Tambellini’s Future Campus Summit 2024: Prioritizing Human-Centered AI Approaches

The impacts and implications of artificial intelligence advancements continue to be top of mind for higher education leaders, but the vastness of the technology’s potential and associated challenges can feel overwhelming. To collectively level-set on best practices for higher education AI strategy, Tambellini Group held its second Future Campus™ Summit in collaboration with the University of California, Irvine, in New York City June 26–27, attracting a sold-out attendance of 100 institutional stakeholders. Over the two-day event, attendees exchanged ideas and insights and learned from industry and institutional leaders during dynamic presentations, engaging panels, and hands-on workshops.

Leaders coalesced from institutions of diverse sizes and sectors with teams in varied stages of AI use, but fundamentally, “institutions of all types are in the same boat,” says Tambellini Group Senior Analyst Jessica Thomas. “We’re all figuring out how to leverage AI to best support students, staff, and faculty,” she says. “This is the time, now more than ever, to lean on and learn from fellow leaders and colleagues.”

The Summit Revealed Higher Education’s Shared Passion and Momentum

Higher education institutions have unique cultures and goals but face the same societal, budgetary, and technological pressures and challenges. The Future Campus Summit 2024 united institutional leaders in their shared commitment to serving their communities by placing people at the core of institutional technology and innovation initiatives. The Summit provided an opportunity for a diverse mix of leaders from enrollment, student success, advancement, information technology, administration, and beyond to engage in critical knowledge exchange around their challenges, solutions, and lessons learned.

UC Berkeley Chief Technology Officer Bill Allison says, “I really enjoyed meeting so many leaders from different universities, colleges, community colleges, large research universities, small private liberal arts colleges, from all over the country, and hearing us all put our heads together to think about AI. It was a really worthwhile experience.”

Tambellini Group Principal Analyst Dave Kieffer agrees that the Summit was “full of focused and clear information sharing, workshopping solutions with peers, and building the knowledge and relationships that make higher education such a great industry. It all comes back to the people,” says Kieffer, and how AI can serve humans in ethical ways. Now is the time for institutions to focus on strengthening their data management, culture, and governance to support ethical AI use.

Higher Education Leaders Share Experiences with AI

Institutions that have already made headway in incorporating AI technologies shared their insights with other attendees. Marshall University Chief Information Officer Jodie Penrod discussed how Marshall has developed standardized AI-related syllabus language for all courses so faculty members can clearly communicate how they and students will use AI tools.

Vanderbilt University Senior Advisor to the Chancellor on Generative AI and Professor of Computer Science Jules White led a workshop on how Vanderbilt developed its generative AI platform Amplify GenAI, which is streamlining Vanderbilt’s curriculum development, administrative tasks, student services, and more.

Institutions Can Take Incremental Steps to Successful AI Integration

Tambellini Group Analyst and Junior Data Scientist Trevor Skelton understands that many institutions are feeling overwhelmed when it comes to developing their AI strategy and use cases. Skelton encourages institutions to begin with small, manageable pilot projects that allow them to incorporate and test AI tools. They can expand upon the successful pilots over time and scale them to more areas of the institution.

Skelton also recommends that institutions work with their technology vendors for core campus systems to explore how the vendors plan to roll out generative AI features. Partnering with vendors allows institutions to pilot and refine new AI features and will ensure the solutions meet higher education requirements and standards. Kieffer reminds institutions that “our vendor community shares our passion,” and the solution providers at the Summit were eager to positively impact the higher education community. Overall, attendees left the Summit energized by the support of their community and with valuable alliances to support their AI journeys.

Looking for support as you develop your institutional AI strategy or implement other innovation initiatives? Reach out. We are here to help you at every stage of your technology journey, from shaping your strategy to fostering consensus and driving progress within your organization.