CFI Faculty Lounge Podcast

Welcome back to the CFI Faculty Lounge podcast, where we explore the ideas, experiences, and challenges shaping academic life. In this episode, John Kruggel and host Eric Magrum continue discussing the value of personal finance education and how college sports teams’ performance affects university economics.

John shares:

• What the “Flutie effect” is and how it affects admissions rates
• How JMU’s recent athletic success impacts its economic condition
• The ability for sports media to increase university recognition and renown
• How “Name, image, and likeness” rights influence college athletes and their understanding of personal finance

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CFI Faculty Lounge Podcast would love hearing from you! Do you have a question for our guests, a teaching tip to share, or a story about faculty life? Send us a message by clicking on this text. Your message might make it into a future episode.

In this episode of the CFI Faculty Lounge podcast, host Eric Magrum invites the Director of JMU’s Center for Economic Education, John Kruggel, to speak about K-12 personal finance education and how JMU’s School of Business interacts with the greater Harrisonburg-Rockingham community.

Tune in as they discuss:

• Why students should learn about economics and personal finance
• How to repackage economic knowledge for younger students
• Strategies for including personal finance lessons in the classroom
• The importance of community service engagement in university settings
• Why students should learn about economics and personal finance

This episode is part one of two with John Kruggel.

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CFI Faculty Lounge Podcast would love hearing from you! Do you have a question for our guests, a teaching tip to share, or a story about faculty life? Send us a message by clicking on this text. Your message might make it into a future episode.

In this episode of the CFI Faculty Lounge podcast, Dr. Scott Lunsford talks with host Eric Magrum about what it’s like to teach sound writing to students and the role that sound writing plays in memorialization.

Tune in as they discuss:

·      The uniqueness of podcasts and audio projects as a medium

·      How specific sounds influence the listening experience

·      The distinction between writing for the eye versus writing for the ear

·      How audio can commemorate and honor events, people, and places

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CFI Faculty Lounge Podcast would love hearing from you! Do you have a question for our guests, a teaching tip to share, or a story about faculty life? Send us a message by clicking on this text. Your message might make it into a future episode.

Welcome back to the CFI Faculty Lounge Podcast, where we explore the ideas, experiences, and challenges shaping academic life. In this episode, Dr. Scott Lunsford joins us to talk about sound writing; what it is, how it works, and why it matters as a rhetorical practice. 

Dr. Lunsford shares: 

• A clear definition of sound writing and its foundations 
• How sound operates as a mode of communication and persuasion 
• The relationship between sound, text, and meaning 
• Examples of how sound writing challenges traditional ideas of composition 

Tune in for a thoughtful conversation about the role of sound in rhetoric and the ways it reshapes how we understand writing. This episode is part one of two with Dr. Lunsford.

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CFI Faculty Lounge Podcast would love hearing from you! Do you have a question for our guests, a teaching tip to share, or a story about faculty life? Send us a message by clicking on this text. Your message might make it into a future episode.

In this episode of the CFI Faculty Lounge Podcast, host Eric Magrum sits down with professor and Associate Director for Student Affairs Assessment Dr. Sara Finney to discuss how her work with graduate students in the psychology field has shaped her teaching experience, and how faculty members can guide their students through serious research scholarship. 

Listen in as they discuss: 

• How to incorporate students into professional, field-related research 
• Strategies to level the playing field between faculty and students to form productive partnerships 
• Why psychological safety matters when discussing research projects with students 
• How students can better see themselves in scholarly work and their impact on confidence and agency 
• Including student mentorship in research agendas as a newer faculty member 

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CFI Faculty Lounge Podcast would love hearing from you! Do you have a question for our guests, a teaching tip to share, or a story about faculty life? Send us a message by clicking on this text. Your message might make it into a future episode.

In this episode of The CFI Faculty Lounge Podcast, host Eric Magrum sits down with Dr. Hala Nelson, an expert in artificial intelligence, to unpack how AI is reshaping the future of professional life, both inside and outside the university. From clarifying the difference between AI and machine learning to examining the hidden biases built into our technologies, this conversation explores what it really means to “speak machine” in a world that’s rapidly changing. 

Tune in to hear: 

• What separates AI from machine learning and why the distinction matters 
• How bias gets built into AI systems (and what faculty need to watch for) 
• The meaning behind the provocative idea that “we weren’t supposed to speak machine” 
• The impacts of AI on teaching, learning, and academic careers in higher education 
• Ideas for future conversations about preparing students, and ourselves, or an AI-shaped future 

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CFI Faculty Lounge Podcast would love hearing from you! Do you have a question for our guests, a teaching tip to share, or a story about faculty life? Send us a message by clicking on this text. Your message might make it into a future episode.

In this episode of The CFI Faculty Lounge Podcast, host Eric Magrum sits down with Dr. Michael Klein to explore what it really means to use AI thoughtfully in academic and professional settings. Rather than treating AI as a magic solution, Dr. Klein emphasizes the importance of seeing it as one tool among many and why becoming overly dependent on a single technology can limit both creativity and judgment. 

Tune in to hear: 

• Why AI should complement, not replace, core skills like critical thinking 
• How to avoid over-reliance on any one tool (AI or otherwise) 
• What long-term impacts of AI we should be paying attention to, including environmental concerns 
• How faculty can help students build resilient, adaptable, tech-informed learning practices 
• Questions worth asking as AI continues to shape classrooms, research, and professional life 

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CFI Faculty Lounge Podcast would love hearing from you! Do you have a question for our guests, a teaching tip to share, or a story about faculty life? Send us a message by clicking on this text. Your message might make it into a future episode.

In this episode of the CFI Faculty Lounge Podcast, host Eric Magrum speaks with School of Media Art and Design professor Dr. Chen Guo about the field of interactive design and how the adaptive nature of the discipline has shaped her classroom and teaching techniques.

Listen in as they discuss:

• Understanding what interactive design is and how it works
• The value of a learner-centered approach in teaching
• Increasing student engagement in the classroom through hands-on experience
• Encouraging students to step out of their comfort zones and submit their work to conferences

Tune in to this discussion of the impact of a learner-centered approach and how your field can influence your teaching style.

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CFI Faculty Lounge Podcast would love hearing from you! Do you have a question for our guests, a teaching tip to share, or a story about faculty life? Send us a message by clicking on this text. Your message might make it into a future episode.

In this episode of the CFI Faculty Lounge Podcast, host Eric Magrum talks with a JMU alum turned professor, Dr. Leonard Richards Jr, about his journey from student to educator and how that path shapes his teaching today. He reflects on mentorship, identity, and the importance of empowering students to take action and see their impact.

Listen in as they discuss:

• What it means to teach as a verb, not just a role
• Supporting first-generation students and students of color
• Navigating identity as a Black educator at a PWI
• The value of feedback, self-reflection, and growth
• Balancing personal life, mental health, and academic work

He also shares a reminder: be yourself, trust your journey, and know you’ve earned your place.

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CFI Faculty Lounge Podcast would love hearing from you! Do you have a question for our guests, a teaching tip to share, or a story about faculty life? Send us a message by clicking on this text. Your message might make it into a future episode.

In this episode of The CFI Faculty Lounge Podcast, host Eric Magrum talks with Dr. Joe Leblanc and Karla Kale about mental health first aid, a practical approach that helps faculty and staff recognize when someone may be struggling and respond with care. Using the metaphor of being a first responder, they discuss how educators can learn simple, evidence-based tools to start supportive conversations and connect people with help. 

Listen in as they discuss: 

• The ALGEE model, a flexible framework for approaching conversations and offering support 
• How to move past the fear of saying the wrong thing when someone may be struggling 
• Common warning signs of distress and how to respond thoughtfully 
• Campus resources like Madison Cares and training opportunities through CFI and the Counseling Center 
• The connection between well-being, burnout, and creating a supporting campus community 

They also emphasize a key reminder: approaching someone with care is always a meaningful first step.

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CFI Faculty Lounge Podcast would love hearing from you! Do you have a question for our guests, a teaching tip to share, or a story about faculty life? Send us a message by clicking on this text. Your message might make it into a future episode.