Theo Scheer

Colleges Aren’t Supposed to Fiddle With Their Wikipedia Pages. They Try Anyway. It’s just one way that the public’s understanding of higher ed is increasingly out of colleges’ hands.

Colleges aren’t supposed to fiddle with their Wikipedia pages. They try anyway.

www.chronicle.com/article/coll...

He Helped Lead a Disgraced College Accreditor. Under Trump, He Might Have Another Shot. A new accreditation venture seeks to measure the “formation of the human person.” The involvement of Anthony Bieda, a longtime executive at ACICS, is raising eyebrows.

www.chronicle.com/article/he-h...

Good work from our @theoscheer.bsky.social

Columbia Struck a Deal to Save Research Funding. How Do Its Researchers Feel About That? Faculty and others expressed a mixture of relief and frustration over the deal, under which the university will pay over $200 million to have most of its research funding restored.

Was it worth it? No matter how the costs are measured, faculty said that Columbia didn’t have much of a choice. “We’re more or less negotiating the terms of our own mugging,” said @karl-jacoby.bsky.social.

By Sarah Huddleston, @theoscheer.bsky.social, Camila Gomez: www.chronicle.com/article/colu...

A 4/4 Teaching Load Becomes Law at Most of Wisconsin’s Public Universities The mandate, included in the state’s new budget, applies to full-time faculty across the University of Wisconsin system — except at the two R1 universities, where professors must carry 2/2 loads.

Faculty members at most campuses across the University of Wisconsin system will soon have to teach at least eight courses per academic year.
www.chronicle.com/article/a-4-...

Also: I’m writing for The Chronicle of Higher Education this summer.

Got something I should know? Email me: Theo.Scheer@Chronicle.com

Research Grants Increasingly Require Compliance With Trump’s Orders. Here’s How Colleges Are Responding. Scientists and institutions are struggling to navigate new conditions for receiving funding from the National Institutes of Health and other federal agencies.

Federal research grants increasingly require compliance with Trump’s orders.

Researchers are unsure how the requirements will affect their work, and they say colleges don’t always give them guidance on how to respond.

For @chronicle.com:
www.chronicle.com/article/rese...

Research Grants Increasingly Require Compliance With Trump’s Orders. Here’s How Colleges Are Responding. Scientists and institutions are struggling to navigate new conditions for receiving funding from the National Institutes of Health and other federal agencies.

Research Grants Increasingly Require Compliance With Trump’s Orders. Here’s How Colleges Are Responding. good reporting by @theoscheer.bsky.social: www.chronicle.com/article/rese...

MSU professor who called 2020 election ‘crooked’ to be top FCC lawyer - The State News Adam Candeub, an MSU law professor, has been open about his support for Trump and his willingness to serve under another Trump administration. Private emails obtained by The State News through a publi...

The MSU law professor who wrote a chapter of Project 2025 will be the FCC’s top lawyer.

I got ahold of emails showing his alignment with the president.

He said there was “no insurrection,” a “crooked election,” and that “the indictment is bullshit.”
statenews.com/article/2025...

MSU’s accreditors visit campus for review amid concerns over board - The State News Though representatives from the Higher Learning Commission decide whether to renew MSU’s accreditation every ten years, recent turmoil within MSU’s Board of Trustees has raised additional concerns for...

Michigan State University’s accreditors visited campus earlier this week as part of a comprehensive review of the university’s accreditation status, which was called into question last year amid infighting within MSU’s top leadership.

statenews.com/article/2024...

MSU already spent over $500k on investigation into allegations of board chair misconduct - The State News An outside investigation into allegations that board chair Rema Vassar violated board bylaws and university policies has cost Michigan State University $500,669.98 as of Nov. 30 2023.

MSU has already spent over $500k on the investigation into allegations of board chair Vassar's misconduct, records show t.co/2CsavPcxTf

13 interviews, 50+ emails, multiple FOIAs and 5 months of research later, I present to you: an exhaustive history/analysis of the steam tunnels under MSU.

statenews.com/article/2024...

The draft began with a page titled "In Memoriam," acknowledging "those impacted by the mass shooting tragedy experienced by MSU and the surrounding community on February 13, 2023."

The entire page was removed from the final report, and no memorial was included in its place. (4/4)

The draft initially reported that MSU trustees "desperately wanted to help (during the shooting) and became involved in the incident beyond their expertise and outside of their appropriate role."

The wording of this finding was softened in the final version. (3/4)

The final version said investigators were "unable" to interview some officers that responded to the shooting.

The draft version instead said officers, including federal agencies, "refused" to participate in the review, calling their "lack of trust" "unfortunate." (2/4)

‘Lack of trust': officers, agencies refused to participate in outside review of MSU shooting respo... Law enforcement officers and federal agencies refused to participate in a review of Michigan State University’s response to their February mass shooting, according to a draft of the review, which ca...

I got ahold of a draft of a report analyzing MSU's response to the Feb. mass shooting. Here's how it differed from the final, published version.

Read: ‘Lack of trust': officers, agencies refused to participate in outside review of MSU shooting response

statenews.com/article/2024...