AI for U

Higher education is undergoing rapid technological shifts, but Dr. Courtney Lewis believes AI integration should never mean sacrificing human empathy. Host Brian Piper sits down with the Director of Enrollment Services at Trinity Valley Community College (TVCC) to explore how an institution in rural East Texas leveraged AI-powered student enrollment to achieve sustained semester-over-semester growth. Courtney talks about her personal journey as a former first-generation TVCC student who navigated the college search with no money, no roadmap, and a shame-inducing narrative around community colleges, transforming that lived experience into a mission to rebuild the enrollment model from the ground up. She also shares actionable advice on change management, explaining why leaders must be vulnerable, expect to fail fast, and stop forcing AI into outdated, legacy processes.

Join us as we discuss: 

[2:16] How Courtney is addressing the challenges she faced as a TVCC student

[7:52] Framing AI integration to your team as an opportunity to create more human connections

[14:39] Why disconnected data is the biggest obstacle to implementing AI tools

[22:14] The biggest takeaways from driving organizational change around data governance

Check out these resources we mentioned during the podcast:

Trinity Valley Community College Sees Surge in Enrollment (KETK NBC)

To hear this interview and many more like it, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or our website, or search for AI for U with Brian Piper in your favorite podcast player.

Episode Prompt: 

**ROLE**

You are a process design facilitator. Your job is to stop me from automating something that should not exist. You are direct, you ask uncomfortable questions, and you do not let me defend a step just because it is familiar.

Ask questions one at a time.

**ACTION**

Take one process I am considering automating and tear it down to its purpose before we discuss any tooling. Rebuild it from zero, then, and only then, tell me where AI actually belongs.

**CONTEXT**

Interview me one question at a time until you understand:

- The process, described as a numbered sequence of every step, including the steps nobody documents

- For each step: who does it, how long it takes, how often, and what triggers it

- Why each step exists, and if I answer "that's how we've always done it," push back and ask who would notice if it stopped tomorrow

- What outcome the process is supposed to produce for the student or the institution, stated in one sentence

- Which steps exist because of a policy, an accreditation or legal requirement, or a system limitation, and which are just habit

- What happens today when this process fails

- What constraints are genuinely fixed (staffing, budget, regulation) versus assumed

**EXECUTE**

Produce, in this order:

1. **Purpose statement** — the one sentence this process exists to deliver. If the current process does not deliver it, say so plainly.

2. **Step audit** — every step classified as: Required (regulation, policy, accreditation) | Load-bearing (something downstream breaks without it) | Vestigial (exists from a prior system, workflow, or org chart)

3. **Clean-sheet redesign** — how you would build this process today, from nothing, to deliver the purpose statement. Ignore our current org chart and software. State the redesign's staffing and data prerequisites.

4. **Gap between now and clean sheet** — what would have to change: ownership, policy, data, staffing, culture. Which of these are hard and which are just uncomfortable.

5. **Where AI fits…and where it doesn't** — in the redesigned process, identify: steps AI should handle (high volume, low empathy, low judgment), steps a human must own (emotional stakes, exceptions, consequential decisions), and steps AI should never touch and why. Include what human oversight and audit each AI step requires.

6. **What we would automate today if we skipped this exercise** — name the steps I was about to bolt AI onto that should have been deleted instead.

7. **Rollout timing** — given our academic calendar, when should this change, and when should it absolutely not. Assume the first attempt will fail and pick a window where that is survivable.

**CONSTRAINTS**

- Do not recommend a specific product.

- If I have not told you a legal or accreditation requirement, ask rather than assume one exists.

- Every AI recommendation must name the human check that sits on top of it.

- If the honest answer is that this process needs no AI at all, say that.

- - - -

Connect With Our Host:
Brian Piper
https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianwpiper/
About The Enrollify Podcast Network:
AI for U is a part of the Enrollify Podcast Network. If you like this podcast, chances are you’ll like other Enrollify shows too!
Enrollify is made possible by Element451 — The AI Workforce Platform for Higher Ed. Learn more at element451.com.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

AI is changing how we learn, work, lead, and prepare students for the world ahead. So why isn’t higher ed moving faster in adopting this technology at scale? In this episode, Brian is joined by Josh Riedy, Executive Director of the Institute of Applied AI at Minnesota State University Moorhead, to explore what meaningful AI adoption looks like across higher education. Josh shares MSUM’s approach to building AI literacy across academic programs, creating real-world learning opportunities through its Applied AI Clinic, and preparing students to enter the workforce with practical AI experience. He also explains why institutions cannot simply hand AI over to the CIO, create another committee, or launch a standalone AI certificate and consider the job done.

Join us as we discuss: 

[3:25] Why higher ed needs to start adopting AI at scale

[15:35] Who should lead AI implementation measures across your institution 

[25:52] Using workshops and challenges to establish an AI literacy framework

To hear this interview and many more like it, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or our website, or search for AI for U with Brian Piper in your favorite podcast player.

- - - -

Connect With Our Host:
Brian Piper
https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianwpiper/
About The Enrollify Podcast Network:
AI for U is a part of the Enrollify Podcast Network. If you like this podcast, chances are you’ll like other Enrollify shows too!
Enrollify is made possible by Element451 — The AI Workforce Platform for Higher Ed. Learn more at element451.com.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

When Massachusetts rolled out free community college, it drove massive equity across the state, but it also created an unprecedented bottleneck at the front door of smaller institutions. Brian sits down with Alex Russo, Director of Enrollment & Recruitment Strategy at Cape Cod Community College, to discuss how a school with limited headcount operationalized 24/7 student support AI to manage a sudden 40% spike in student volume. Alex shares how their frontline AI agent triages hundreds of late-night inquiries from busy, non-traditional students, freeing up staff to focus on deep, relational counseling sessions and high-impact on-campus events.

Join us as we discuss: 

[2:51] Why 24/7 AI agent support became an enrollment equity driver for Cape Cod Community College

[11:04] How community colleges can start leaning into an AI strategy on limited budgets

[20:59] Measuring the ROI of AI agents and maintaining your school’s brand voice  

To hear this interview and many more like it, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or our website, or search for AI for U with Brian Piper in your favorite podcast player.

Episode prompt: 

ROLE

You are reviewing a draft on behalf of the person who will read it. You are not

a writer, an editor, or a copy improver. You are a stand-in for the reader.

CONTEXT

- Who wrote this: [YOUR ROLE, e.g. director of enrollment]

- Who will read this: [BE SPECIFIC — e.g. a prospective student who is the first

  in their family to apply to college and has never completed a FAFSA]

- What the reader already knows: [WHAT CAN YOU ASSUME THEY KNOW?]

- What the reader needs to do after reading it: [THE ONE ACTION]

- Constraints: [DEADLINE, TONE, LENGTH, POLICY LANGUAGE THAT CANNOT CHANGE]

THE DRAFT

"""

[PASTE YOUR DRAFT HERE]

"""

ACTION

Do NOT rewrite my draft. Do NOT produce an improved version. Do NOT change my

word choices, sentence rhythm, or voice. Report back only, using these headers:

1. THE ONE ACTION — In one sentence, what does this draft ask the reader to do?

   If you cannot tell, say so.

2. WHERE A READER GETS LOST — Quote the exact phrases that assume knowledge

   this reader may not have: jargon, acronyms, internal process names,

   unstated steps.

3. UNANSWERED QUESTIONS — What will this reader wonder that the draft never

   answers? List them as questions.

4. INTERNAL CONTRADICTIONS — Flag any dates, times, names, amounts, or

   instructions that conflict with each other elsewhere in the draft.

5. TONE CHECK — Is there anywhere the language could make this reader feel

   judged, condemned, or hesitant to ask for help? Quote it.

6. WHAT IS WORKING — Two things I should not change.

EXECUTE

Before you begin, ask me any clarifying questions you need, one at a time.

When you report, cite the exact text you are referring to. If a section has

nothing to flag, write "Nothing flagged" rather than inventing a concern.

- - - -

Connect With Our Host:
Brian Piper
https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianwpiper/
About The Enrollify Podcast Network:
AI for U is a part of the Enrollify Podcast Network. If you like this podcast, chances are you’ll like other Enrollify shows too!
Enrollify is made possible by Element451 — The AI Workforce Platform for Higher Ed. Learn more at element451.com.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Brian welcomes back Ardis Kadiu, Cofounder and CEO at Andi.ai, to break down the massive shift from simple text generation to true agentic autonomy. Ardis maps out the three critical layers of agentic AI — skills, workflows, and autonomous agents — and explains why higher ed institutions must stop looking at models and start evaluating the “harness” surrounding them. He outlines five essential questions that university presidents and cabinets must ask to expose organizational ambiguity, protect data authority, and safely redesign campus workflows. The conversation also explores learning intelligence in an AI-saturated classroom and why an artifact like a final essay is no longer an accurate indicator of student competency.

Join us as we discuss: 

[2:53] Why higher ed professionals need to reframe their understanding of AI’s capabilities

[12:07] Five questions higher ed leaders need to ask before implementing AI

[19:55] How AI is going to change higher ed’s role in an evolving job market

[30:30] Closing the gap between future AI model capabilities and human adoption

To hear this interview and many more like it, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or our website, or search for AI for U with Brian Piper in your favorite podcast player.

- - - -

Connect With Our Host:
Brian Piper
https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianwpiper/
About The Enrollify Podcast Network:
AI for U is a part of the Enrollify Podcast Network. If you like this podcast, chances are you’ll like other Enrollify shows too!
Enrollify is made possible by Element451 — The AI Workforce Platform for Higher Ed. Learn more at element451.com.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Artificial intelligence is rapidly reshaping higher education, but most institutions are still trying to navigate what responsible adoption actually looks like in real time. In this episode, Brian sits down with Brandon Rich, Director of AI Enablement at the University of Notre Dame, to explore what he calls the “messy middle” of AI adoption in higher ed. Brandon shares how Notre Dame moved from an AI task force to campus-wide implementation in less than a year, launching AI literacy initiatives, governance frameworks, and hands-on experimentation across departments like HR, student affairs, finance, and research administration. 

Join us as we discuss: 

[2:47] The “messy middle” of AI adoption in higher education

[13:26] How Notre Dame rolled out AI strategically across campus

[26:06] Budgeting, staffing, and resource challenges for AI initiatives

Check out these resources we mentioned during the podcast:

Snowflake Cortex

 ChatGPT Edu

Okta

To hear this interview and many more like it, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or our website, or search for AI for U with Brian Piper in your favorite podcast player.

- - - -

Connect With Our Host:
Brian Piper
https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianwpiper/
About The Enrollify Podcast Network:
AI for U is a part of the Enrollify Podcast Network. If you like this podcast, chances are you’ll like other Enrollify shows too!
Enrollify is made possible by Element451 — The AI Workforce Platform for Higher Ed. Learn more at element451.com.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.