Rob Wisc
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robwisc.bsky.social
Rob Wisc
@robwisc.bsky.social
220 followers 380 following 340 posts
US educational policy | political economies | community organizing | labor
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robwisc.bsky.social
I would be surprised if most normies ever consistently use Firefox.
December 17, 2025 at 12:10 AM
robwisc.bsky.social
This week UNC System President Hans said he was committed to academic freedom.

This same week, he is working to steal the intellectual property of instructors.

Pay attention to what Hans does, not what Hans says.
Screenshot of two paragraphs from a News & Observer article linked here: https://www.newsobserver.com/opinion/article313573466.html The text in the screenshot reads: Hans said in an interview on UNC-TV this week that the university will protect academic freedom. Academic freedom is “a bedrock principle embedded in the DNA of the university,” he said. “We’re committed to the freedom of our faculty to pursue knowledge without fear of censorship or punishment. That hasn’t changed, and it won’t change. What has changed, of course, is the political climate that we live in. And people being very critical of any teaching or research that they may not agree with.” The screenshot includes a link to this interview: https://video.pbsnc.org/video/peter-hans-o62w5y/
December 11, 2025 at 6:07 PM
robwisc.bsky.social
As faculty have highlighted: this intellectual theft—considering syllabi the product of "work for hire"—will severely limit teaching and learning. The UNC System is claiming that it has the ultimate control over all course syllabi.
Screenshot of two paragraphs from a News & Observer article linked here: https://www.newsobserver.com/opinion/article313573466.html The text in the screenshot reads: Abigail Hatcher, an associate professor at the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health and a member of the campus chapter of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP), said the push for a definition of academic freedom is an effort to exert more control over faculty. “Redefining academic freedom now is a red herring – the real story is a small group trying to turn universities corporate,” she said. “Calling instructors ‘work for hire’ and stripping them of copyright is a sure-fire way to turn creative thinkers into widgets. And that blocks the public benefits that they offer students and our state.”
December 11, 2025 at 6:07 PM
robwisc.bsky.social
This flies in the face of what many university leaders have been telling instructors: that syllabi represent instructor's work.

See screenshots below for statements from a UNC-CH media spokesperson and UNC-CH's Interim Provost Jim Dean.
Screenshot of a paragraph from an Inside Higher Ed article linked here: https://www.insidehighered.com/news/faculty-issues/academic-freedom/2025/07/29/conservative-org-requests-materials-70-chapel-hill# The text in the screenshot reads: Chapel Hill says it’s a faculty member’s right not to share their course information. Though the media relations office didn’t provide an interview Monday, a university spokesperson wrote in an email, “The University has not responded to this public records request and is still in the process of identifying what—if any—records will be produced. Course materials, including but not limited to exams, lectures, assignments and syllabi, are the intellectual property of the preparer and are owned by the preparer as non-traditional work.” Screenshot of two paragraphs from a WUNC article linked here: https://www.wunc.org/education/2025-09-09/who-owns-a-public-university-syllabus The text in the screenshot reads: But there are many exceptions that protect confidential information like ongoing research or students' personal records. UNC-Chapel Hill administrators have made it clear they believe that exemption also extends to syllabi, lecture notes, and other course materials. "Faculty members have the opportunity to provide their course materials to whoever is doing the request, but are explicitly not required to do so," said Interim Provost Jim Dean at a faculty council meeting last week. "Per university and UNC System policy, the faculty member is the holder of the copyright for their course materials. I think that's a really important point to stress."
December 11, 2025 at 6:07 PM
robwisc.bsky.social
Another aspect of UNC System President Hans's push to create an online repository for all syllabi:

Hans claims that the university system owns the copyright to any syllabi created by instructors.
Screenshot of article from the Daily Tar Heel article linked here: https://dailytarheel.com/article/university-peter-hans-syllabi-policy-confirmation-breaking-20251211 The text in the screenshot reads: But, the AAUP has stated that federal copyright law should grant exclusive syllabus publishing rights to instructors, arguing that these are original creations and therefore intellectual property. The drafted UNC System policy instead interprets syllabuses as "works made for hire," which would grant sole copyright privileges to the employer, or the instructor's home institution. Screenshot of a paragraph from an article from The Assembly linked here: https://www.theassemblync.com/news/education/higher-education/unc-syllabi-public/ The text of the screenshot reads: The draft regulation makes clear that the UNC System’s position is that the universities, not professors, own the copyright to syllabi under federal law. The U.S. Copyright Act, as cited in the proposed regulation, states that works created by employees as part of their “regular duties” are considered “made for hire”—and thus “the party that hired the individual is considered both the author and the copyright owner of the work.” (The regulation would allow professors to petition provosts for certain parts of their syllabi to be considered copyrightable, if they believe “specific language” in the documents would qualify.)
December 11, 2025 at 6:07 PM
robwisc.bsky.social
The North Carolina Conference of the AAUP @ncaaup.bsky.social is delivering UNC System President Hans a petition tomorrow at noon, calling on him to halt his dangerous proposed policy regulation.

Please add your name and share the call to action:
Protect Academic Freedom, Our Faculty, Our Communities
Faculty, staff, students, alumni, and community members: The UNC System is preparing to cave to political pressure from the Heritage Foundation, the Oversight Project, and the James Martin Center by ...
actionnetwork.org
December 11, 2025 at 5:28 PM
robwisc.bsky.social
UNC System President Hans knows that he is inciting extremist threats, harassment, and worse.

He talks about protecting instructors, but makes teaching and learning more dangerous.

He talks about concerns of digital surveillance, but is creating online systems to surveil instructors.
December 11, 2025 at 5:28 PM
robwisc.bsky.social
What is the explicit goal of Mike Howell and the Oversight Project?

In his words: "Our goal ultimately is to get this garbage out of colleges and universities..."
Screenshot of a paragraph from a WUNC article linked here: https://www.wunc.org/education/2025-09-09/who-owns-a-public-university-syllabus The text in the screenshot reads: "Our goal ultimately is to get this garbage out of colleges and universities," said Mike Howell, the organization's president and the filer of the request. "And get back to a better society where this ideology isn't affecting every last aspect of it."
December 11, 2025 at 5:28 PM
robwisc.bsky.social
And HANS KNOWS THIS!

Earlier this semester, Oversight Project President Mike Howell submitted open records requests for syllabi and any course materials including phrases like "gender," "sexuality," "racial equity," and "intersectionality," among others.
1 of 2 screenshots of an open records request submitted to UNC-Chapel Hill from Oversight Project President Mike Howell. Link to full request here: https://nextrequest.unc.edu/requests/25-590 The text in this screenshot reads: Submitted Via: UNC-Chapel Hill Portal July 2, 2025 Re: Public Records Request Dear FOIA Officer: Pursuant to the North Carolina Public Records Law, N.C. Gen. Stat. § 132‑1 et seq., and in accordance with the implementing policies of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (“UNC”), I respectfully request access to the following public records: All syllabuses, lecture slides, course materials, or presentation materials presented to students containing any of the following search terms, whether in titles, body text, footnotes, metadata, or hyperlinks: “diversity and inclusion” “DEIA” “DEI” “Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging” “DEIB” “gender identity” “racial preference” “ESG” “organizational equity” “intersectionality” “anti-racism” “critical race theory” “LGBTQ+” “transgender” “cisgender” 2 of 2 screenshots of an open records request submitted to UNC-Chapel Hill from Oversight Project President Mike Howell. Link to full request here: https://nextrequest.unc.edu/requests/25-590 The text in this screenshot reads: “gender ideology” “white privilege” “privilege walk” “cultural humility” “equity audit” “restorative justice” “racial equity” “implicit bias” “microaggressions” “inclusive pedagogy” “identity-based oppression” “systems of oppression” “queer” “non-binary” “sexuality”
December 11, 2025 at 5:28 PM
robwisc.bsky.social
UNC System President Hans is feeding the rightwing extremist outrage machine while claiming to care about threats and harassment. Hans's actions will lead to campaigns targeting specific instructors and specific classes, putting faculty and students at personal risk.
December 11, 2025 at 5:28 PM
robwisc.bsky.social
UNC System President Hans also bemoans a "culture of digital surveillance" and the way discussions become "viral controversies" while saying that the UNC System is working to mitigate these issues.

Creating a searchable, online repository of all syllabi IS NOT mitigating digital surveillance!
Screenshot of a paragraph from this News & Observer article: https://www.newsobserver.com/opinion/article313599782.html The text in the screenshot reads: When the UNC System conducted a comprehensive study of student attitudes about free expression a few years ago, we found that many students hesitate to share their honest views not because they’re worried about what professors might think but because they fear the blowback of social media and online instigators. A culture of digital surveillance and the prospect for local discussions to become viral controversies is one of the many, many downsides of online life that we’re all working to mitigate.
December 11, 2025 at 5:28 PM
robwisc.bsky.social
In his op ed, UNC System President Hans states that the system "will do everything we can to safeguard faculty and staff who may be subject to threats or intimidation simply for doing their jobs."

What will the UNC System do? He makes no commitments. The system is only putting instructors at risk.
Screenshot of a paragraph from this News & Observer article: https://www.newsobserver.com/opinion/article313599782.html The text in the screenshot reads: It’s awful that we live in a time when healthy discussion too often descends into outright harassment. We will do everything we can to safeguard faculty and staff who may be subject to threats or intimidation simply for doing their jobs. Across the country, we’ve seen everyone from elected officials to local public servants subjected to online vitriol when conflict entrepreneurs turn isolated snippets into misleading clickbait. This hasn’t been good for the tenor of our public life, and it certainly hasn’t been good for the culture of free inquiry on college campuses.
December 11, 2025 at 5:28 PM
robwisc.bsky.social
cat-warren.bsky.social Cat Warren @cat-warren.bsky.social · 8d
Friends: please consider adding your name to this @ncaaup.bsky.social petition. UNC System administrators want to create a single, searchable repository of all university and college syllabi -- a move that invites political actors to attack the free inquiry on our campuses.
Protect Academic Freedom, Our Faculty, Our Communities
Faculty, staff, students, alumni, and community members: The UNC System is preparing to cave to political pressure from the Heritage Foundation, the Oversight Project, and the James Martin Center by ...
actionnetwork.org
December 10, 2025 at 6:53 PM
robwisc.bsky.social
Using absence rates suggests that on average more than three-quarters of each school were absent on a given day.
December 9, 2025 at 3:27 PM