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AI Can Fill The Vessel. Can Colleges Still Light The Fire?

Release Date: 03/17/2026

Scaling Higher Education: An Entrepreneurial Approach to a Consolidating Market

Changing Higher Ed

Scaling higher education is no longer a theoretical strategy. As the sector moves deeper into consolidation, institutional leaders need to confront whether their operating models, credential structures, partnerships, and delivery systems are built for the market ahead. In this episode of the , speaks with , about how an entrepreneurial mindset can help higher education respond to consolidation, AI disruption, and changing learner expectations. Drawing from his experience as co-founder of Jiffy Lube International and president of one of the nation’s leading entrepreneurship institutions,...

Why College Presidents Need a Coalition for Civic Preparedness

Changing Higher Ed

Civic preparedness in higher education can no longer be treated as an assumed byproduct of a college education. In this episode of the , speaks with , president of the , about how colleges and universities can rebuild the civic skills students need to navigate disagreement, evaluate credible information, and solve problems across difference. Drawing on his work with college presidents, faculty, employers, and Gen Z leaders, Vinnakota explains why higher education has drifted too far toward a private-good narrative focused almost entirely on jobs and individual outcomes. He makes the case that...

International Enrollment Strategy: Taking Higher Education to the World

Changing Higher Ed

International student enrollment in the United States reached record highs in 2024–2025, followed by a sharp and uneven decline heading into 2025–2026. While top-tier institutions continue to attract global talent, regional and private institutions are facing growing pressure as visa restrictions, geopolitical dynamics, and shifting perceptions of the U.S. reshape the enrollment landscape. In this episode of the , speaks with Executive Director of UC Berkeley’s International House, about how institutions must rethink international enrollment strategy in response to these structural...

Higher Ed Technology Change Management and Digital Transformation

Changing Higher Ed

Higher education's track record with technology change is uneven for a reason, and the reason is rarely the technology. It is whether leadership treats that runs from planning through sustainment, or as a rollout activity bolted on at the end. In this episode of the podcast, speaks with , Chief Strategy Officer at , about why technology projects in higher education succeed or fail on the strength of leadership behavior rather than tooling. Drawing on 23 years working with universities, nonprofits, and foundations, including Stanford and UC Davis, Toguchi explains how the institutions...

Building Workforce Readiness Through Real Startup Experience

Changing Higher Ed

Most institutions offer experiential learning. Few deliver it. The gap between the claim and the outcome is structural, and closing it requires more than a better course design. In this episode of the , speaks with , a for-credit startup incubator operating at eight universities, about what it actually takes to produce the depth of learning that institutions advertise but rarely achieve. Drawing on his experience founding and selling a technology company to Walmart, leading the entrepreneur center at Brigham Young University, and building Sandbox across multiple institutions, Crittenden...

2026 Title IV Changes and How Higher Education Can Adapt to the OBBBA

Changing Higher Ed

The One Big Beautiful Bill Act is changing higher education in ways many institutions still have not fully accounted for. Title IV loan limits change on July 1, 2026. Accreditation reform is next. Together, those developments are forcing institutions to confront graduate funding pressure, cost structure, program design, student demand, and the pace of institutional change. In this episode of the podcast, speaks with and one of three higher education representatives on the 2025 Negotiated Rulemaking RISE Committee, about how OB3 is changing higher education and what...

Inside Neg Reg and the 2026 Higher Ed Changes

Changing Higher Ed

Higher education has spent years hearing that affordability, student debt, and public skepticism are putting pressure on colleges and universities. What is different now is that those pressures are shaping federal action in ways that will directly affect Title IV funding, graduate program financing, accreditation reform, and institutional decision-making before July 1, 2026. In this episode of the , Dr. Drumm McNaughton speaks with and one of three higher education representatives on the 2025 , about what the latest Neg Reg signals for colleges and universities and why institutions that have...

Aligning Education & Work: The 2026 Lumina-Gallup Employer Report

Changing Higher Ed

New data from shows that employers still value college degrees — but have serious concerns about whether graduates are ready to use them. In this episode of the , Dr. Drumm McNaughton speaks with about what 2,000 employers told Gallup about higher education, why public confidence in colleges has collapsed from 60% to one-third of Americans in a decade, and what institutional leaders must do about it. Brown also discusses Lumina's new national goal: 75% of Americans in the labor force holding a credential of economic value by 2040, up from a current baseline of 43%. Topics Covered: ...

AI Can Fill The Vessel. Can Colleges Still Light The Fire?

Changing Higher Ed

AI in higher education is no longer just a technology issue. The larger question is whether colleges and universities will redesign learning so students develop judgment, critical thinking, and decision-making skills in a world where AI can already generate summaries, essays, and plausible answers on demand. In this episode of the , Dr. Drumm McNaughton speaks with about how higher education leaders can think more clearly and more strategically about AI. Hoang explains why AI should be used to augment human capability rather than replace it, and why educators matter even more in a world where...

Students Are Acting Like Consumers. Higher Ed Needs to Catch Up

Changing Higher Ed

Jeff Dinski helped start Cold Pizza at ESPN, the morning show that eventually became First Take. On a daily show, ratings are everything. You either produce something people want to watch, or you do not last. He carried that discipline into edtech, and it is the lens through which he looks at higher education: are you really giving students what they need, or are you producing what is convenient for you? In this episode of the podcast, and Jeff Dinski, Chief Strategy and Corporate Development Officer at , the largest edtech company in the world serving roughly half of all U.S....

More Episodes

In this episode of the Changing Higher Ed® podcast, Dr. Drumm McNaughton speaks with France Hoang, Founder and CEO of BoodleBox, about how higher education leaders can think more clearly and more strategically about AI. Hoang explains why AI should be used to augment human capability rather than replace it, and why educators matter even more in a world where AI can get students only part of the way.

Drawing on examples from the classroom and across campus operations, Hoang outlines how colleges can move from AI independent to AI enabled and eventually toward AI native models of learning and work. He also explains why colleges need to redesign assignments, rethink pedagogy, and focus more intentionally on the development of domain expertise, reflection, and higher-order thinking.

This episode is especially relevant for presidents, provosts, boards, CIOs, and academic leaders who need to make decisions about teaching, student support, workforce preparation, and institutional implementation in an AI-enabled environment.

Topics Covered

Why AI is forcing higher education to rethink what students should learn when AI can already do much of the visible academic work
Why AI often produces a B-minus answer and why domain expertise still matters
How the loss of routine entry-level work may weaken the apprenticeship path for graduates
Why colleges need to redesign assignments around judgment, application, and reflection
How faculty can use simulations, case studies, and human-AI collaboration in the classroom
What AI independent, AI enabled, and AI native mean for institutional strategy
How AI can support advising, counseling, and career services without replacing human connection
Why AI adoption is as much a training, culture, and change-management issue as it is a technology issue

Real-World Examples Discussed

A marketing course at Point Loma where students build an AI assistant from their own class notes and use it in case studies and simulations
A writing program at Pikes Peak State College where students compare their own writing with AI-generated writing and reflect on the differences
A reimagined history assignment that uses role-based simulation instead of a traditional reading-and-essay model
Institutional examples that show how colleges can move toward more applied, AI-enabled, and AI-native learning environments

Three Key Takeaways for Higher Education Leaders

Leaders need to know where their institution currently sits on the AI continuum, from AI independent to AI enabled to AI native.
AI adoption is as much a training and human resource issue as it is a technology issue, so institutions need to invest in people as much as platforms.
A culture of innovation, experimentation, and collaborative implementation will outperform a purely top-down rollout.

This episode offers a practical framework for higher education leaders who want to move beyond AI policy and think more seriously about how learning, assessment, student support, and institutional strategy need to change when AI can already do much of the lower-level work.

Read the transcript: https://changinghighered.com/ai-in-higher-education-teaching-human-judgement/

#HigherEducation #ArtificialIntelligence #HigherEducationPodcast

Topics Covered

Real-World Examples Discussed

Three Key Takeaways for Higher Education Leaders

TOPICS