Rebundling the Faculty Role: Evolving, Not Eroding

22/07/2025 37 min
Rebundling the Faculty Role: Evolving, Not Eroding

Listen "Rebundling the Faculty Role: Evolving, Not Eroding"

Episode Synopsis


Episode 10
In this second episode of our two-part series, Michael and Vernon explore what happens after unbundling: how faculty and other academic professionals are adapting, defending, and rebundling their roles in an AI-powered world. This episode outlines four irreducibly human responsibilities, three common defense strategies of professions under threat, and four emerging faculty archetypes for the AI era. Whether you're a professor, designer, advisor, or leader, this conversation will challenge your assumptions and offer a hopeful path forward. Stick around for a set of reflection questions you can bring back to your team.
These are the sources mentioned inside the episode’s dialogue as well as some helpful links.  

Smith, V. C. (2008). The Unbundling and Rebundling of the Faculty Role in E-Learning Community College Courses. University of Arizona dissertation. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/194795 


Associated Press (2023). “Automated Earnings Stories Multiply.” https://www.ap.org/the-definitive-source/speaker-spotlights/applying-automation-in-the-newsroom/ 


American Federation of Teachers (2024). “Resolution on Artificial Intelligence.” https://www.aft.org/resolution/artificial-intelligence 


American Federation of Teachers (2024). “AFT Launches National Academy for AI in Instruction.” https://www.aft.org/press-release/aft-launch-national-academy-ai-instruction-microsoft-openai-anthropic-and-united 


American Association of University Professors (2023). “Artificial Intelligence, Academic Freedom, and the Evolving Debate over Forgery and Truth in the Twenty-First Century.” Journal of Academic Freedom, 15. https://www.aaup.org/JAF15/artificial-intelligence-academic-freedom-and-evolving-debate-over-forgery-and-truth-twenty 


Freidson, E. (2001). Professionalism: The Third Logic. University of Chicago Press. https://books.google.com/books/about/Professionalism_the_Third_Logic.html?id=Tgn3sThG8QEC 


Abbott, A. (1988). The System of Professions. University of Chicago Press. https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/S/bo5965590.html 


World Economic Forum. (2023). The Future of Jobs Report 2023.  https://www.weforum.org/publications/the-future-of-jobs-report-2023 

 
Affiliate Links: 

MACRO Leadership, by Michael Cottam: https://amzn.to/476zHRP   

The technology we used 

Shure MV7+ Microphone: https://amzn.to/4obxnPC  


Shure MV7i Microphone with Audio Interface: https://amzn.to/3GX0Jkb 

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