When AI Finds the Administrative Friction Higher Ed Leaders Miss
Changing Higher Ed
Most AI conversations in higher education focus on the academic side. The administrative side gets less attention and is producing the bigger near-term financial wins for institutions willing to govern the rollout. In this episode of the , speaks with , about how AI is being applied across enrollment and advancement at institutions including Empire State University, Florida Southwestern State College, and Boise State University. Drawing on his career across Blackboard, Instructure, Kaltura, and now Gravyty, Beck walks through the specific case studies behind administrative AI adoption: a...
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Inside CSU’s ChatGPT Edu Rollout Across 22 Universities
Changing Higher Ed
AI implementation in higher education is often framed as a technology question. California State University treated it as with technology as the catalyst, rolling out ChatGPT Edu to 22 universities in 18 months while running the largest AI survey ever conducted at a single university system. In this episode of the , speaks with , about how the system designed and executed its generative AI implementation and what the of 94,060 respondents reveals about AI adoption, faculty engagement, and student behavior. Drawing on her work co-leading the academic side of CSU's GenAI initiative,...
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AI in Higher Education: Bias, Procurement, and Human Oversight
Changing Higher Ed
At sixteen, with straight A's in math and science, Dr. Karen Panetta's school career assessment told her to sell makeup or be a cook. A male friend with lower scores got engineer or politician. No AI was involved. Just a rules-based system applying gender and biographical filters to two teenagers. That same logic now sits inside AI tools landing in admissions offices and HR systems across higher ed, with one critical difference: AI does not eliminate human bias, it removes the human accountability that used to make bias correctable. In this episode of the , speaks with , Dean of Graduate...
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AI-First Business Education: How Kogod Transformed Culture, Curriculum, and Faculty Adoption
Changing Higher Ed
Most business schools are still forming committees to figure out what to do about AI. Kogod School of Business at American University formed a committee, but far from the typical higher ed standards. Leadership gave it six weeks and a five-page limit, and used the recommendation to integrate AI into every department, major, and minor. Three years later, undergraduate enrollment is up 40%, applications are up 50%, and more than 90% of faculty are using AI in the classroom. In this episode of the , speaks with returning guests , Dean of the Kogod School of Business at American University, and ,...
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Closing Higher Education’s AI Readiness Gap with Human-First Transformation
Changing Higher Ed
AI adoption in higher education is moving faster than institutional change models were built to handle. Students are already using AI at high rates, while many institutions are still trying to decide where AI belongs, who should lead it, and how much change is required. In this episode of the , speaks with , serial entrepreneur and founder of , about why higher education’s traditional playbook will not work in the AI age. Drawing on her work with Fortune 500 companies and AI implementation, Barua explains why AI should be treated as institutional infrastructure, not an IT project. She...
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Scaling Higher Education: An Entrepreneurial Approach to a Consolidating Market
Changing Higher Ed
Scaling higher education is no longer a theoretical strategy. As the sector moves deeper into consolidation, institutional leaders need to confront whether their operating models, credential structures, partnerships, and delivery systems are built for the market ahead. In this episode of the , speaks with , about how an entrepreneurial mindset can help higher education respond to consolidation, AI disruption, and changing learner expectations. Drawing from his experience as co-founder of Jiffy Lube International and president of one of the nation’s leading entrepreneurship institutions,...
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Why College Presidents Need a Coalition for Civic Preparedness
Changing Higher Ed
Civic preparedness in higher education can no longer be treated as an assumed byproduct of a college education. In this episode of the , speaks with , president of the , about how colleges and universities can rebuild the civic skills students need to navigate disagreement, evaluate credible information, and solve problems across difference. Drawing on his work with college presidents, faculty, employers, and Gen Z leaders, Vinnakota explains why higher education has drifted too far toward a private-good narrative focused almost entirely on jobs and individual outcomes. He makes the case that...
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International Enrollment Strategy: Taking Higher Education to the World
Changing Higher Ed
International student enrollment in the United States reached record highs in 2024–2025, followed by a sharp and uneven decline heading into 2025–2026. While top-tier institutions continue to attract global talent, regional and private institutions are facing growing pressure as visa restrictions, geopolitical dynamics, and shifting perceptions of the U.S. reshape the enrollment landscape. In this episode of the , speaks with Executive Director of UC Berkeley’s International House, about how institutions must rethink international enrollment strategy in response to these structural...
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Higher Ed Technology Change Management and Digital Transformation
Changing Higher Ed
Higher education's track record with technology change is uneven for a reason, and the reason is rarely the technology. It is whether leadership treats that runs from planning through sustainment, or as a rollout activity bolted on at the end. In this episode of the podcast, speaks with , Chief Strategy Officer at , about why technology projects in higher education succeed or fail on the strength of leadership behavior rather than tooling. Drawing on 23 years working with universities, nonprofits, and foundations, including Stanford and UC Davis, Toguchi explains how the institutions...
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Building Workforce Readiness Through Real Startup Experience
Changing Higher Ed
Most institutions offer experiential learning. Few deliver it. The gap between the claim and the outcome is structural, and closing it requires more than a better course design. In this episode of the , speaks with , a for-credit startup incubator operating at eight universities, about what it actually takes to produce the depth of learning that institutions advertise but rarely achieve. Drawing on his experience founding and selling a technology company to Walmart, leading the entrepreneur center at Brigham Young University, and building Sandbox across multiple institutions, Crittenden...
info_outlineAI implementation in higher education is often framed as a technology question. California State University treated it as change management with technology as the catalyst, rolling out ChatGPT Edu to 22 universities in 18 months while running the largest AI survey ever conducted at a single university system.
In this episode of the Changing Higher Ed® podcast, Dr. Drumm McNaughton speaks with Dr. Leslie Kennedy, Assistant Vice Chancellor for Academic Technology Services at the California State University Office of the Chancellor, about how the system designed and executed its generative AI implementation and what the Ahead of the Curve survey of 94,060 respondents reveals about AI adoption, faculty engagement, and student behavior.
Drawing on her work co-leading the academic side of CSU's GenAI initiative, Kennedy explains the governance structure that made the rollout possible, the campus-level training infrastructure that scaled adoption across 22 universities, and the survey findings that pushed back on common assumptions about cheating, faculty resistance, and AI access gaps.
This conversation is especially relevant for presidents, provosts, boards, and CIOs evaluating how to move from AI policy discussions to systemwide implementation.
Topics Covered:
- The sequencing model behind CSU's 18-month AI rollout
- Findings from the largest AI survey ever conducted at a single university system
- Why faculty are the only group reporting both positive and negative AI impact
- How CSU funded faculty-led innovation through the AI Educational Innovations Challenge
- The communication challenges of running AI implementation across 22 independent campuses
- What CSU plans next: hackathons, embedded credentials, and domain-specific tools
Real-World Examples Discussed:
- The AI Educational Innovations Challenge received 417 faculty applications against an expected 50, with 63 funded at $3M
- ChatGPT Edu deployment across all 22 CSU campuses, now at 225,000 active accounts
- Student hackathons run with IBM Watson, AWS, NVIDIA, and Cal Poly partners across multiple disciplines
- Faculty-led podcasts (My Robot Teacher from Cal Maritime and Unfixed from Chico State) that built peer-to-peer training resources
Three Key Takeaways for Leadership:
- Sequencing matters more than budget or technology. Faculty resolution first, governance second, enterprise tool third, training and funded experimentation in parallel.
- Faculty carry more complexity than staff or students in AI implementation, and need different support, training cadence, and communication than other groups.
- Communication is a continuous operating discipline, not a launch campaign. The technology changes faster than any single training cycle.
This episode offers a practical view of what large-scale AI implementation actually looks like in higher education, and why the institutions getting it right are treating it as change management work supported by technology rather than a technology rollout in search of governance.
Read the transcript: https://changinghighered.com/https://changinghighered.com/csu-chatgpt-edu-rollout-lessons-higher-ed-leaders/
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