The Pulse of Higher Ed

Artificial intelligence has become part of higher education’s operating environment. New capabilities, applications, and predictions emerge almost daily. Staying informed is important, but awareness alone is not leadership. Leaders must determine what these developments mean for their institutions, their people, and the learners they serve. 

Leadership Conversations in the Age of AI begins an ongoing conversation about those questions. Some months will feature conversations with individuals whose experience provides a distinctive perspective on leadership and change. Others will explore a leadership concept, institutional practice, or a collection of ideas emerging across higher education. The format may change, but the purpose will remain consistent: to move beyond the technology itself and consider how we lead thoughtfully and responsibly in an environment increasingly influenced by artificial intelligence.  In future conversations, we will continue to explore the ideas, practices, and leadership perspectives shaping institutions in the age of AI. 

There is perhaps no better place to begin our leadership conversations than with Ray Schroeder, Senior Fellow of UPCEA and Professor Emeritus at the University of Illinois Springfield (UIS) and a nationally respected and connected leader in online learning and Generative AI in higher education. For decades, Ray has observed the intersection of technology and higher education. Through his writing, professional engagement, and continual scanning of emerging developments, he has helped higher education professionals understand not only what is happening, but what may be coming next. My conversation with Ray began with that long view. 

From Traditional to Generative to Agentic 

Ray has watched higher education move through successive generations of technology. Over the years, he became a trusted resource for many higher education professionals seeking to understand emerging technologies and their applications to teaching and learning. Many of our readers will remember attending workshops with Ray to learn about an emerging technology and how it might best be used. Personal computing, the internet, online learning, generative AI, and now agentic AI have each changed what is possible. What distinguishes the current moment is not simply another new technology, but the pace and breadth of change. Throughout those changes, Ray has remained actively engaged in learning as new technologies and practices emerge. 

Ray sees the progression from traditional computing to generative AI and now agentic systems as increasingly consequential for institutions. His recent writing has encouraged colleges and universities to think comprehensively about AI rather than responding to individual applications one at a time. Responding to each development in isolation creates a leadership challenge. No leader can follow every development, nor should every development require an institutional response. The more important responsibility may be developing the capacity to recognize which changes matter. Whether considering agentic AI or emerging developments in quantum computing, Ray continues to help higher education leaders understand what is here and what may be coming. 

Staying Aware Without Chasing Every Development 

Ray’s work requires an extraordinary level of environmental scanning. He reads broadly, follows emerging research and reporting, maintains his blogs and professional networks, and continually connects developments that might otherwise appear unrelated. 

Our conversation returned several times to the importance of those connections. Professional communities matter. Conferences matter. Reading outside one’s immediate area of responsibility matters. Conversations with colleagues matter. Increasingly, technologies such as AI can help identify patterns and make connections across a volume of information that would be difficult for any individual to process alone. 

But technology does not eliminate the responsibility to think. At the institution where Ray and I both worked, he developed courses designed to expand how students thought about the use of technology in their emerging fields of study. Ray’s recent writing has increasingly explored the movement from knowledge toward wisdom. When information is readily available, the distinguishing capability becomes what we do with it: our ability to synthesize, question, evaluate, and exercise judgment. For leaders, this distinction may be especially important. 

Curiosity as a Leadership Practice 

When our conversation moved from technology to leadership, one theme continued to surface: curiosity. 

Ray has spent decades thinking about emerging technologies, yet he remains deeply interested in what comes next. Much of our conversation centered on quantum computing and the changes and challenges that may accompany developments in the field. He described staying connected with other professionals, continuing to learn, following developments across fields, and maintaining an interest in the future. 

Curiosity is sometimes treated as a personal characteristic. In an environment of continuous technological change, it may be better understood as a leadership practice. Leaders do not need to become experts on every AI model or application. They do need to remain willing to learn, reconsider assumptions, seek perspectives beyond their own areas of expertise, and ask better questions. Continuous learning is no longer something leaders encourage only in others. It is part of the work of leadership itself. When asked about what feeds his curiosity, Ray said, “My children and grandchild are the students of the future. The impact on students keeps me curious about what the future will be”. 

Keeping People at the Center 

Perhaps most importantly, our conversation repeatedly returned to people. 

When I asked Ray what he would want readers to remember from this conversation, his response was direct: “I believe the key is to center on people.”  He emphasized communication, equity, accessibility, and the impact of our decisions on the people we serve.  His emphasis on communication also reflects the academic field in which he taught during his years as a professor. 

This focus on people provides an important counterbalance to conversations about increasingly capable technology. The question for higher education is not simply what AI can do. Leaders must also ask whom a new approach serves, who might be excluded, how it changes the work of faculty and staff, and whether it ultimately strengthens the experience and success of learners. Even as AI capabilities continue to evolve, these leadership responsibilities remain. 

Leadership Reflection 

My conversation with Ray began with artificial intelligence, but it led to something deeper. Awareness matters. Leaders cannot responsibly guide institutions through changes they do not understand. But awareness is only the beginning. 

Leadership requires us to translate awareness into judgment and judgment into thoughtful action. It requires continuous learning, curiosity, communication, and the willingness to consider how technological decisions affect people throughout our institutions. 

Ray has spent decades watching technologies change. Perhaps one of the most useful lessons from that long view is also one of the simplest: keep learning, stay connected, and remain curious. Those are not technology strategies. They are leadership practices that keep people at the center. 

I am grateful to Ray for sharing his perspective and for continuing to challenge higher education leaders to remain curious about what comes next. 

Questions for Your Leadership Team 

As AI becomes increasingly embedded in the operating environment of higher education, consider asking: 

• How are we helping leaders across our institution remain informed without expecting them to follow every new AI development? 

• Where are we creating opportunities for curiosity, continuous learning, and conversations across organizational boundaries? 

• When we make decisions about AI, how consistently do we consider the impact on the people we serve? 

Continuing the Conversation 

Leadership Conversations in the Age of AI is built on a simple premise: technology will continue to change, but thoughtful leadership remains essential. 

In the months ahead, these ongoing conversations will include perspectives from individuals as well as explorations of ideas, practices, and emerging questions across higher education. Our purpose will not be to chase every new development. It will be to consider what those developments mean for leadership and how we can use that understanding to strengthen our institutions and the people they serve.  

 

Vickie Cook is a nationally recognized higher education leader specializing in enrollment strategy, online and digital learning, organizational transformation, team development, and leadership growth. She currently serves as a Senior Fellow and Strategic Advisor for UPCEA.  You can follow Vickie on LinkedIn.  To learn more about UPCEA Research and Consulting, please contact [email protected].  

 

Follow Ray on LinkedIn and his blog Online: Trending Now.