Leading through Disruption: Higher Education Executives Assess AI's Impacts on Teaching and Learning. A Survey of College and University Leaders Provides a Status Report on the Fast-Moving Changes Taking Place on the Nation's Campuses

Abstract

The rise of generative artificial intelligence systems is impacting teaching and learning at every level of education. In particular, colleges and universities are working hard to understand and adapt to advanced computer tools that pose challenges to some of the foundational structures of education. The immensity of this disruption is captured in a new survey of leaders of higher education by the American Association of Colleges & Universities and Elon University's Imagining the Digital Future Center. A total of 337 university presidents, chancellors, provosts, rectors, academic affairs vice presidents, and academic deans responded to questions about generative artificial intelligence tools (GenAI) such as ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, and CoPilot. The questions covered the current situation on their campuses, the struggles they encounter, the changes they anticipate, and the sweeping impacts they foresee. The findings from this report on assessing AI's impact on teaching and learning are intended to empower and prepare faculty and administrators to embrace institutional change and effectively utilize digital innovation. The fact that 95% of the leaders surveyed are concerned about the impact of Generative AI on academic integrity, 92% worry about undermining deep learning, and 80% fear the exacerbation of existing inequities due to the digital divide points to the need for both democratizing opportunity by closing the skills gap and for building AI competencies. This report offers valuable insights for universities and colleges to create AI-focused courses, explore innovative pedagogical approaches, and create new policies. [This report was created in partnership with the Imagining the Digital Future Center at Elon University.]