Key Takeaways: Nuventive’s ninth webinar in our 10-part artificial intelligence series examines how Information Technology leaders can help higher education move toward sustained, responsible adoption.
Webinar Details
Riding the Next Wave: IT’s Role in Harnessing AI in Higher Education
View the replay now
Recorded: June 12, 2024
Featured Speakers:
Dr. José-Marie Griffiths, President, Dakota State University
Rashmi Radhakrishnan, VP Enrollment Management, Technology & Innovation / CIO, Arcadia University
Moderated by:
Richard N. Katz, founder and leader of a firm dedicated to supporting the effective uses of IT in higher education. He held executive posts at the National University of Singapore, Nuventive, LLC, EDUCAUSE, and the University of California.
Each week, we distill key takeaways from conversations with presidents, provosts, and leaders in institutional research, assessment, and technology — turning big ideas into practical steps for improvement.
This discussion reflects how AI has moved beyond novelty and into a phase of sustained attention across higher education. The session explored how institutions can build long-term strategies around culture, data, governance, and talent — ensuring that AI adoption supports institutional values while strengthening human judgment, trust, and effectiveness.
Incremental Progress, Transformational Potential
Building toward long-term change
AI’s role in higher education continues to expand, often beginning with targeted pilots and evolving toward broader institutional relevance.
Dr. Griffiths described how AI’s impact may feel incremental in the near term, while holding the potential to reshape higher education more fundamentally over time, particularly if institutions do not actively guide that transformation themselves.
Across the discussion, there was shared recognition that progress depends on thoughtful prioritization, sustained learning, and clarity about where institutions choose to focus their efforts as AI capabilities mature.
Culture Determines Outcomes
From reaction to intention
Institutional culture plays a defining role in how AI is introduced and applied. Some campuses initially engage cautiously, while others move quickly into experimentation. Over time, more durable progress has emerged where institutions take an intentional, coordinated approach.
Radhakrishnan emphasized how AI already influences enrollment management, advising, teaching, and operational workflows. Academic integrity often serves as a starting point for discussion, but the conversation extended well beyond it.
Rather than treating AI as solely a technology issue, participants underscored the importance of governance structures that include teaching and learning, data governance, and key user communities alongside IT.
Learning Together: Early Institutional Approaches
Creating shared understanding campus-wide
At Dakota State University, faculty-led dialogue helped establish shared principles grounded in institutional values. This work resulted in a practical Human–AI–Human framework that encourages individuals to begin with human reasoning, use AI to augment understanding, and return to human evaluation.
That framework was reinforced through campus-wide learning opportunities that brought faculty, staff, and students into shared conversation about how AI could be used responsibly and thoughtfully.
At Arcadia University, flexibility has been equally central. Radhakrishnan described approaching AI as a spectrum rather than a fixed toolset, leading the institution to avoid rigid policies in favor of guidelines that can evolve alongside the technology.
Personalization at Scale
Strengthening human-centered experiences
Personalization remains a long-standing goal in higher education, and AI is increasingly being explored as a way to support it more effectively.
The discussion highlighted growing interest in how AI might enable more individualized learning, advising, and student services while reinforcing—rather than diminishing—the relational aspects that define higher education. Controlled experimentation, piloting, and phased adoption were described as practical ways to explore these opportunities before scaling.
Workforce Transformation Starts Now
Investing in people alongside technology
Rather than framing workforce change primarily in terms of displacement, the discussion emphasized opportunity—particularly the ability to invest in current staff and faculty as roles evolve.
Many of the skills needed for an AI-enabled future already exist within institutions. By investing in upskilling and role evolution, higher education can enable people to spend more time on meaningful, human-centered work while AI supports routine and time-intensive tasks.
Information Literacy as a Foundational Skill
Reinforcing human judgment
As AI-generated content becomes more prevalent, foundational skills around interpretation, verification, and context grow increasingly important.
Participants emphasized that distinguishing insight from error, understanding data limitations, and applying human judgment remain essential responsibilities. Long-standing campus expertise—particularly within libraries and institutional research—was highlighted as well positioned to help institutions navigate authenticity, quality, and trust in an AI-rich environment.
Looking Forward
Next in the series
Exploring What Is (and Isn’t) Working: Executive Perspectives on AI in Higher Education, featuring Dr. José-Marie Griffiths, President, Dakota State University; Dr. Rick Burnette, Sr. Vice Provost & Chief Strategy Officer, Florida State University; and Tracy Woods, Director, Azure Cloud & AI Platform Solution Engineering, US SLED, Microsoft. Moderated by Dr. David Raney, CEO, Nuventive.
Recorded: September 4, 2025
Listen to the audio replay now
Recorded: June 12, 2024
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