Unofficial Office Hours

Where higher ed drops the syllabus and starts the conversation.

Unofficial Office Hours is where higher education drops the formalities and talks honestly about digital innovation, teaching, and campus culture. Each week, host Dr. Justin Hodgson gathers a mix of educators, technologists, and campus leaders to unpack what’s really happening in higher ed — from classroom AI to institutional change. Smart, candid, and a quite a bit caffeinated, it’s insightful conversations for an evolving higher ed.

Episodes

  1. Disruption, Innovation, & the "Hire AI" Approach

    12/24/2025

    Disruption, Innovation, & the "Hire AI" Approach

    In this episode of The Unofficial Office Hours podcast, host Dr. Justin Hodgson is joined by Dr. Miranda Rodak, Senior Lecturer and Associate Director of the Communication and Professional Skills Department at Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business. With extensive cross-disciplinary teaching experience—spanning writing, rhetoric, communication, and business—Dr. Rodak brings an incredible blend of pedagogical depth, innovation, and leadership to the conversation. Together, we explore her highly successful and widely discussed Hire AI assignment and how it reframes student writing by positioning AI as a consultant rather than a shortcut. We also trace Dr. Rodak’s journey across disciplines—transitioning from the Kelley School of Business to English and then back again—and unpack what those shifts reveal about the differing epistemologies, expectations, and cultures within higher education. Along the way, we talk about the unique ways business education responds to disruption, the growing tension between task-based instruction and deeper learning objectives, and how students thrive when we emphasize growth, agility, and multimodal digital literacy. Fueled by Dr. Rodak's expertise in faculty development, generative AI, and active learning design, this episode offers not only fun conversation amongst friends, but rich insights into what it means to teach, create, and lead in an AI-enabled world. A thoughtful and energizing conversation for anyone invested in the future of learning and classroom innovation.

    1h 2m
  2. AI, Education, & the Age of Acceleration - with Dr. Kevin Jones, AI Strategist, Associate Professor of Management, and Director of the Center for Teaching and Learning at IU Columbus

    12/17/2025

    AI, Education, & the Age of Acceleration - with Dr. Kevin Jones, AI Strategist, Associate Professor of Management, and Director of the Center for Teaching and Learning at IU Columbus

    In this episode of the Unofficial Office Hours podcast, host Dr. Justin Hodgson is joined by Dr. Kevin Jones, AI Strategist, Associate Professor of Management, and Director of the Center for Teaching and Learning at IU Columbus. Recorded while Dr. Jones was on location at the World Summit AI in Doha, Qatar, this conversation brings a uniquely global lens to the rapidly evolving relationship between AI, higher education, industry, and organizational change. We take a quick-hitting approach to some of the big questions shaping innovation in higher ed today before delving more deeply into specific areas: How is AI accelerating—not just disrupting—traditional models of teaching and learning? What does the backlash to AI actually reveal about faculty identity and institutional culture? And how do campus leaders and instructors prepare students for a professional world that’s adopting AI far faster than universities? Dr. Jones shares insights from both his change-management scholarship and his conversations at the Summit, arguing that we’re not living in the age of AI so much as the age of accelerated transformation. Together, we situate these rapid shifts in the broader landscape of higher education and explore what they mean for students, faculty, and the future of institutional leadership. A fast, thoughtful, globally informed conversation about the road ahead for teaching, learning, and innovation.

    53 min

About

Unofficial Office Hours is where higher education drops the formalities and talks honestly about digital innovation, teaching, and campus culture. Each week, host Dr. Justin Hodgson gathers a mix of educators, technologists, and campus leaders to unpack what’s really happening in higher ed — from classroom AI to institutional change. Smart, candid, and a quite a bit caffeinated, it’s insightful conversations for an evolving higher ed.