"The proposal would be a huge change in higher education, with the federal government asserting itself as the definer of institutional goals and policy, and doing it through need-based financial aid," said Jane Wellman, the executive director of the National Association of System Heads.
"If he is running things from behind the scenes, it's because the new government has not asserted itself," the ambassador said.
One of Libya's rival governments has resigned, a step that helps efforts by a new, UN-brokered unity government to assert itself in the capital Tripoli despite opposition from some local militias.
They're all current examples of things that go wrong when either the government wrongly asserts itself into religious issues or the church tries to break down barriers (or makes powerful accusations against the government) in an attempt to exert improper influence on the business of the state.
A staunch imperialist, he thought the British government should assert itself more directly rather than permit men like Cecil Rhodes to determine the character of British expansion.
Often disliked by Iraqis more than foreign troops, they provide a popular cause for the fragile Iraqi government to assert itself.
The Ugandans have absorbed hundreds of casualties but have soldiered on, steadily eliminating Shabab fighters and freeing up large tracts of territory for Somalia's transitional government to assert itself (which it has yet to do).
Since the rebels ousted Muammar Qaddafi's forces, first in eastern Libya in February 2011 and then countrywide six months later, militias have largely ruled the roost, preventing the country's elected government from asserting itself.
Today's meeting also reflected the growing determination on the part of the interim Iraqi government to assert itself politically by insisting on taking over more responsibility from the Coalition Provisional Authority headed by L. Paul Bremer III.
