How 5 Colleges Are Approaching AI

Artificial intelligence is rapidly reshaping conversations at colleges and universities nationwide. Institutions are rolling out new courses, majors and microcredentials about AI while launching campuswide initiatives to integrate the tools into teaching and learning.

But those efforts have also sparked pushback from faculty and students as university leaders make decisions in largely uncharted territory.

Recent survey data from Packback underscores both the opportunity and the concern. In one survey of nearly 700 college students, about 5 percent said they frequently use AI to generate full assignments—a rate comparable to pre-AI forms of contract cheating. Many students cited time constraints, lack of understanding or low interest as reasons for turning to AI shortcuts.

Other research suggests students are using AI for more than academics. A national survey from Surgo Health, in partnership with Young Futures and The Jed Foundation (JED), found that some young people are turning to generative AI for emotional support—particularly when their needs aren’t being met offline. While short-term relief was common, outcomes were less consistent when AI replaced, rather than supplemented, existing support systems.

Against this backdrop, colleges are taking a variety of approaches to integrating AI. Here’s how five institutions are putting their strategies into practice.

1. Agnes Scott College

Beginning this fall, Agnes Scott College will introduce a three-part AI curriculum as part of its required first-year experience, aimed at ensuring every student builds foundational AI literacy and understands how to use generative tools responsibly.

The institution’s Universal AI initiative emphasizes critical thinking, ethical reasoning and decision-making—rather than training students to master specific platforms like ChatGPT or Claude. Students will examine issues such as bias and fairness, privacy and surveillance, accountability, labor displacement and environmental impact, and how such challenges affect communities differently across the globe.

“Critical thinking and judgment have never been more important and are necessary for discerning use of AI,” Rachel Bowser, vice president of academic affairs and dean of the college, said in a statement. “We are building on the natural alignment between liberal arts curriculum and the discerning use of AI, along with the natural overlap between students who want an in-person, highly experiential education, and students who want to understand emerging technologies as the source of both problems and solutions.”

2. University of Richmond

Launched last fall, the University of Richmond’s Center for Liberal Arts and AI aims to connect artificial intelligence with the critical inquiry and humanistic values of the liberal arts. A key component of the initiative is engaging both student and faculty fellows in course development and campus programming focused on AI.

The initiative includes a speaker series and workshops on integrating AI across liberal arts disciplines, from the humanities to the social sciences. The center is also working to expand faculty access to professional development opportunities and create structured ways to share resources with neighboring institutions.

“Students are using these technologies, and they’re becoming part of the fabric of their academic life,” said Lauren Tilton, center director. “Rather than focusing on academic integrity and cheating, we would be better off approaching this with empathy and generosity, working alongside students.”

3. Bryn Mawr College

At Bryn Mawr College, campus libraries are emerging as AI sandboxes—shared spaces for experimentation and ethical exploration. Instead of pushing AI into silos or relying on unmanaged tools, libraries are becoming neutral hubs where AI literacy, academic integrity and workforce readiness intersect.

Lauren Dodd, director of collection management, discovery and strategic communication at Bryn Mawr, said the role of librarians is evolving from archive experts to leaders in AI literacy.

“[Librarians] have been actively collaborating and talking about it almost every day, whether it’s creating tutorials and digital learning objectives or thinking about the conversations to have with instructors,” Dodd said.

“It can feel like cognitive dissonance to be actively working with AI on a regular basis and also saying we’re constantly thinking about the harms and the biases,” she added. “I am judicious about my own use of it, but it really has changed the instructional mission of academic librarians.”

4. Cornell University

Researchers at Cornell University have developed an online module aimed at helping students build one of higher education’s most enduring—and often elusive—skills: critical thinking.

Cornell piloted the asynchronous, 75-minute module in six introductory-level courses beginning in 2022. It provides students with a shared language and foundational framework for critical thinking, while helping instructors across disciplines connect those skills to their course content. Today, it remains in use across multiple classes, with roughly 7,000 students having completed it.

Mark Sarvary, director of biology teaching laboratories in Cornell’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, helped spearhead the module and continues to use it in his courses.

“One of the reasons we developed the module, which grew out of a faculty survey, was to see whether faculty are actually teaching critical thinking,” Sarvary said. “Many of us include it in our learning objectives, but when you look closely at courses, it’s often not taught explicitly.”

“That’s especially relevant in the age of AI, when we’re asking whether critical thinking is being replaced—or is necessary to evaluate these tools,” he added. “If students don’t know when they’re using those skills, it’s hard for them to answer those questions.”

5. DeVry University

At DeVry University, AI literacy and skill building will be embedded into every course by the end of the year.

The effort builds on the automation and machine-learning curriculum DeVry launched in 2020, adding new AI-focused courses and credentials and embedding AI learning assistants across classes. It’s part of the institution’s push to ensure every student develops the technical proficiency and applied fluency needed to succeed in an AI-augmented workforce.

Elise Awwad, president and CEO of DeVry, said AI literacy is an essential skill set for students across disciplines and industries as the workplace evolves.

“What I’ve realized from talking to employers and watching workforce trends is AI skills are going to be a baseline and a necessity, and perhaps may even be a basic requirement for job descriptions,” Awwad said. “So we’ve got to take ownership of that as educators, and we’ve got to get our students prepared for what’s happening.”

Taken together, these examples reflect the wide range of approaches colleges are taking to AI. As student use grows, institutions are being pushed to define not just how AI is used on campus—but what role it should play in shaping the future of higher education.

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