How bad is the social studies curriculum the United Conservative Party wants to start piloting? Alberta Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides (Photo: Alberta Newsroom/Flickr). We all know it’s bad. But I mean, seriously, how bad is it really? Last Friday, the expert panel asked by the province to weigh in on
Continue readingTag: Demetrios Nicolaides
Alberta Politics: Demetrios Nicolaides’ red-tape plan for post-secondaries is about dominating free speech on campus, not defending it
Notwithstanding the inevitable rhetoric about defending “free speech” on campus, it’s worth remembering that’s not the reason for Advanced Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides’ planned homework assignment for Alberta’s post-secondary institutions. Burman University in Lacombe, the former Canadian University College, is exempt from the UCP requirement to sign the Chicago Principles
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Firing at Athabasca U suggests there are now two classes of public board members in Alberta – those appointed by the UCP and those not
Writing in The Tyee Thursday, Alberta-based investigative journalist Charles Rusnell reported that Athabasca University’s president was fired Wednesday without a vote of the institution’s entire board of governors. Athabasca University Board of Governors Chair Byron Nelson, a former candidate to lead the Progressive Conservative Party of Alberta (Photo: Byron Nelson).
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Advanced education minister’s video features porkies about premiers, prime ministers and petroleum
Why did Advanced Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides choose or approve a nano-clip of prime minister Pierre Trudeau saying “just watch me” to illustrate a cringeworthy social media video justifying Premier Danielle Smith’s unconstitutional Sovereignty Act? Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau in his famous 1970 interview with CBC reporter Tim Ralfe (Photo:
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Minister’s demand substantially unchanged on move of Athabasca University executives, many staff, to town 145 kilometres north of Edmonton
Advanced Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides indicated yesterday he hasn’t changed his mind about requiring Athabasca University’s nine top executives to move to the town of Athabasca. The Town of Athabasca, as seen from the north side of the Athabasca River (Photo: David J. Climenhaga). He told a virtual meeting of
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Advanced education minister drops demand that 500 Athabasca University employees must move to town of Athabasca
Alberta Advanced Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides seems to have dropped his threat to cut off some or all of Athabasca University’s $41.2 million annual operating funds if the distance-learning institution fails to come up with a plan by the end of September to move 500 employees to the town of
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Funding threatened by advanced education minister, battle over Athabasca University’s future continues
What’s up with Athabasca University, where Advanced Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides has threatened to cut off much of the 52-year-old Alberta institution’s funding if it won’t drop plans to move most of its operations into cyberspace from the rural town that serves as its nominal home base? Alberta Advanced Education
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Advanced Education Minister pushes back at Athabasca University president’s plans – how will they square this circle?
Happy Easter! Alberta Advanced Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides (Photo: Alberta Newsroom/Flickr). On Monday we asked if Athabasca University’s administration had gone rogue and was defying the Kenney Government with plans to let faculty, administration and staff live where they pleased, or if the premier and members of his cabinet were
Continue readingAlberta Politics: ‘Exceptional tuition increases’ to hammer University of Alberta students in 12 professional programs this fall
The first news stories about the “exceptional tuition increases” in 12 University of Alberta programs Advanced Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides has quietly approved are bound to focus on the startling percentages – 100 per cent or more in the case of a couple of programs. But what’s needed beyond that
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Social media abuzz with reports of UCP staffers, MLA vacationing abroad despite pandemic travel warnings
Social media is abuzz with reports of United Conservative Party staffers and at least one UCP MLA enjoying vacations abroad notwithstanding the federal government’s pleas for Canadians to cancel all travel during the coronavirus pandemic. Most mainstream media in Alberta, however, seem to be engaging in an anguished internal debate
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Corporate lobbyist and former aide to two Conservative premiers named University of Alberta external relations VP
A high-profile lobbyist with connections to past Alberta Conservative governments and involvement in a controversial effort to open a large private hospital in Edmonton has been named as the University of Alberta’s new vice-president of external relations. U of A leadership, presumably, concluded lobbyist Elan MacDonald has the connections necessary
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Big changes at Athabasca U: President departs for B.C. Interior; health dean returns to faculty ranks
Neil Fassina is about to leave his job as president of Athabasca University to lead a small public college in Kelowna, B.C. Two weeks ago, Okanagan College announced in a press release that Dr. Fassina would be taking over as president of the 8,500-student institution on April 1, 2021. The
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Oddities: online term paper ‘ghostwriter’ site believes impersonator used UCP minister’s name and credentials
An online custom term paper writing service called UnemployedProfessors.com says it now believes a contract writer listed on its website under the name and credentials of Alberta’s minister of advanced education is an impersonator. After references to the “unemployed professor profile” in the name of Demetrios Nicolaides cropped up on
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Athabasca U: The redheaded stepchild of Alberta universities faces a Cinderella moment
Is Athabasca University, long the redheaded stepchild of Alberta’s universities, about to have its Cinderella moment? After years of financial insecurity and deep angst about a mission seemingly made redundant by the Internet that sometimes gave the impression of an existential crisis about to go critical, there are signs the
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Post-secondary review: Alberta prepares to train the workforce of yesterday, starting tomorrow!
Brace yourself for the First 10-Year Plan for the rapid modernization of post-secondary education! As a general rule, promises by highly ideological governments to enact ambitious transformational change in institutions they have targeted as hotbeds of opposition to their dogma and policies should be viewed with a certain amount of
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: In Search of Efficiencies in Higher Education…or something…
“The greatest waste now confronting us is not one of money but of human possibilities.” – John Maynard Keynes Ms Soapbox is concerned that the recent announcement by Mr Nicolaides, the minister of Advanced Education, has brought Alberta another step closer to squandering its human possibilities. Mr Nicolaides announced
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Alberta’s UCP deploys the red tape weapon: an example from the War on Education
Never let it be said Alberta’s United Conservative Party Government hates red tape. On the contrary, Premier Jason Kenney’s Government loves the stuff – at least if you define red tape as most dictionaries do, to wit, excessive bureaucratic rules that make it more difficult to get stuff done. Advanced
Continue readingAlberta Politics: UCP’s Friday Morning Massacre purges NDP appointees from Alberta’s boards, agencies and commissions
You almost have to admire Alberta’s United Conservative Party Government for the thoroughness of its sudden purge of NDP appointees to government agencies, boards and commissions yesterday. The Friday Morning Massacre began with news the UCP was clearing out NDP appointments on the boards of 10 post-secondary institutions and the
Continue readingAlberta Politics: The ‘Chicago Principles’ are code for the right of the powerful and privileged to shout down everyone else
“Free speech in universities” is nowadays a rallying cry for the snowflakes of the extremist right, who can dish it out but can’t take it. It should come as no surprise, therefore, that pushing post-secondary institutions to enforce the Chicago Statement on Free Expression, an ingenious manifesto that uses “free
Continue readingAlberta Politics: It takes all kinds to make a cabinet, not necessarily good news when Jason Kenney’s making the picks
Premier Jason Kenney’s United Conservative Party cabinet contains a guy who once went down south to campaign for Donald Trump, a woman who opposes school gay-straight alliances and wrote a university president attacking a professor’s critical commentary on Catholic education, a man who fired a single mom he employed after
Continue reading