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  • Can you picture your story on a big screen?

    Can you picture your story on a big screen?

    Some people would rather watch movies than read news articles.

    The thing is, an awful lot of movies came out of news articles. Consider the entire Fast & Furious movie franchise, starring Vin Diesel and my personal movie favorite Michelle Rodriguez (shout out!). It revolves around people who race souped up cars on city streets.

    The idea of the first movie started with an article by journalist Ken Li, after he saw someone steal a car in New York and that spurred him to investigate the underground world of street racing. Someone at Universal Studios saw the article and bought the rights to it. 

    Or consider the Tom Cruise movie Top Gun, about a cocky U.S. Navy pilot. The idea for that came from a story in California magazine about Navy pilots.

    How can all this help an aspiring journalist? Well, thinking about your news story as the movie that might be commissioned from it is a way of seeing the story. So how do you go about doing that?

    Visualize your story

    First, think of the characters in your story. Who are the central actors involved? Who is the Vin Diesel or Tom Cruise in your story? 

    Who does the problem you are exploring affect? Who is causing it or standing in the way of solutions? Who are the people trying to solve or mitigate the problem? In journalism, the basic story structure is Who, What, Where, When and Why. The characters are the Who of the story. 

    The most compelling movies (and news stories) revolve around conflict: What are the stakes? In Fast & Furious, one of the main conflicts is the role of Brian O’Connor, who starts out as an FBI agent investigating the car racers and then becomes loyal to them. 

    Movie scripts revolve around turning points: What could change the course? What steps are being taken to solve or mitigate the problem you are exploring? What are people or corporations or governments or organizations doing that could worsen the situation? This is the What of the story. 

    Then think about the setting: Where is the crisis playing out? The original Fast & Furious took place in Los Angeles. Top Gun took place at a naval base in San Diego, California. This is the Where of the story. 

    Finally, what drives your story is the motivation of the characters: Why do they take the actions they do? 

    In Top Gun, Tom Cruise’s character is motivated by the death of his friend Goose to be the best pilot he can be. In Fast & Furious, Vin Diesel is motivated by the death of Michelle Rodriguez’s character to seek justice. 

    Actions and motivations

    Death is a common motivation in movies — the killing of John Wick’s dog triggered one of the most successful movie franchises out there. But for non-fiction news stories, there can be all kinds of motivations: parents wanting to get their kids into good schools, communities wanting to fight crime in their neighborhoods, governments wanting to end homelessness. 

    In news stories this is the Why of the story. Why does some corporation build a plant in your community? Why does some NGO oppose a development proposal? What’s their reason and motivation?

    So now try this: Think of a problem around you that you want to explore. It could be about anything from climate change, to mental health or inequities in sports or education. Start by noting down the Who (actors), What (what’s at stake), When, Where (setting) and Why (the motivations of the characters). Then turn this into a few paragraphs as if you’re writing for a news site. 

    Start with a hook: It should be something interesting or important. Why is this a big story? Why should people care? Then summarize in one paragraph the whole story. What’s the overall problem? Where is it happening and when, how did it start, what is causing it and who is it affecting? 

    Next, slowly work through each of those elements — the who, what, where, when, how and why. There is the meat of your story. Finally, talk about what’s next. What are the solutions or mitigations happening or proposed?

    Who knows? You might get your story published and down the line a Hollywood or Bollywood producer calls you up. Now, isn’t that motivation to write a news story? Just make sure you have a good agent.

    Questions to consider:

    1. How can seeing your story as a movie help you report and write it?

    2. If your life played out as a movie, what would be the central theme?

    3. Think about the most important thing you are doing these days. What motivates you to do it?

     

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  • Re: University | Join the Conversation Before It’s Too Late

    Re: University | Join the Conversation Before It’s Too Late

    Hello Everyone,

    The Re: University team here! I know you didn’t expect to hear from us this week, but we just passed the 100-day mark until the Re: University conference and the excitement is getting real. For those of you who don’t know, we are hosting the conference in the Marriott Ottawa on January 28th and 29th. 

    Our full agenda will be released soon but we have begun announcing our speakers and themes. Our two-day agenda is focused on exploration and action.

    •  Day One looks outward and forward. Through provocative plenaries, global case spotlights, and rapid-fire exchanges, participants will examine how universities are adapting to shifting financial realities, emerging technologies, and new models of teaching and learning. The focus is on ideas: what’s possible, what’s working elsewhere, and what change might look like in practice. 
    • Day Two turns those ideas into strategy. Sessions will focus on the “how” of transformation, think: governance, funding models, partnerships, and culture change. Participants will dig into what it takes to move from experimentation to execution and build institutions that are both resilient and ready for the future. While we may be biased, it is an incredible lineup so far. 

    So if you haven’t already, you should check out who is on the agenda so far here.

    We also wanted to give you a heads up that we are 90% sold out of tickets so if you are planning to come, please make sure to get your ticket soon.

    The university is the focal point of this conference, although we have others attending from the college sector,  and we are so happy to say we have representatives from nearly 50 Canadian universities. If your institution isn’t on this list, we would love you to be part of the conversation:

    Algoma University

    Ambrose University

    Brock University

    Capilano University

    Carleton University

    Concordia University

    Dalhousie University

    Emily Carr University of Art and Design

    Kwantlen Polytechnic university

    Lakehead University

    McMaster University

    Memorial University of Newfoundland

    Mount Allison University

    Mount Royal University

    Mount Saint Vincent University

    Nipissing University

    Northeastern University

    Ontario College of Art & Design University

    Ontario Tech University

    Pacific Coast University for Workplace Health Sciences

    Queen’s University

    Saint Mary’s University

    Simon Fraser University

    St. Francis Xavier University

    St. Jerome’s University

    Thompson Rivers University

    Toronto Metropolitan University

    Trent University

    Université de l’Ontario français

    Université de Moncton

    Université de Montréal

    University College of the North

    University of Alberta

    University of British Columbia

    University of Calgary

    University of Guelph

    University of Guelph-Humber

    University of Manitoba

    University of Northern British Columbia

    University of Ottawa

    University of Regina

    University of Saskatchewan

    University of Toronto

    University of Victoria

    University of Waterloo

    Western University

    Wilfrid Laurier University

    York University

    Yorkville University

    We have been asked who should attend this conference and although it is open to anyone with an interest in the future of postsecondary education, we wanted to give you an idea of who will be joining these conversations. 

    40% of these attendees come from the President, Vice-President and Associate Vice-President portfolios, another 40% are Deans and Deputy Deans. The remaining 20% come from a wide range of roles such as CAOs, Special Advisors, Managers, Directors, Professors and many other important roles. We have attendees from institutions coast to coast with representatives also from colleges and polytechnics along with government, associations and various industry stakeholders. And not to forget our partners who we know are looking forward to meeting you all. Check them out here.

    Whoever you are, if you are passionate about the future of the university in Canada then now is the time to get involved in the conversation. 

    We hope to see you there,

    The Re: University Team

    Thank you to our partners:

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  • Effective tools to foster student engagement

    Effective tools to foster student engagement

    Key points:

    In my classroom, students increasingly ask for relevant content. Students want to know how what they are learning in school relates to the world beyond the classroom. They want to be engaged in their learning.

    In fact, the 2025-2026 Education Insights Report vividly proves that students need and want engaging learning experiences. And it’s not just students who see engagement as important. Engagement is broadly recognized as a key driver of learning and success, with 93 percent of educators agreeing that student engagement is a critical metric for understanding overall achievement. What is more, 99 percent of superintendents believe student engagement is one of the top predictors of success at school.

    Creating highly engaging lesson plans that will immerse today’s tech-savvy students in learning can be a challenge, but here are two easy-to-find resources that I can turn to turbo-charge the engagement quotient of my lessons:

    Virtual field trips
    Virtual field trips empower educators to introduce students to amazing places, new people and ideas, and remarkable experiences–without ever leaving the classroom. There are so many virtual field trips out there, but I always love the ones that Discovery Education creates with partners.

    This fall, I plan to take my K-5 students to see the world’s largest solar telescope, located in Hawaii, for a behind-the-scenes tour with the National Science Foundation and Sesame. For those with older grades, I recommend diving into engineering and architecture with the new Forging Innovation: A Mission Possible Virtual Field Trip.

    I also love the virtual tours of the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. Together as a class or individually, students can dive into self-guided, room-by-room tours of several exhibits and areas within the museum from a desktop or smart device. This virtual field trip does include special collections and research areas, like ancient Egypt or the deep ocean. This makes it fun and easy for teachers like me to pick and choose which tour is most relevant to a lesson.

    Immersive learning resources
    Immersive learning content offers another way to take students to new places and connect the wider world, and universe, to the classroom. Immersive learning can be easily woven into the curriculum to enhance and provide context.

    One immersive learning solution I really like is TimePod Adventures from Verizon. It features free time-traveling episodes designed to engage students in places like Mars and prehistoric Earth. Now accessible directly through a web browser on a laptop, Chromebook, or mobile device, students need only internet access and audio output to begin the journey. Guided by an AI-powered assistant and featuring grade-band specific lesson plans, these missions across time and space encourage students to take control, explore incredible environments, and solve complex challenges.

    Immersive learning content can be overwhelming at first, but professional development resources are available to help educators build confidence while earning microcredentials. These resources let educators quickly dive into new and innovative techniques and teaching strategies that help increase student engagement.

    Taken together, engaging learning opportunities are ones that show students how classrooms learnings directly connect to their real lives. With resources like virtual field trips and immersive learning content, students can dive into school topics in ways that are fun, fresh, and sometimes otherworldly.

    Latest posts by eSchool Media Contributors (see all)

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  • How Windows 11 is powering the next generation of K-12 innovation

    How Windows 11 is powering the next generation of K-12 innovation

    Key points:

    As school districts navigate a rapidly evolving digital landscape, IT and academic leaders face a growing list of challenges–from hybrid learning demands and complex device ecosystems to rising cybersecurity threats and accessibility expectations. To stay ahead, districts need more than incremental upgrades–they need a secure, intelligent, and adaptable technology foundation.

    That’s the focus of the new e-book, Smarter, Safer, and Future-Ready: A K-12 Guide to Migrating to Windows 11. This resource takes an in-depth look at how Windows 11 can help school districts modernize their learning environments, streamline device management, and empower students and educators with AI-enhanced tools designed specifically for education.

    Readers will discover how Windows 11:

    • Protects district data with built-in, chip-to-cloud security that guards against ransomware, phishing, and emerging cyberattacks.
    • Simplifies IT management through automated updates, intuitive deployment tools, and centralized control–freeing IT staff to focus on innovation instead of maintenance.
    • Drives inclusivity and engagement with enhanced accessibility features, flexible interfaces, and AI-powered personalization that help every learner succeed.
    • Supports hybrid and remote learning with seamless collaboration tools and compatibility across a diverse range of devices.

    The e-book also outlines practical strategies for planning a smooth Windows 11 migration–whether upgrading existing systems or introducing new devices–so institutions can maximize ROI while minimizing disruption.

    For CIOs, IT directors, and district technology strategists, this guide provides a blueprint for turning technology into a true driver of academic excellence, operational efficiency, and district resilience.

    Download the e-book today to explore how Windows 11 is helping K-12 districts become smarter, safer, and more future-ready than ever before.

    Laura Ascione
    Latest posts by Laura Ascione (see all)

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  • SAT and ACT participation remains below pre-pandemic levels

    SAT and ACT participation remains below pre-pandemic levels

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    Dive Brief:

    • Five years after COVID-19 shut down classrooms and shifted college admissions testing policies, the SAT and ACT are still drawing fewer students than during pre-pandemic years.
    • Some 1.38 million students took the ACT in 2025 compared to 1.78 million in 2019, and about 2 million students took the SAT this year versus 2.22 million in 2019, data released recently by the testing companies show. 
    • ​​​​​​​SAT scores, meanwhile, increased only slightly from the high school class of 2024 to the class of 2025, while ACT scores stayed about level. In both cases, scores fell below those from the pre-pandemic year of 2019. 

    Dive Insight:

    The slight uptick in SAT scores and level ACT scores for the high school graduating class of 2025 are still positive trends compared to last year, when average scores on both tests declined year-over-year compared to 2023.

    Still, SAT scores were still “substantially lower than average scores prior to the pandemic,” said College Board, the organization that publishes the test. In 2025, average SAT scores were 521 in reading and writing and 508 in math. In 2019, those averages were 10 points higher for reading and writing (531) and 20 points higher for math (528).

    The ACT average composite score, 19.4, also fell lower than the 2019 score of 20.7.

    For ACT test-takers, 30% met three or more of the four college readiness benchmarks in English, math, reading and science. The ACT benchmarks indicate that students have a 50% chance of earning a B or better in first-year college courses of the same subject and a 75% chance of a C or better. 

    Meanwhile, the dip in overall test takers for both exams continues a trend that dates to at least the pandemic, when colleges shifted toward test-optional policies. For the ACT, however, the numbers began declining much earlier. 

    While testing experts had expected the pandemic to trigger a shift away from K-12 standardized tests, ​​that didn’t materialize to a great degree and standardized and high-stakes testing are still core to K-12. 

    More than 90% of four-year colleges in the U.S. were not expected to require applicants for fall 2026 admission to submit ACT or SAT scores, according to data released in September by FairTest, a nonprofit that advocates for limiting college entrance exams. That’s over 2,000 of the nation’s bachelor-degree granting institutions. 

    Since fall 2020, the number of test-optional or test-free colleges have increased overall, the organization’s annual count shows.

    In the meantime, FairTest said the number of institutions requiring entrance exams minimally increased — from 154 for fall 2025 admissions to 160 for fall 2026 admissions.

    “While a handful of schools have reinstated testing requirements over the past two admissions cycles for a variety of institutional reasons and in response to external pressures, ACT/SAT-optional and test-blind/score-free policies remain the normal baseline in undergraduate admissions,” said FairTest Executive Director Harry Feder in a September statement. “Test-optional policies continue to dominate at national universities, state flagships, and selective liberal arts colleges.”

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  • University of Northern Colorado plans to lay off 50 employees

    University of Northern Colorado plans to lay off 50 employees

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    Dive Brief:

    • The University of Northern Colorado plans to lay off about 50 staff members in early November and eliminate roughly 30 vacant roles, CFO Dale Pratt said during a town hall last week. 
    • The layoffs come as the university tries to close a projected $7 million budget shortfall for fiscal 2026 and shrink its scale to meet lower enrollment levels. The job eliminations are expected to save $8 million to $10 million annually, or up to 7.5% of its personnel expenses. 
    • Signaling that layoffs were on the horizon earlier this month, university President Andy Feinstein pointed to unexpected reductions in state funding, lower-than-anticipated revenue from enrollment, inflation and historically low employee turnover.

    Dive Insight:

     Many of the University of Northern Colorado’s financial woes stem from enrollment that is shrinking faster than expenses. Between 2018 and 2023, the public institution’s fall headcount fell by nearly a third, to 9,067 students.

    Following the pandemic, officials had expected a rebound in enrollment that has yet to materialize, Pratt said. Meanwhile Feinstein said the university is still optimistic that growth lies ahead given robust retention rates and other factors.

    Even so, its student body is likely to remain smaller in the years ahead compared to the past. In his presentation, Pratt cited a note from S&P Global Ratings analysts arguing that the university’s financial health depended on its ability to scale down to meet a smaller student body going forward. 

    He also pointed to metrics showing that the university has more employees per student than nearly all other colleges in the state, and that its net operating results per student have been negative since fiscal 2023.

    Going into the fiscal year, officials had a balanced budget drawn up for fiscal 2026, based in part on expected employee turnover and projected enrollment. Leaving jobs unfilled would have allowed University of Northern Colorado to save on costs without having to resort to layoffs, which leaders did consider when initially making the budget earlier this year, Pratt said. 

    But not as many employees left on their own as the university expected, with its turnover rate falling from 19.1% in June 2022 to 11.8% in June of this year, according to Pratt’s presentation. Just between 2024 and 2025, the turnover rate fell by 2 percentage points.

    Moreover, Colorado lawmakers reduced the university’s funding for the current fiscal year by $550,000 to plug an unanticipated hole in the state budget, Pratt said. 

    An even bigger financial blow came as the new school year began. In the fall semester, 391 fewer students enrolled than the institution budgeted for, with an actual headcount of 8,443. That metric includes 119 fewer degree-seeking undergraduate students than anticipated, which Pratt described as especially worrisome. 

    “There were changes here that occurred that really caught us off guard,” Pratt said. 

    Although officials are still analyzing what exactly happened, Pratt pointed to the Trump administration’s aggressive approach to immigration and visas, including for international students, and the recent state budget cuts. 

    That translated into a dip in international enrollment at larger universities in the state, including University of Colorado and Colorado State University. However, to compensate for the declines, those institutions may have recruited and enrolled students that otherwise would have gone to the University of Northern Colorado, Patt and Feinstein said. 

    All of those factors combined to strain the University of Northern Colorado’s budget and pressure leaders to make cuts. Officials were still clearing the layoffs with the university’s legal and human resources offices at the time of the townhall, Pratt noted. 

    He also said that faculty positions would only be eliminated through vacancies or nonrenewals of contracts. 

    In addition to its workforce, the university plans to rein in spending on travel, professional development and services and supplies. It is also reviewing student wages and graduate assistantships. 

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  • Campus Censorship Puts American Soft Power at Risk

    Campus Censorship Puts American Soft Power at Risk

    International students see American life portrayed in movies and on TikTok; U.S. universities have built global brands, helped along by Hollywood and merchandising. When it comes time to apply, international students can readily imagine a U.S. college experience, starting with seeing themselves in a crimson sweatshirt studying on a grassy quad flanked by ivy-covered buildings.

    And as the U.S.’s hold on cutting-edge science and innovation slips away to China, and other destinations with more welcoming visa policies offer lower-cost degrees and jobs, soft power might be the only edge American universities have left.

    The desire is about more than bricks and mortarboards. Students from other countries have long sought out American values of academic freedom and open discourse. They are excited by ideas and experiences that are as emblematic of the American way of life as tailgating on game day: criticizing the government, discussing LGBTQ+ rights or learning about the Tiananmen Square massacre in China, the Armenian genocide in Turkey or the comfort women victimized by the Imperial Japanese Army.

    But in 2025, those freedoms are at risk of becoming strictly theoretical. Anti-DEI laws in Utah led to Weber State University asking researchers to remove the words “diversity,” “equity” and “inclusion” from their slides before presenting at a—wait for it—conference on navigating the complexities of censorship. Conference organizers canceled the event after other presenters pulled out in protest.

    University leaders in Texas and Florida are refusing to put in writing policies that prohibit faculty from talking about transgender identity or diversity, equity and inclusion in classrooms, sowing fear and confusion across their campuses. A secret recording of a Texas A&M professor talking about gender in her class led to a successful campaign by a state representative to get her fired and forced a former four-star general to resign as university president.

    This weekend, students at Towson University moved their No Kings rally off campus after school officials told them their speakers’ names would be run through a federal government database. They changed locations out of fear the speakers would be targeted by the Trump administration.

    Meanwhile, dozens of faculty are still out of jobs after being fired for posting comments online about the murder of Charlie Kirk. Repressing free speech on social media is also what the Chinese government does to political dissenters.

    It’s true that colleges are exercising American values by following laws passed by democratically elected legislators. And presidents say they will follow the rule of law without compromising their missions, but overcompliance with vague legislation and policies is incompatible with this aim.

    International students who care about more than a name brand may find the erosion of the country’s global reputation as a democratic stronghold a reason to look elsewhere. That means billions of dollars are also at stake if international students no longer trust in America’s values and choose to stay away. Modeling from NAFSA: Association of International Educators projected a 30 to 40 percent drop in international students this fall that would result in $7 billion in lost revenue and more than 60,000 fewer jobs across the country. Records from August suggest a similar outlook: 19 percent fewer students arrived in the U.S. compared to August 2024.

    International students bring more than just valuable tuition dollars to American campuses. They contribute global perspectives to their less traveled American peers and build relationships that could turn into partnerships when they go home and become entrepreneurs or political leaders.

    Higher ed can track the number of international student visas issued, students who enroll and the economic contributions of these students, but they can’t quantify what it means when a student in Shanghai stops imagining America as a place where all ideas can be expressed and explored. It’s taken decades for this country to build power based on free expression and open discourse, but by the time the loss of students starts to register in economic data and visa applications, the decline may be too late to reverse.

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  • Big 4 Becomes Big 14 in Dominating International Ed

    Big 4 Becomes Big 14 in Dominating International Ed

    The era of the “big four” international education destinations has passed, with at least a dozen rival nations jostling for primacy.

    Stephanie Smith, Shanghai-based trade commissioner with Austrade, said Chinese students heading overseas before the coronavirus pandemic mainly chose from the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia or Canada. That has changed since COVID. “The agents talk about the ‘big 14,’” Smith told the Australian International Education Conference. “It puts us in a lot more of a competitive environment.”

    She said affordability issues are driving Chinese students to look at alternative destinations, as a global cost-of-living crisis coincided with a domestic economic slump. Options closer to home also offered linguistic familiarity, geographical proximity and—arguably—better employment and internship opportunities.

    Hong Kong had become a “massive new market” for mainland Chinese students, particularly after the territory allowed universities to increase the nonlocal share of subsidized enrollments to 50 percent. Government investment in higher education has been paying off in rankings success. “You can really count Hong Kong as a new key competitor for Australia,” Smith told the conference.

    Others included Ireland, Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates and Vietnam. Ireland in particular has done “a good job at destination marketing in China.” France and Germany were considered safe and welcoming with good employment opportunities and low tuition fees.

    “It’s no longer just teach and they will come,” Smith told Australian educators. “We have to defend and grow our position through marketing, promotion and showcasing.”

    Alternative destinations now collectively attract more prospective Chinese students than any of the big four members, according to the latest survey by IDP Education, with France under consideration by 30 percent and Germany by 19 percent.

    “The competition really is hotting up,” said Melissa Banks, senior partner with the consultancy The Lygon Group. She said the large Southeast Asian nations of Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam were not only “setting themselves up” to host transnational education partnerships, such as foreign branch campuses, “but they are also attracting students in their own right.”

    France aims to enroll 500,000 international students by 2027 as part of its Bienvenue en France strategy. India reportedly has a goal of enrolling 500,000 foreign students by 2047, while Japan wants to host 400,000 by 2033.

    South Korea’s target of 300,000 international students by 2027 has reportedly been reached two years ahead of schedule. Turkey wants 500,000 by 2028. Kazakhstan’s target of 100,000 foreign students by 2028 has reportedly been increased by 50 percent. Other countries reportedly setting international enrollment targets include Azerbaijan, Finland, Iran and Taiwan.

    Jon Chew, chief insights officer at Navitas, said expressions like the “big four” belonged to the “market era,” when “winning” meant volume and growth.

    “Do we have the composition, the distribution, the integrity and the quality that we want? If we do, maybe it doesn’t matter that we’re losing market share. It is going to be competitive, but I think it’s a very different outlook that we’re going into.”

    Julian Hill, Australia’s assistant minister for international education, said geopolitics and demographic change have fueled a shift toward “a more multipolar sector.” This is a welcome development, he said.

    “This sector … allows young people at formative stages of their life to get to know other societies and get to know each other. I think it’s a very good thing that that occurs in a blended way across as much of the world as possible.”

    Larissa Bezo, CEO of the Canadian Bureau for International Education, said the tally of “top receiving countries” numbered somewhere between 15 and 20. “We’ve moved well beyond the big four,” she told the conference. “I see that as a positive.”

    Bezo highlighted the opportunities for “traditional receiving markets” like Canada to “work together” with emerging destinations. Canadian institutions, burned by Ottawa’s international student caps, are “very much leaning into partnerships and … new modes of transnational education.”

    The same applies Down Under, according to Phil Honeywood, CEO of the International Education Association of Australia. “There’s already such strong partnerships offshore in Dubai, in Malaysia and so on. There’s an opportunity to really be part of that new study hub progression, rather than be competing with it.”

    Fanta Aw, CEO of the Washington, D.C.–based NAFSA: Association of International Educators, said many of the competing institutions in the Middle East and Asia had been established by locals educated in American colleges. “These are graduates of U.S. institutions … going back and creating capacity at home. That’s part of what education is supposed to be about. I think this is healthy.”

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  • Publishing Advice From “Public Scholar,” “L.A. Times” Editor

    Publishing Advice From “Public Scholar,” “L.A. Times” Editor

    In the latest episode of The Key, Inside Higher Ed’s news and analysis podcast, Philip Gray, op-ed editor at the Los Angeles Times, and Susan D’Agostino, mathematician turned writer and columnist behind “The Public Scholar” at Inside Higher Ed, join IHE editor in chief Sara Custer to give insider tips on getting published and advocate for public scholarship—even when it feels risky in a polarized society. 

    Gray shares his top three tips when submitting an op-ed and D’Agostino walks listeners through her journey from tenured math professor to published author and freelance writer—including the humbling moment when her first op-ed landed in the local press instead of The New York Times, and why that was exactly where it needed to be.

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  • Jury Awards $6M in CSU Harassment Case

    Jury Awards $6M in CSU Harassment Case

    The California State University system must pay $6 million to a former official at Cal State San Bernardino who accused administrators of harassment, The San Bernardino Sun reported.

    Anissa Rogers, a former associate dean at CSUSB’s Palm Desert campus from 2019 through 2022, alleged that she and other female employees were subjected to “severe or pervasive” gender-based harassment by system officials. Rogers alleged she observed unequal treatment of female employees by university administrators, which was never investigated when she raised concerns. Instead, Rogers said, she was forced to resign after expressing concerns.

    Rogers and Clare Weber, the former vice provost of the Palm Desert campus, sued the system and two San Bernardino officials in 2023. Weber alleged in the lawsuit that she was fired after expressing concerns about her low pay compared to male counterparts with similar duties.

    That lawsuit was later split, and Weber’s case is reportedly expected to go to trial next year.

    “Dr. Rogers stood up not only for herself, but also the other women who have been subjected to gender-based double standards within the Cal State system,” Courtney Abrams, the plaintiff’s attorney, told The San Bernadino Sun following a three-week trial in Los Angeles Superior Court.

    A Cal State San Bernardino spokesperson told the newspaper that CSUSB was “disappointed by the verdict reached by the jury” and “we will be reviewing our options to assess next steps.”

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