotten figures for everyone.
Reposted by Lee Gardner
A cool new article by @jchoi.bsky.social finds that public research universities operating under RCM budget models increased faculty salaries relative to non-RCM universities and also increased the assistant professor share of faculty. This is great work!
How decentralized budgeting shapes faculty salaries and employment: Evidence from responsibility center management (RCM) - Higher Education
Amid calls for greater efficiency, public research universities in the U.S. have increasingly adopted Responsibility Center Management (RCM), a decentralized budget model granting greater fiscal auton...
link.springer.com
September 8, 2026 at 3:27 PM
A cool new article by @jchoi.bsky.social finds that public research universities operating under RCM budget models increased faculty salaries relative to non-RCM universities and also increased the assistant professor share of faculty. This is great work!
My (very common) word-processing software has just started asking me if I’d like AI to help polish the graf I just finished writing NO THANK YOU DO NOT WANT
September 8, 2026 at 4:29 PM
My (very common) word-processing software has just started asking me if I’d like AI to help polish the graf I just finished writing NO THANK YOU DO NOT WANT
Reposted by Lee Gardner
The rumors are true. @shenandoahkate.bsky.social and I are starting a newsletter!
This is for decision makers -- department chair, associate director, or college president, etc. -- and we'll be break down how they manage the tough calls on campus.
Sign up here:
www.chronicle.com/newsletter/d...
This is for decision makers -- department chair, associate director, or college president, etc. -- and we'll be break down how they manage the tough calls on campus.
Sign up here:
www.chronicle.com/newsletter/d...
Decision Points
Decision Points is a knowledge community for the next generation of higher-ed leaders. Delivered every Tuesday.
www.chronicle.com
September 3, 2026 at 2:11 PM
The rumors are true. @shenandoahkate.bsky.social and I are starting a newsletter!
This is for decision makers -- department chair, associate director, or college president, etc. -- and we'll be break down how they manage the tough calls on campus.
Sign up here:
www.chronicle.com/newsletter/d...
This is for decision makers -- department chair, associate director, or college president, etc. -- and we'll be break down how they manage the tough calls on campus.
Sign up here:
www.chronicle.com/newsletter/d...
I wrote about Neeli Bendapudi, president of Penn State, for our People to Watch issue. Running a big public university is challenging in the best of circumstances, but political frictions and structural issues make her job even tougher.
Neeli Bendapudi’s Balancing Act
She is shrinking Penn State. Can she save it?
www.chronicle.com
August 31, 2026 at 1:41 PM
I wrote about Neeli Bendapudi, president of Penn State, for our People to Watch issue. Running a big public university is challenging in the best of circumstances, but political frictions and structural issues make her job even tougher.
Make a novel smaller
Their Eyes Were Watching Hulu
Their Eyes Were Watching Hulu
Make a novel smaller
Okay Expectations
Okay Expectations
The Crying of Lot 29
August 24, 2026 at 9:17 PM
Make a novel smaller
Their Eyes Were Watching Hulu
Their Eyes Were Watching Hulu
I have no pithy remarks to accompany this.
Wildfires Are Turning Forests in the American West Into Shrubland (Gift Article)
Towering woodlands in the West are being permanently replaced by tracts of spiky shrubs. Conditions “just aren’t normal anymore,” one researcher said.
www.nytimes.com
August 23, 2026 at 12:20 PM
I have no pithy remarks to accompany this.
1000 x this
Am genuinely flummoxed by the NYT’s claim that my city’s (to be celebrated) low homicide rate is operating “in a Baltimore that no one alive has experienced.” There were 89 homicides record in ‘61, for example, and I’m pretty sure that there are some people born in, say, 1951 who can remember that.
August 20, 2026 at 4:29 PM
1000 x this
Well wouldja lookee there?
Colleges’ Tenure-Track Faculty Numbers Rise, While Staff Counts Show Steep Drop
The rise in tenure-track faculty members represented the largest single-year increase since 2016, according to new data from CUPA-HR.
chronicle.com
August 20, 2026 at 1:22 PM
Well wouldja lookee there?
I really wish all the software I use would stop trying to talk to me or to get me to talk to it.
August 19, 2026 at 9:34 PM
I really wish all the software I use would stop trying to talk to me or to get me to talk to it.
Reposted by Lee Gardner
There are only 2 reasons to write a piece about this non-story right now. First is because you are a transphobe bigot and want to keep the hate train going. Second is because you think writing about this lady is good for business and don't care about trans people, which also counts as being a bigot.
Cool article. For me to poop on.
EXCLUSIVE:
"People are like, 'You have a platform. Use it,' and then once you use it, it's like, 'Go back to playing basketball.'”
"We can be a great example of how to do both."
Sophie Cunningham talks the ongoing WNBA discourse around trans athletes:
"People are like, 'You have a platform. Use it,' and then once you use it, it's like, 'Go back to playing basketball.'”
"We can be a great example of how to do both."
Sophie Cunningham talks the ongoing WNBA discourse around trans athletes:
August 19, 2026 at 3:53 PM
There are only 2 reasons to write a piece about this non-story right now. First is because you are a transphobe bigot and want to keep the hate train going. Second is because you think writing about this lady is good for business and don't care about trans people, which also counts as being a bigot.
Reposted by Lee Gardner
Now available: John Thelin's magisterial History of American Higher Education, fully updated in its fourth edition. www.press.jhu.edu/books/title/... @hopkinspress.bsky.social @universityofky.bsky.social #HigherEd
August 19, 2026 at 4:01 PM
Now available: John Thelin's magisterial History of American Higher Education, fully updated in its fourth edition. www.press.jhu.edu/books/title/... @hopkinspress.bsky.social @universityofky.bsky.social #HigherEd
So, basically, a small cadre of highly motivated individuals could send this country back to the 19th century (technologically speaking) without too much trouble. And they’ve already been practicing.
The Blackout That Could Devastate America (Gift Article)
The power grid relies on thousands of aging, hand-built transformers. If enough fail, the blackout could last years.
www.nytimes.com
August 18, 2026 at 11:55 AM
So, basically, a small cadre of highly motivated individuals could send this country back to the 19th century (technologically speaking) without too much trouble. And they’ve already been practicing.
Always remember: Never punch down.
August 17, 2026 at 1:53 PM
Always remember: Never punch down.