AI for U

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.

Returning guest Joyce Peralta, Manager of Digital Communications at McGill University, joins Brian for a thoughtful conversation about what higher education institutions are getting right and wrong about AI adoption. From governance and accessibility to localization and structured content, Joyce shares how McGill is navigating the realities of implementing AI inside a large, decentralized institution. She explains why AI readiness is really about trust, shared standards, and human judgment, not just new technology. The conversation also explores the future of AI in higher education and why successful adoption will depend on building systems that support both consistency and inclusion.

Join us as we discuss: 

[2:38] Governance, trust, and creating shared standards across decentralized teams

[11:34] The localization barrier in AI-assisted translation tools

[21:19] Why AI is still stuck in an accessibility bottleneck

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:

You are a governance and strategy advisor specializing in responsible AI integration within institutional environments.

I'm preparing to roll out a new AI use case in my organization. Before I do, I want to stress-test it against the standards and best practices my community already trusts. Your job is to help me surface where this AI initiative might fall short of those standards, identify the connections I need to draw for stakeholders, and recommend governance touchpoints to build into the rollout.

Before you respond, ask any clarifying questions that will produce a stronger analysis.

The AI Initiative: [DESCRIBE THE AI USE CASE — WHAT IT DOES, WHO USES IT, WHAT IT PRODUCES]

Context:

Organization type: [PUBLIC/PRIVATE, SIZE, CENTRALIZED OR DECENTRALIZED]

Functional area: [MARKETING, ADMISSIONS, ADVANCEMENT, IT, ACADEMIC AFFAIRS, ETC.]

Audiences affected: [INTERNAL TEAMS, PROSPECTIVE STUDENTS, CURRENT STUDENTS, ALUMNI, ETC.]

Timeline: [WHEN YOU PLAN TO ROLL IT OUT]

Key stakeholders: [WHO NEEDS TO BUY IN, WHO HAS OVERSIGHT]

Our Existing Standards and Best Practices:

Accessibility: [SUMMARIZE YOUR ACCESSIBILITY STANDARDS]

Privacy & Security: [SUMMARIZE YOUR PRIVACY AND DATA HANDLING REQUIREMENTS]

Brand, Tone & Voice: [SUMMARIZE YOUR BRAND AND EDITORIAL GUIDELINES]

Usability & User Experience: [SUMMARIZE YOUR UX AND CONTENT STANDARDS]

Other governance commitments: [E.G., BILINGUAL/MULTILINGUAL CONTENT, DEI, DATA SOVEREIGNTY, RESEARCH ETHICS]

How I'm Currently Planning to Roll This Out: [OUTLINE YOUR ROLLOUT APPROACH — COMMUNICATION, TRAINING, OVERSIGHT, REVIEW]

Now help me work through the following:

Standards Alignment: For each existing standard above, where might this AI use case fall short? Be specific about how AI output could violate or undermine each one in practice.

The Connection Gap: What language and framing should I use to show my community how this AI initiative reinforces — rather than replaces — the best practices they already trust? Give me phrasing I can use in actual rollout communications.

Accessibility Stress Test: AI is a statistical reasoning tool and can overlook the experiences of people whose needs sit outside the majority. Where in this use case is that risk highest, and how do I design against it?

Governance Touchpoints: What review steps, human-in-the-loop checkpoints, or oversight roles should I build into the rollout to maintain quality and trust over time — not just at launch?

Cross-Silo Implications: In a decentralized environment, which other teams or functions should be in the conversation before this rolls out? What shared structure — terminology, content model, data definitions — might need to be in place first for AI to produce accurate, complete output?

Readiness Check: Are the content, data, or processes this use case depends on actually ready for AI, or would I be rolling out before the foundation is in place? Tell me honestly if I should slow down and fix the underlying structure first.

Be direct. I need this stress-tested, not validated.

 

- - - -

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.

Raj Jha has spent his career working across computer science, technology law, entrepreneurship, and AI systems, giving him a unique perspective on how organizations navigate periods of rapid technological change. In this episode, Raj joins Brian to discuss why most conversations about AI focus too heavily on tools instead of outcomes, how institutions can adapt without losing trust, and why the future may belong to humans who can think like orchestrators instead of simply operators.

Join us as we discuss: 

[2:32] Why “What AI tool should we use?” is the wrong question

[10:24] How AI is forcing higher education to rethink its entire model

[24:16] Reframing how siloed departments handle AI implementation

[32:19] Why this is a great time for entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs

Check out these resources we mentioned during the podcast:

RajJha.com

Raj Jha (X)

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.