AI Education Consultant | I help K-12 and higher ed teachers design AI-enabled mastery learning curriculum that wins student attention and transforms learning outcomes.

IMPACT:
• 15+ years developing mastery-based learning systems
• Consulted with 20+ universities (University of South Dakota, Rowan University, American University of Rome, etc.)
• 120+ institutions using my ExEC curriculum framework
• 20K+ newsletter subscribers mastering "How to Teach With AI"

WHAT I DO:
• AI Training & Certification for educators
• Mastery-based curriculum design & course development
• Keynote speaking on AI in education
• Instructional design consulting

MY APPROACH:
I hated (almost) every moment of my 24 years as a student. That's why I've spent 15 years pioneering a mastery-based approach to learning, and now, deep-diving into how AI can revolutionize education.

In this approach, "teachers" mentor young people to (re)discover their purpose and develop career paths by mastering skills through customized project experiences.

Let's work together: dwinkel@jcu.edu

🔗 Subscribe to "How to Teach With AI" weekly newsletter: https://howtoteachwithai.substack.com/

Tenure review isn't a standard. It’s a loyalty audit.
Every fall, profs get the same message.
Tenure dossier instructions.
Too many PDFs.
The calm tone of bureaucracy pretending this is objective.

Publish.
List service.
Quantify teaching.
“Meet the standards.”

Here’s what nobody says out loud.
The tenure decision is rarely about whether you can do the job.
It’s a closed-door vote about whether you are “safe.”

Not safe as in competent.
Safe as in controllable.
Safe as in politically aligned.
Safe as in unlikely to challenge the wrong traditions, embarrass the wrong people, or expose the wrong incentives.

Universities don’t evaluate outcomes.
They score proxies, then argue about proxies until meaning disappears.

And the most corrosive part is what the process trains us to do for 6 years:
  → keep critiques private  
  → optimize for “safe output”
  → avoid conflict with senior colleagues
  → perform “collegiality,” which often means strategic silence

Then we call the result “academic freedom.”

If we actually care about academic freedom and quality, 
tenure is a terrible delivery mechanism.

It protects us only after years of vulnerability. 
Which selects for the people least likely to use the protection.

A better architecture is not “reform tenure.” It’s replace it.
  → 5 to 7 year renewable contracts with enforceable due process
  → Academic freedom protections written into policy for all faculty, not just the survivors
  → Transparent evaluation with clear weights, external review, real evidence of learning
  → Real accountability that includes support, and real exit when needed

Tenure is a medieval guild gate wearing modern language.
Standards are the thin veil over the loyalty audit.

If you’ve been through tenure, what did it actually measure in your department And if you’d abolish it, what would you replace it with?

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Read a more complete deep-dive into my thoughts in my recent Substack post - link in the comments 👇

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🚨 these are my thoughts about one of the most destructive forces in higher ed. I widely share my displeasure with the tenure process, and my opinions that I believe it’s the root cause of all problems in higher ed. I’ve recently spent a ton of time unpacking why I feel that way because I get a lot of pushback when I share my opinions. So, here is a deep-dive.

I don’t apologize for my stance or my strong opinions. They are borne of multiple journeys through the process (both executed with a complete understanding of the game and with my best intentions to play the game successfully), many years spent as part of the review teams, and the resulting scars and disbelief from sitting on both sides of the table.

I certainly welcome any and all dialogue around this issue that is the most powerful force in shaping our students’ learning and growth experience🚨

Doan Winkel

AI Consultant & Keynote Speaker | Helping 15K+ Educators Turn AI Into A Time-Saving TA | Associate Professor of Entrepreneurship | Creator of ‘How to Teach With AI’ Substack | TEDx Speaker

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