Inside Higher Ed, Assessment of Student Learning Is Broken

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You can find the full show notes and our writing a meltsintoair.org

Thoughts and suggestions? Email us at unfixed@meltsintoair.org

You can find the full show notes and our writing a meltsintoair.org

Advising is part mentorship, part logistics—and often a confusing mess. In this episode, we explore how AI might help (or hurt) students and advisors trying to navigate course selection, degree requirements, and policy mazes. We share what happened when we built our own advising bot and tested it in the wild. Could this be the future of student support, or just another edtech fantasy? With special guest Jamie Gunderson.

Josh Farris and Chi Chan, Guiding First-Generation Students to Success

Lauren Coffey, An AI Boost for Academic Advising

Liam Knox, The (AI) Counselor Is in

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In this episode of Unfixed, we unpack the mounting pressures that are destabilizing higher education. From the looming enrollment cliff and partisan political attacks to the unresolved trauma of COVID-19 and the disruptive arrival of generative AI, universities are being pulled in multiple, often contradictory, directions. Nik and Zach explore how these forces intersect to create what they call the “insecure university.” What does it mean to learn, teach, and lead in institutions struggling to justify their very existence?

Inside Higher Ed, “College-age demographics begin steady projected decline”

Rufo in City Journal

Venkatesh Rao, “Knowledge Under Siege” (cooked with AI)”

Nils Gilman on Theory of Change podcast

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Generative AI is upending higher education but can the university keep up? In this episode, we explore why institutional change in academia is so slow, even as AI accelerates disruptions across academic integrity, tenure, curriculum, and writing. From campus bureaucracy to the post-COVID pivot, we ask: what happens if we don’t adapt? And what would it take to respond differently, before the university becomes obsolete?

Mark Carrigan, Are Universities Too Slow to Cope With Generative AI?

Melts into Air, Thoughts on the First AI-Powered University

Seb Murray, Business Schools Ease Their Resistance to AI

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In this episode of Unfixed, we unpack Chico State’s recent ChatGPT rollout and what it reveals about the CSU system’s broader AI strategy. Why are universities centralizing AI adoption? What’s at stake for faculty, students, and the future of higher ed? We explore institutional motivations, equity and sustainability concerns, vendor influence, and the disconnect between AI hype and on-the-ground realities.

Nik Janos, Thoughts on the First AI-powered University

Rob Nelson, What is an AI-empowered University

Rob Nelson, Alignment Problem

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In this special breaking-news episode of Unfixed, Nik and Zach dive into urgent headlines warning that AI could eliminate millions of entry-level white-collar jobs. They unpack what this means for students, the public perception of higher education, and what colleges must do now to stay relevant. Featuring insights from Kevin Roose, Dario Amodei, Hard Fork, and more, the episode explores how universities can reposition themselves in an era of accelerating automation and economic uncertainty.

Kevin Roose, For Some Recent Graduates, the A.I. Job Apocalypse May Already Be Here - The New York Times

Jim VanderHei and Mike Allen, Behind the Curtain: A white-collar bloodbath

Artificial Intelligence coverage from Axios

Hard Fork, The A.I. Jobpocalypse, Building at Anthropic with Mike Krieger and Hard Fork Crimes Division - The New York Times

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Melts into Air, Assistant for the Rest of Us

Melts into Air, Tenure, Promoton, AI

Melts into Air, AI Personality Disorder

In this episode of Unfixed, we sit down with William Hardaway and Jason McGensy from CSU Fresno to explore how institutions are actually implementing AI in higher education. The conversation moves from the practical—faculty training, instructional design, and scaling AI initiatives—to the emotional, including the idea of “grief” as faculty confront rapid technological change. We also examine how this work connects to broader efforts around equity and institutional transformation. The episode closes by interrogating the limits of using therapeutic metaphors to understand AI adoption in academia.

Jason on LinkedIn

Feedback literacy

AI Institute video recap

Report on our Academic Affairs Staff AI Community of Practice

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Asynchronous online courses have become a cornerstone—and a cash engine—of modern higher education, but in the age of AI, the model is starting to crack. In this episode, we unpack how large-scale, low-touch online classes create fragile conditions for trust, especially as generative AI makes it easier than ever for students to outsource their thinking. We explore the growing tension between institutional incentives to scale enrollment and the reality of eroding learning quality, faculty burnout, and widespread uncertainty about what student work actually represents. Drawing on firsthand teaching experience, we examine how instructors are adapting and where those efforts fall short. The result is a stark question: can asynchronous education be rebuilt for the AI era, or are we sustaining a system we no longer fully believe in?

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Subscribe to the Unfixed Newsletter—The AI Higher Ed Breakdown our bi-weekly newsletter unpacking the top news stories at the intersection of AI and higher education.

California State University leaders Emily Magruder and Leslie Kennedy join Unfixed to discuss how the CSU–OpenAI partnership is reshaping conversations about teaching, technology, and faculty work. They share lessons from system-level innovation, union tensions, and the future of AI in higher education.

Emily Magruder

Leslie Kennedy

Nik Janos, Melts into Air,  Thoughts on the first AI-powered university

Julie Bajaras, LAist, Inside Cal State's big $17 million bet on ChatGPT for all

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Alchemy Learning’s Brett Christie joins us to unpack real gaps on campus—tools, culture, and strategy—and how partners can help. We discuss “build vs. buy” to faculty buy-in and smart governance and explore how Universal Design for Learning is as important as ever in the AI age. 

Alchemy Learning Website

Alchemy Webinar Series  

Zach Justus on Melts into Air, “AI Is Making Edtech Pricier”

Cogniti

Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD)

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In this episode of Unfixed, Nik and Zach explore the rise of AI agents—autonomous, goal-driven systems that can research, plan, and even collaborate with learners. From inbox triage and coding prototypes to the not-yet-ready world of full computer control, they unpack where agents are already useful on campus and where hype outpaces reality. The conversation turns to higher ed implications: assessment, advising, operations, and governance. Tune in for a clear look at how AI agents are reshaping student learning, faculty work, and the future of universities.

Note: Dear listener please forgive the substandard audio. We had a technical malfunction during the recording of this episode.

World Economic Forum & Capgemini. Navigating the AI Frontier: A Primer on the Evolution and Impact of AI Agents

Google Cloud. “What are AI agents? Definition, examples, and types.”

Yan, L. (2025). From Passive Tool to Socio-cognitive Teammate: A Conceptual Framework for Agentic AI in Human-AI Collaborative Learning.

Nik Janos, Melts into Air, The Assistant for the Rest of Us

Unfixed Podcast, AGI and the Future of Higher Education with Ray Schroeder

Hard Fork, A.I. School Is in Session: Two Takes on the Future of Education.

Zach Justus, Melts into Air, AI Is Making Edtech Pricier—and In-House Builds Plausible Again

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In this episode of Unfixed, Nik and Zach unpack the “enforcement illusion” behind AI use policies in higher education. From the impossibility of a true “no-AI” classroom to the cultural gap between faculty and students, they argue why cultivating dispositions, transparency, and dialogue offers a more meaningful path than rigid rules in the age of generative AI.

Note: Dear listener please forgive the substandard audio. We had a technical malfunction during the recording of this episode.

Zach Justus and Nik Janos, Inside Higher Ed, Your AI Policy is Already Obsolete

Nik Janos, Melts into Air, Tools and Brains: UX For Assignments 

Zach Justus, Melts into Air, ChatGPT in a Writing Class

Zach Justus, Melts into Air, ChatGPT: A Classroom Update

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Zach and Nik brings you the biggest AI-in-education headlines shaping higher ed this fall—from ChatGPT’s new Study Mode and Canvas integrations to Microsoft’s agents, Big Tech partnerships, and Grammarly’s AI grade oracle.

OpenAI ChatGPT Study Mode

Instructure: Canvas ChatGPT integration

Microsoft Copilot Agent

LA Times: Big Tech as Savior

Reuters: Google Pledges Over $1 Billion for AI Training

Grammarly, What Grade Will I Get?

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In this episode of Unfixed, we talk with Ray Schroeder—Senior Fellow at UPCEA and Professor Emeritus at the University of Illinois Springfield—about Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) and what it means for the future of higher education. While most of academia is still grappling with ChatGPT and basic AI tools, Schroeder is thinking ahead to AI agents, human displacement, and AGI’s existential implications for teaching, learning, and the university itself. We explore why AGI is so controversial, what institutions should be doing now to prepare, and how we can respond responsibly—even while we’re already overwhelmed.

Ray Shroeder, Uncharted Territory: Artificial General Intelligence and Higher Ed

Ray Shroeder, Higher Education in 2025: AGI Agents to Displace People

Ray Shroeder Online Learning

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In this episode of Unfixed, “Ready for a Fight?”, we explore the growing resistance to generative AI in higher education. While we don’t adopt the “Fight AI” stance ourselves, we take it seriously—as a revealing response to the rapid automation of knowledge work. Drawing from educators, artists, organizers, and labor movements, we unpack what motivates this rejection of AI, what it’s defending, and where it might lead. Featuring references to union actions, institutional policy shifts, and structural critiques of tech power, this episode sheds light on the values and vulnerabilities animating the pushback.

Melts into Air, What does it mean to fight AI?

Melts into Air, Will General Artificial Intelligence Replace Me?

Karen Hao, Empire of AI

Cant, Muldoon, and Graham, Feeding the Machine: The Hidden Human Labor Powering A.I.

California Faculty Association  

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AI is reshaping every level of education—but K–12 and higher ed often feel worlds apart. In this episode, we talk with Teach Smarter podcast hosts Stephanie Dinnen and Pete Siner about how generative AI is transforming K–12 schools, the evolving challenges across grade levels, and what higher education needs to understand about the next generation of AI-native students.

Stephanie Dinnen is an implementation specialist, supporting districts and schools in building MTSS frameworks for literacy, math and SEL. She is a psychiatric researcher turned K-12 educator and a military spouse advocate.

Pete Siner is a former teacher and educational consultant who helps schools use AI to strengthen Tier 1 and Tier 2 instruction, support SEL, and build sustainable systems across traditional, CTE, and alternative settings. He hosts the Teach Smarter podcast and will present at ISTE 2025 on how AI can save teachers time without adding complexity.

Teach Smarter, teachsmarteredu.com

Stephanie Dinnen, @mrsdinnenreads, www.linkedin.com/in/stephaniedinnen

Pete Siner, https://www.linkedin.com/in/peter-s-75580490/

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Generative AI is transforming how students write and how professors teach writing. In this episode of Unfixed, we’re joined by Stephanie Tran (Cypress College) and Tamara Tate (UC Irvine Digital Learning Lab) to explore what AI means for composition, academic writing, and digital literacy in higher education. Together, we examine the scale of the challenge facing writing instructors as AI models become increasingly proficient at generating polished text. What does “writing” mean across disciplines? And how can educators integrate AI into writing instruction without offloading the essential cognitive work that writing is meant to develop? Stephanie shares her work leading district-wide faculty development on equitable and human-centered AI practices. Tamara discusses her leadership at UC Irvine’s Digital Learning Lab and her experience developing AI-based writing tools designed to support — not replace — student skill building.

Tamara Tate

UC Irvine Digital Learning Lab

PapyrusAI Resources, “Starting to use PapyrusAI or generative AI for writing?”

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Subscribe to the Unfixed Newsletter—The AI Higher Ed Breakdown our bi-weekly newsletter unpacking the top news stories at the intersection of AI and higher education.

Higher education is facing two converging pressures: generative AI disrupting early-career labor markets and new federal “earnings test” accountability rules tying program viability to graduate income. In this episode of Unfixed, we examine how AI is thinning entry-level work, why mid-tier public universities may be especially exposed, and how federal accountability metrics could amplify wage suppression caused by automation. Drawing on reporting from Jeffrey Selingo, PBS NewsHour, The Chronicle of Higher Education, and U.S. Department of Education materials, we explore why GenAI and federal regulation are no longer separate stories. We close by asking what university leaders, faculty, and systems—especially in California—should do before signaling effects and enrollment shocks reshape the sector.

Jeffrey Selingo, New York Magazine / Intelligencer, What Is College For in the Age of AI?

PBS NewsHour, How AI may be robbing new college graduates of traditional entry-level jobs

U.S. Department of Education, U.S. Department of Education Reaches Consensus on Historic New Accountability Framework

Brian O’Leary, The Chronicle of Higher Education, Colleges Face a New Test on Their Grads’ Earnings. These Programs Fail It. (Note: Paywalled)

California State University, Strategic Planning for the CSU (CSU Forward)

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Ep. 22 Building AI Capacity in Public Higher Ed with James Frazee

In this episode of Unfixed, we’re joined by Dr. James Frazee, Vice President for Information Technology and Chief Information Officer at San Diego State University, to unpack how large public universities are navigating AI strategy, governance, and equity at scale. As a nationally recognized leader in AI and data-informed decision-making, Frazee shares insights from spearheading SDSU’s AI and digital transformation survey—an effort that has since been adopted systemwide across the California State University system.

James Frazee

SDSU Statement on Generative AI (GenAI) Privacy

SDSU AI Survey

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In this episode of Unfixed Newswire, Nik and Zach break down the most consequential—and occasionally absurd—AI news. The conversation spans OpenAI’s push toward ads and potential NSFW content; the relentless churn of new AI models like Gemini 3 and GPT-5.x; and why tools like Claude Code and Claude Cowork may signal a real shift toward AI agents as co-workers. They also interrogate the current AI investment bubble, unpack why enterprise tools like Google Gemini’s Canvas integration may matter more than headline-grabbing launches, and close with some deliberately irresponsible speculation about humanoid robots.

OpenAI begins piloting advertisements 

AI Daily Brief, January 19, 2026, How to Make ChatGPT Ads Not Suck

The Verge,ChatGPT’s ‘adult mode’ is expected to debut in Q1 2026, https://www.theverge.com/news/842657/openai-chatgpt-adult-mode-debut-q1-2026

The Crimson, 1994, Porn on the internet!

Humai, GPT-5.2 vs Claude Opus 4.5 vs Gemini 3 Pro: The Complete Comparison

The AI Daily Brief, January 13 2026, Claude Cowork is Claude Code for everyone else 

Wired, Anthropic’s Claude Cowork Is an AI Agent That Actually Works 

Instructure, Unleash the Power of AI in Canvas with Gemini LTI™

Neo, your home robot

Marques Bownlee (MKBHD) on the problem with NEO the robot 

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In this episode of Unfixed, Nik and Zach take on a difficult but necessary conversation about nostalgia in higher education. Using real media headlines, faculty experiences, and their own teaching histories, they explore how AI panic taps into a deeper longing for a pre-pandemic, pre-ChatGPT past that may never have been as stable as we remember. The discussion unpacks what nostalgia is, why it’s so powerful right now, and how scapegoating AI can obscure long-standing challenges around reading, writing, and motivation. Rather than a call to “go back,” this episode walks the line between insight and wake-up—arguing that AI often reveals what’s already broken and, in some cases, opens space to fix it.

Zach Justus and Nik Janos, Inside Higher Ed, No, the Pre-AI Era Was Not That Great

Hua Hsu, The New Yorker, What Happens after A.I. Destroys College Writing

New York Magazine, Everyone Is Cheating Their Way Through College

Lindsay McKenzie, 2018, Inside Higher Ed, Learning Tool or Cheating Aid?

Raphael, The School of Athens

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Nik and Zach review the best and worst of AI in higher ed for 2025. AI and Higher Education: 2025 We unpack the collapse of AI detection, the rise of system-wide AI partnerships like CSU and OpenAI, uneven assessment redesign, growing faculty stratification, and mounting concern that generative AI is hollowing out entry-level knowledge-work jobs. The episode closes by looking ahead to 2026, including model updates, political backlash, environmental impacts, and what higher education faces if the AI bubble bursts.

Nik and Zach’s top five of the year:

Zach Justus, That terrible “Everyone is cheating their way through college” essay

Nik Janos, The Assistant for the Rest of Us

Nik Janos, Builders: Designing the Post-AI University

Zach Justus and Nik Janos, No, The Pre-AI Era Wasn’t that Great (Inside Higher Ed)

Zach Justus and Nik Janos, Why professors are more important than ever in the AI era (EdSource)

Mentioned:

Rampant AI Cheating Is Ruining Education Alarmingly Fast (Intelligencer / New York Magazine, May 7, 2025)

Experts Weigh In on “Everyone” Cheating in College (Inside Higher Ed, May 20, 2025)

Unfixed episode 16: Inside the CSU-OpenAI Partnership

OpenAI and the California State University system bring AI to 500,000 students and faculty (OpenAI, Feb 2025)

CSU, OpenAI roll out ChatGPT Edu to California college students (Axios, Feb 4, 2025)

OpenAI targets higher education with ChatGPT rollout at CSU (Reuters, Feb 4, 2025)

2025 EDUCAUSE AI Landscape Study: Into the Digital AI Divide (EDUCAUSE, Feb 2025)

AI is Destroying the University and Learning Itself (Current Affairs, Dec 2025)

These Students Use AI a Lot — but Not to Cheat (The Chronicle of Higher Education, 2025)

How AI Is Changing—Not ‘Killing’—College (Inside Higher Ed, Aug 29, 2025)

2025 AI Index Report (Stanford HAI, 2025)

How to Think of AI in Education (MIT Open Learning, July 2025)

Unfixed episode 11: AGI and the Future of Higher Ed: talking with Ray Schoeder

Universities risk becoming passive arms of Silicon Valley if they don’t question AI (Business Insider, Dec 2025)

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Dr. Shelley Hart joins Nik and Zach to explore how children and adolescents are forming relationships with generative AI. We discuss what “too young” means in an AI-saturated world, and how parents, teachers, and caregivers can responsibly shape norms, boundaries, and ethics around AI use. Drawing on her expertise in child development, Dr. Hart offers practical insights for guiding kids through emerging technologies.

Shelley Hart

Nik Janos, Typing, Talking, Googling: Seeing the AI-first generation 

Todd Feathers, Wired, Parents Fell in Love with Alpha School’s Promise then They Wanted Out

First 1000 Days

Serve and return

UC Irvine study, California Parents Report their Fears and Hopes for AI

Michael Connelly’s novel The Proving Ground 

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In this episode, Nik and Zach unpack how Trump’s alignment with AI labs, deregulation, and political culture wars collide with higher education. With weak federal guidance, states—and universities—are left to chart their own AI futures.

Zach Justus and Nik Janos, Inside Higher Ed, AI Has Gone MAGA 

Mohar Chatterjee, Politico, AI is Opening a MAGA-Trump Split 

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In this episode of Unfixed, we talk with Nicholas (Nick) Dirks, President and CEO of the New York Academy of Sciences and former Chancellor of UC Berkeley, about what AI really means for the future of higher education. Rather than treating generative AI as just another technological shift, Dirks helps us unpack where institutions may be misreading the moment—and what a serious response could look like. We explore the growing pressures on universities, from legitimacy and funding to enrollment and disruption, and what role they should play in a rapidly changing world. The conversation ultimately asks a bigger question: what is the university actually for in the decades ahead?

Nicholas Dirks

Nick @ The New York Academy of Sciences

The New York Academy of Sciences

Justus and Janos, No, the Pre-AI Era Was Not That Great, IHE

Janos, Builders: Designing the Post-AI University

Justus, Elites Are Distorting the AI Discourse

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Subscribe to the Unfixed Newsletter—The AI Higher Ed Breakdown our bi-weekly newsletter unpacking the top news stories at the intersection of AI and higher education.

In this episode of Unfixed, we unpack what it actually means to run AI retrofit workshops—where faculty redesign assignments and learning outcomes for a world shaped by generative AI. Rather than hype or quick fixes, this work starts from disruption: courses no longer behave as intended, and instructors are left to figure out what still holds. We explore the emotional and intellectual reality faculty face, and why time, structure, and trust—not tools—are the real interventions. Retrofit emerges not as innovation, but as necessary maintenance for teaching that still has to function.

Different Approaches to AI and Faculty Learning

Intens(ive) Reflections

Problem with AI Literacy

AI Is Not Antithetical to Human Intelligence: What The Guardian gets wrong

Book us

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Subscribe to the Unfixed Newsletter—The AI Higher Ed Breakdown our bi-weekly newsletter unpacking the top news stories at the intersection of AI and higher education.

In this episode of Unfixed, Nik and Zach sit down with Inara Scott, a leading expert on AI strategy and innovation in higher education, to examine why the conversation around AI may be moving backward instead of forward. They explore faculty resistance, the limits of AI bans and opt-out policies, and the widespread concern that generative AI is eroding students’ critical thinking. Inara introduces her “AI Cognitive Pyramid” as a new framework for understanding where meaningful thinking actually happens in AI-integrated learning. The discussion reframes what it means to take AI seriously in teaching, learning, and institutional strategy.

Inara Scott on LinkedIn

Inara Scott at Oregon State University

The AI Cognitive Pyramid: A Conceptual Framework for Generative AI Use, Critical Thinking, and Learning Design in Higher Education  by Inara Scott :: SSRN

Nik Janos, AI Is Not Antithetical to Human Intelligence: What The Guardian gets wrong

Unfixed Ep. 26 From Grief to Action

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Subscribe to the Unfixed Newsletter—The AI Higher Ed Breakdown our bi-weekly newsletter unpacking the top news stories at the intersection of AI and higher education.