Michael interviews Patrick Cates, Associate Dean for Undergraduate Programs at USC, Marshall School of Business, about the turbulent “new normal” facing higher education amid political pressures, international student compliance shifts, financial strain, layoffs, leadership turnover, and rapid AI-driven change. Cates argues AI is primarily a culture-change issue, noting universities’ slow, brittle structures—like the 1–2 year peer-review lifecycle—are colliding with the speed of AI. He explains why blanket AI policies often fail in distributed power environments and highlights change via respected faculty examples, including Marshall’s early AI pedagogy paper. Reflecting on USC’s post-2018 culture transformation, he emphasizes operationalizing shared values, measuring culture through people-centered indicators, and prioritizing strong, kind leadership, psychological safety, and adaptability as foundations for higher ed’s future.

Timestamps:
00:24 Welcome
01:27 Meet Patrick Cates
02:48 Higher Ed Turbulence
05:15 Resistance to Change
06:41 Perfect Storm Pressures
10:18 AI as Culture Change
13:59 How Universities Adapt
18:00 USC Culture Journey
20:30 Making Values Real
29:49 Measuring Culture Health
34:56 Culture Over AI
37:04 Psychological Safety
40:27 Key Takeaways
43:09 Walk Up Song
44:18 Where to Connect
44:55 Closing

Connect with Patrick:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrickcates/

Michael's National Workforce Study on Change Management: https://www.michaeljlopez.coach/research