Artificial intelligence is rapidly reshaping how we work, learn, and connect. But what should that mean for higher education?

In this episode of Degrees of Change, California Competes CEO Su Jin Jez sits down with sits down with one of education’s leading thinkers on AI, Isabelle Hau, Executive Director of the Stanford Accelerator for Learning, to explore how AI could transform learning and why the most important questions may have less to do with technology and more to do with human development.

Their conversation explores the promise and risks of AI in education, including personalized learning, student supports, critical thinking, creativity, ethics, and the growing importance of what Hau calls "relational intelligence."

Key Topics

• How AI could reshape teaching, learning, assessment, and student support
• Why the concept of the "Turing Trap" is relevant for AI and education
• Why relational intelligence may become one of the most valuable skills in an AI-driven economy
• How AI can help reduce barriers for student parents
• The emerging divide between AI creators and AI users

Our Guest
Isabelle Hau is Executive Director of the Stanford Accelerator for Learning, where she leads efforts to connect learning science, technology, and innovation to improve outcomes for learners around the world. She is also the author of Love to Learn: The Transformative Power of Care and Connection in Early Education and a leading voice on the future of learning, human development, and equitable educational opportunity.

In This Episode

• Stanford Accelerator for Learning: https://acceleratelearning.stanford.edu/
• Love to Learn: The Transformative Power of Care and Connection in Early Education by Isabelle C. Hau: https://isabellehau.com/book-love-to-learn/
• Erik Brynjolfsson's work on the Turing Trap: https://www.technologyreview.com/2017/12/18/241341/the-turing-trap-the-promise-peril-of-human-like-artificial-intelligence/
• David Deming's research on social skills and the labor market: https://scholar.harvard.edu/files/ddeming/files/deming_socialskills_aug16.pdf
• Stanford Center for Teaching and Learning: https://ctl.stanford.edu/
• Stanford Accelerator for Learning's work on AI and learning: https://acceleratelearning.stanford.edu/artificial-intelligence-and-learning/

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California’s higher education system has served millions of students. But it was built as a rigid, one-time credential system that does not meet the needs of all learners.

In this episode, California Competes CEO Dr. Su Jin Jez speaks with College Futures Foundation’s Entrepreneur-in-Residence Maria Anguiano about how to redesign higher education to be more flexible, more equitable, and more responsive to how people actually learn.

Drawing on her experience leading large-scale efforts at Arizona State University, Maria outlines a set of design principles and practical strategies for change.

Key Topics

• Designing higher education around learners rather than institutions
• Modular, stackable pathways and competency-based learning
• The role of digital infrastructure in expanding access and improving quality
• Moving beyond modality to focus on better student outcomes

Our Guest

Maria Anguiano is Entrepreneur-in-Residence at College Futures Foundation and former Executive Vice President of Arizona State University’s Learning Enterprise.

At ASU, she led the development of a lifelong learning model that reached more than one million learners across more than 140 countries. She is a first-generation college graduate and serves as Vice Chair of the University of California Board of Regents and on the boards of the James Irvine Foundation and the KIPP Foundation.

In This Episode

• Maria Anguiano’s Blog Series: https://collegefutures.org/tag/maria-anguianos-blog-series-on-transforming-education-for-a-changing-economy/
• Rewriting Education’s Design Principles: https://collegefutures.org/rewriting-educations-design-principles/
• California Competes Convening at the ASU+GSV Summit: panel-on-california-higher-education-innovation-at-the-asugsv-summit
• Reimagining Online Education: https://californiacompetes.org/resources/reimagining-online-ed/
• Redesigning Higher Education for Today’s Students: https://cahybridcollege.com/
• ASU Local: https://asulocal.asu.edu/
• California Learning Lab: https://calearninglab.org/
• ATAIN (AI Transfer and Articulation Infrastructure Network), UC Berkeley: https://www.atainnetwork.org/
• Building a Shared Vision for California Higher Ed’s Future: building-a-shared-vision-for-californias-higher-ed-future

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When students can't meet their basic needs, academic success becomes exponentially harder. That reality shapes whether they enroll, persist, or graduate.

For our third episode, California Competes CEO Su Jin Jez speaks with Dr. Rashida Crutchfield, a leading researcher and advocate whose work has helped spark a basic needs movement in higher education. They dig into what the evidence demands of institutions, policymakers, and communities, and what it will actually take to meet students where they are.

Key Topics

• How the basic needs movement has evolved over two decades, and why rising costs and stubborn misconceptions mean the work is far from over
• Why short-term fixes only go so far, and why cross-sector partnerships are essential to winning deeper investments in student basic needs
• Why housing affordability is quietly shaping who enrolls in college at all

Our Guest
Dr. Rashida Crutchfield is a professor in the School of Social Work at California State University, Long Beach, and executive director of the Center for Equitable Higher Education, a research center dedicated to studying and promoting economic, food, and housing justice.

A leading researcher and advocate, Rashida's work as principal investigator for the CSU system-wide study on food and housing security helped shape basic needs programs across all 23 CSU campuses. She is co-author of Addressing Homelessness and Housing Insecurity in Higher Education: Strategies for Educational Leaders, a widely used resource for institutions developing basic needs programs and services. Dr. Crutchfield is an advisory board member for California ASPIRES, a coalition California Competes recently launched to streamline public benefits for student success.

In This Episode

• College Focused Rapid Rehousing Program
• California Alliance for Streamlining Public Investments and Resources for Every Student (California ASPIRES)
• Higher Ed Research Informing Solutions for Excellence (Higher Ed RISE) initiative
• Improving College Affordability by Streamlining Access to Public Benefits

Stay Connected

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• Follow California Competes on LinkedIn.