BONUS - Live from EDUCAUSE: Exploring the EDUCAUSE 2026 Top 10 Trends Report

JC unpacks two headline-making AI stories every campus and institution needs to understand right now.

Artificial intelligence is changing how higher education teams work, but successful AI adoption is about much more than choosing the right tools.

Mallory hosts Higher Ed Pulse with guest Jenn Hayes, Associate Dean for Marketing & Communications at Cardozo School of Law in New York, to discuss higher ed’s recurring “hero” cycle: hiring passionate leaders to rebuild broken systems, celebrating visible wins, and then losing them to burnout.

Jenny Li Fowler welcomes Jessica VanderKolk, a Public Communications Specialist at East Carolina University. The conversation centers on ECU’s innovative communications department structure, which utilizes a liaison model. Rather than being siloed in a central office, communicators are embedded directly within the colleges they cover.

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.