Explore the speakers, topics, and technologies being showcased at EDUCAUSE 2024 — Oct. 21-24

 

Live at EDUCAUSE 2024—eCampus News Exclusive Coverage

• How Trump and AI could impact higher ed in 2025
• Leveraging AI for institutional improvement, continuous learning
• The EDUCAUSE Top 10: Rebuilding trust in higher ed
• EDUCAUSE24 Wrap Up: CEO John O’Brien Highlights This Year’s Show
• UTSA’s experiential learning leaders take center stage at conference
• EDUCAUSE Takeaways: How To Enable Engagement and Flexibility in Hybrid Learning Spaces
• EDUCAUSE News: New Accessibility Features for Math
• Restoring Trust: Higher Ed Leaders’ Top Priorities for Technology and Data in 2025
• EDUCAUSE24 Takeaways—Ryan Lufkin, VP of Global Academic Strategy, Instructure
• Scenes from EDUCAUSE24

How Trump and AI could impact higher ed in 2025

Changes are on the horizon, and higher education leaders are outlining just how to help their institutions navigate new policies and responsibilities

Key points:

As higher education leaders look to 2025, some questions loom large: How will a second Trump administration impact higher education? What will AI bring to the table?

During an EDUCAUSE 2024 online session, Paul LeBlanc, former president of Southern New Hampshire University and co-founder of Human Systems, addressed some of higher ed’s most immediate concerns, including how leaders can manage drastically different presidential priorities while at the same time navigating the challenging issue of preparing student for the workforce at a time when AI is rapidly changing learning and the future of work.

Federal policy and higher education

At the top of most higher-ed leaders’ lists is what higher education will look like under a second Trump administration:

What is the future of the Department of Education? While Trump has discussed dismantling it, that’s harder to do than it sounds. Beyond determining what to do with all the department’s moving pieces, the department itself is a powerful tool. If the Trump administration wants a powerful tool to influence higher education, LeBlanc said, the Department of Education is that tool. “It’s not clear what will happen, but this is very much in flux. I don’t think we’ll see it disappear, but I think we’ll see a much-altered department,” he added.

The future of accreditation: Under Trump’s previous administration, “accreditor shopping” was all the rage–if an institution didn’t like its accreditor, it could look for one in another region, and this policy is likely to return.

DEI, free speech, curriculum, and Title IX: Free speech on campus has become a hot topic as of late, and DEI issues are frequent targets of Republican policymakers.

Governance and independence: “We have already seen the intrusion on institutional independence by governors … who are appointing new regents, where faculty-shared governance is rolled back. We can expect that to happen even more,” LeBlanc said.

Loan forgiveness: A priority of the Biden administration, loan forgiveness will be rolled back. There is no support for that among the GOP, LeBlanc outlined.

For-profit institutions: For-profits will get breathing space. “They’re a shadow of what they were, but when you look at these hybrids, where a for-profit like Kaplan is acquired by a nonprofit like Perdue University–that will get less scrutiny,” LeBlanc noted.

Taxing endowments: More recently, Trump has talked about using proceeds from taxed endowments to fund a free national community college. “I’m not sure we’ll see that, but you may see punishment of elite institutions through taxation of endowments,” LeBlanc said.

Decline in international enrollments: Lots of schools today are keeping their heads above water through international enrollments. After the first Trump administration and the pandemic, these enrollments they tanked, with the pandemic having the biggest influence on that nosedive. International enrollments have been curtailed globally. “[There’s a] pretty good chance we’ll see a rollback and there’s very little an institution can do,” LeBlanc said.

University leaders also have to navigate challenges to university business models:

  • Demographics: Institutions are tuition- and enrollment-dependent, and higher education is looking at a slowdown based on declining numbers of prospective students. Enrollments as of late have been lower for students of color, and difficulties with FAFSA negatively impacted low-income students who didn’t have resources to navigate that confusion. “This is not a good thing in terms of equity for the country or in terms of enrollment for institutions,” LeBlanc said.
  • Declining public trust: Sources of this distrust are tied to the skyrocketing cost of higher education, which puts it increasingly out of reach of more students. Institutions ask students to carry more debt–debt that burdens students for decades–as students reevaluate the ROI on their financial investments.
  • Rise of the alternatives: More and more people are looking for certifications and credentials, and there are a slew of highly-respected industry certifications that are well-known. “This is the beginning of a new movement,” LeBlanc said. “I think, long-term, we’ll see a broader array of credentials available to students.” Higher education today is not built to produce short-form credentials. As more industries remove degrees from job requirements, the credential movement will build momentum.

AI, AI, AI

When it comes to AI, higher education must identify how to use the technology in teaching and learning, how to equip students with the AI skills they’ll need for success, and how AI will impact what universities look like in the future.

In the short term: “Identify what students need,” LeBlanc said. “How do we prepare students for a world with AI?” This includes identifying what tools they’ll have to master in their industry, along with determining how to meet employer needs–many employers say they will not hire someone without command of basic AI tools. “This gap is one we have to address in the short term,” LeBlanc suggested. Higher ed must determine how to use AI in instruction, in learning, and in assessment, but also must determine how students will be asked to use AI when they are in the workforce–and meet those needs.

In the medium term: “We’ll be faced with rethinking our business,” LeBlanc noted. “What majors will we stop teaching? Take accounting–I think the world will have fewer accountants. What will you do with those students? How do you rethink that?” Certain occupations and skillsets will change dramatically with AI. “We don’t have great clarity oon that yet, so we’ll be in messy ground in the short term and the medium term, as we rethink what we offer, rethink staffing, think about where the jobs are, and where we can retrain people.”

In the long term: “In the long term, I think we have a bigger question: What are universities for?” LeBlanc said. “Today, universities serve the knowledge economy that drives the developed economies of the world. What happens when human beings aren’t the most powerful entities when it comes to lots of areas of knowledge, processing, and making? What will the machines be good at, what will humans be good at, and what are the things human beings will be good at that machines aren’t?” This, he noted, will shift the university model, and could spur a resurgence of the humanities. It also will prompt new thinking about what the jobs of the future will be for humans. “I think we’ll move from an economy of information to an economy of care,” he said. This includes rebuilding the K-12 system with amazing educators and support staff, rebuilding an almost-beyond repair mental health system, and creating a system of compassionate and affordable care for the elderly in an aging society. “All these things will be helped by AI, but they won’t be done by AI. In a world where AI is better than we are at so much, it’s actually the human jobs that have so much value.”

As AI moves into professions and is capable of low-, middle-, and some high-end processing, the cognitive bar increases for humans. “Our cognitive bar goes up because we have a high-powered assistant,” LeBlanc explained. The quality of what AI produces, such as a marketing plan, will depend on how humans prompt AI. Humans will have to be precise and operate with a high level of skill to ensure their desired output.

“That’s a raising of the cognitive bar, and how we do that is going to be interesting,” LeBlanc said. “It moves us from teaching less about product and more about process.”

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Leveraging AI for institutional improvement, continuous learning

When it comes to AI, higher ed needs transparency to support continuous learning and cross-departmental collaboration

Key points:

With the advent of AI tools comes the for higher-ed leaders innovate at all levels, automating administrative and repetitive tasks and using AI to transform outdated processes and open up cross-departmental collaboration.

During an EDUCAUSE 2024 online session, Jeremy Gatens, IT Director at Core HR at the University of Pennsylvania, explored AI’s potential in aligning university operations with future-ready outcomes.

Through targeted pilot projects, university leaders can explore AI-driven strategies to empower cross-department collaboration. By fostering collaboration and innovation, higher ed can bridge the AI readiness gap and prepare institutions and students for the demands of the future.

“AI is not just a technological advancement–it’s a catalyst for transformation across industries,” Gatens noted. “In education, AI can personalize learning experiences, automate administrative tasks, and open new avenues for research and innovation.” But despite its potential, many institutions feel unprepared–HED institutions typically rate themselves at a 4 or 5 out of 10 when it comes to AI readiness, Gatens added, highlighting the significant gap between where higher ed is today and where it needs to be to meet the needs and expectations of staff and students.

Leveraging AI to enhance learning and prepare the workforce for the future

“Our task is to demystify AI and harness it effectively in our organizations,” Gatens said. “It’s important to get AI in the hands of the people. To truly benefit from AI, we need to get it in the hands of executives and IT professionals who can drive its adoption. This means we need improved AI integration strategies and, importantly, cross-departmental collaboration.”

Successful AI implementation hinges on 3 key elements: involving subject matter experts at every stage, using an iterative pilot approach to validate results, and focusing on user experience. There also is a need for improved AI integration strategies.

The rapid advancement of AI offers unprecedented opportunities in education and career development. The technology has and will continue to have a transformative impact on education–AI can personalize learning, automate grading, and offer insight on student performance. New AI-related jobs are emerging, requiring a workforce skilled in AI. By embracing AI, higher ed can enhance educational outcomes and better prepare students for the evolving job market.

Pilots are pivotal to AI programs

Launching trial programs can drive innovation within higher-ed organizations, Gatens observed. Trials or pilots let higher-ed leaders test new ideas on a small scale before broad implementation, allowing for exploration of AI’s potential with minimal risk as pilot leaders gain valuable insights and lessons.

Fostering innovation through collaboration is key to these trial programs. Bringing together diverse teams from different departments offers varied skills, experiences, and perspectives–leading to more effective and innovative solutions. This collaborative environment encourages creativity and out-of-the-box thinking.

“Launching trial programs contributes to cultivating an innovative culture and signals to employees that experimentation and continual improvement are valued,” Gatens said.

Examining longstanding institutions processes is critical when moving forward with AI. “To truly innovate, we must be willing to examine and challenge longstanding work processes. This involves critically assessing workflows and identifying areas where AI can introduce efficiencies and improvements. Questioning the status quo opens the door to transformative changes,” Gatens said.

At the University of Pennsylvania, an AI-integrated resume reviewer opened doors for a new hiring system. Through the Resume Café pilot program, IT teams partnered with talent acquisition experts for a pilot that was used at a recent job fair. Applicants uploaded their resumes to the AI resume reviewer. The AI reviewed resumes and highlighted strengths and areas of improvement in each candidate’s resume. Out of 47 applicants in the pilot, seven entered the job pipeline.

“This pilot showcases how AI can enhance our recruitment process by providing immediate, valuable feedback to applicants–and streamlining candidate selection for us,” Gatens said.

Empowering universities to empower faculty and students

Using AI will empower the new workforce, will help position institutions to align with new workforce needs. Embracing AI collaboratively not only improves university operations, but improves the ability to attract retain talent in an increasingly competitive market.

Building cross-department product units to enhance AI initiatives: Forming cross-department teams brings together diverse expertise and perspectives. This ensures that AI solutions are well-rounded and address the actual needs of various departments. It fosters innovation and accelerates problem solving by breaking down silos in the organization.

Measurable and validated results: Working collaboratively allows all those involved to establish clear metrics and key performance indicators from the outset. Institutions and teams can measure and validate the results of AI projects more effectively, ensuring they deliver tangible value. This data-driven approach demonstrates ROI and helps in making informed decisions for future initiatives.

Value-based collaboration: Data-driven organizations that emphasize value-based collaboration significantly outperform their peers. By aligning AI efforts with organizational values and strategic goals, leaders can enhance efficiency, adaptability, and competitiveness in the market.

Challenges in AI adoption

Despite AI’s potential, it’s essential to remain mindful of its challenges.

Data quality and availability: Poor data quality can hinder AI effectiveness. We need robust data management practices, cleaning, validation, and enrichment to ensure AI systems have access to reliable and comprehensive data.

Skill gaps: Investing in training programs and partnering with education intuitions can bridge this gap, equipping workforce with necessary skills.

High costs: AI projects can be expensive. Starting with pilots can demonstrate ROI on a smaller scale before larger investments. Exploring cloud-based AI solutions can reduce upfront costs.

Ethical concerns: Ethical issues like bias and lack of transparency can impact trust in AI systems. Developing a clear ethical framework and implementing practices for transparency and accountability are essential.

Resistance to change: Employees may resist AI due to fear of job loss or unfamiliarity. A change management strategy with clear communication and training can help.

Security risks: AI systems can introduce new security vulnerabilities. Implementing robust cybersecurity measures such as regular audits and threat detection is critical.

Measuring ROI: Quantifying AI’s benefits can be challenging. Establishing clear metrics and regularly reviewing them ensures we accurately capture value of AI initiatives. Cross-departmental collaboration can enhance AI adoption strategies, drive innovation, and achieve success.

Maintaining transparency and championing continuous learning

“Implementing AI is a continuous journey that requires transparency and adaptability,” Gatens said.

Establish an AI governance framework:

  • Capture opportunities correctly–ensure AI initiatives align with organizational goals
  • Define roles and responsibilities–clarify who is responsible for what
  • Track and measure generative AI success–use metrics to assess AI solutions performance
  • Address ethical concerns throughout the process–be mindful of bias and privacy
  • Maintain strong security practices–protect data integrity and confidentiality

For higher education leaders

  • Evaluate organizational roles–assess the effectiveness of roles within your organization and identify how AI can augment existing roles or create new opportunities
  • Review existing talent–consider your current talent pipeline and assess whether your institution is cultivating the skills needed for an AI-driven future
  • Plan for future needs–develop a game plan and create a strategic road map for AI integration

“By fostering a culture of transparency and continuous learning, we can adapt to changes and optimize our AI strategies over time,” Gatens added.

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The EDUCAUSE Top 10: Rebuilding trust in higher ed

Higher education technology and data leaders and professionals can help restore trust in the sector by building competent and caring institutions

Key points:

Higher education has a trust problem. This blunt–but true–statement is the guiding idea behind the 2025 EDUCAUSE Top 10, which narrows in on higher ed’s biggest list of challenges and to-dos for the coming year.

During EDUCAUSE’s 2025 live and online conference, Susan Grajek, EDUCAUSE’s Vice President for Partnerships, Communities and Research, reviewed 2025’s top 10 issues, offering insight from higher-ed leaders and a look at where to go from here.

“[The Top 10 is] not just a list–it’s a roadmap for the way technology and data can help leaders navigate the complexity of higher education’s priorities and challenges in the coming year,” Grajek said.

The 2025 EDUCAUSE Top 10 highlights how technology and data leaders in the higher-ed sector can address the industry’s biggest challenge of all: rebuilding trust, which includes building competent institutions, fostering caring institutions, and leveraging the fulcrum of leadership.

The panel developed these 10 issues based on upcoming priorities and challenges higher-ed leaders said would be most important for 2025:

10. Supportable, sustainable, affordable: Developing an institutional strategy for new technology investments, pilots, policies, and uses. “We are in an era of rapid technological advancement. It’s incredible how fast innovation is moving,” Grajek said. “We need to quickly and carefully keep up. We need to evaluate which of these technologies to adopt.”  

A well-thought-out innovation strategy can bring immense, even transformational, benefits–like making education more affordable, enhancing the student and staff experience, and staying competitive. Hurdles include change fatigue, budget constraints, and complex institutional politics. Executive leaders must trust one another to reach institutional goals.

10. (tie) Building bridges, not walls: Increasing digital access for students while also safeguarding their privacy and data protection. “Colleges and universities are caught in a balancing act–how do we expand student’s access to digital resources while also protecting their privacy and data?” Grajek asked. Giving students more digital access is empowering. It lets them take more control over their education, which can improve completion rates. It also helps institutions address grooving digital divide. If we give students ownership of their data and tools to manage their digital content, we’re not just preparing them for education, we’re helping them build a digital brand they can take to future employers.

This requires a holistic campus-wide strategy. IT leaders play a critical role here, helping shape strategies to modernize digital architecture while prioritizing privacy and data protection. Keys to progress include collaboration and interoperability frameworks.

9. Taming the digital jungle: Updating and unifying digital infrastructure and governance to increase institutional efficiency and effectiveness. “Many institutions are dealing with an array of digital tools and systems that just keeps growing. It’s creating a digital jungle that hampers efficiency and effectiveness,” Grajek said.

Updating and unifying digital infrastructure services and governance helps free up valuable time and resources, redirecting to areas that matter most–teaching, learning, research, scholarship. An overabundance of digital tools is an asset management challenge. Keys to progress include setting the foundations for transformation, creating a culture of innovation and adaptability, and active community participation.

8. Putting people first: Helping staff adapt, upskill, and thrive in an era of rapid change and ongoing digital advancements. “In higher ed, competing on salary isn’t always possible, but what we can do is create a positive work culture and invest in our staff and use those as selling points,” Grajek noted. “Leaders need to prioritize staff development, create a workplace where people actually want to be, connect staff to the institution’s mission, and encourage collaboration.”

When staff trust their workplace, they’re more engaged, productive, and loyal. Every staff member should feel their work supports the institution’s mission. Keys to progress include building a culture of trust and knowing that people are your most valuable asset.

7. Faster, better, AND cheaper: Using technology to personalize services, automate work, and increase agility. “Personalization uses data to tailor and support learning experiences, which can improve student engagement and outcomes. AI and other technologies can help automate work. By adopting flexible technologies and building strong partnerships with vendors, institutions can become more adaptable, adjusting to changes quickly,” Grajek said. But this all requires good data to help leaders make strategic, hard choices that balance financial goals with broader goals, like improving outcomes. Keys to progress include collaboration across the entire ecosystem and corporations reframing their approach to higher education.

6. Institutional resilience: Contributing to institutional efforts to prepare for and address a growing number and range of risks. “Institutional resilience is more important than ever. Leaders need to anticipate threats, develop mitigation strategies, and involve the entire institution,” Grajek noted.

Technology and data leaders can help avoid tech-related disasters and work with institutional leaders to develop and rehearse business continuity and disaster plans. Keys to progress include learning from small incidents and looking for early signals of change.

5. The CIO challenge: Leading digital strategy and operations in an era of frequent leadership transitions, resource limitations, societal unrest, and rapid technology advancements. “CIOs unlock institutional potential and they do that by contributing to institutional agility, creating room for innovation, and aligning tech strategy with broader organizational goals. Success comes when CIOs build radical partnerships with other leaders, seizing opportunities and even crises to push forward projects that have stalled,” Grajek outlined.

Keys to progress include building a culture of trust by strengthening relationships, connecting institutional strategies to IT strategies, and striving for transparency.

4. A matter of trust: Advancing institutional strategies to safeguard privacy and secure institutional data. “There’s growing pressure to safeguard data and privacy, but we need to do that without removing the openness and collaboration that make higher ed thrive,” Grajek observed.

Framing these efforts as building trust can help regain public confidence. This helps maintain federal funding that depends on compliance, can attract and retain students, and improves data flows and access. Keys to progress include a standard for demonstrating trustworthiness, agreeing on the importance of data, cybersecurity, and privacy, and sharing solutions and staff with other institutions.

3. Smoothing the student journey: Using technology and data to improve and personalize student services. “Student services are shifting from reactive transactional support to proactive relational support that focuses on student success as much as on administrative effectiveness,” Grajek said.

When this work is done well, more students can succeed, and recruitment and enrollment can see a boost. This requires a holistic view of cross-organizational processes and data flows. Keys to progress include finding strong external partners and focusing on change management from the very start.

2. Administrative simplification: Streamlining and modernizing processes, data, and technologies. Institutions are adopting modern ERPs and administrative solutions to simplify work and use data effectively. “This isn’t just about technology–it’s about changing process and culture and giving the workforce the time and resources to adapt. Institutional leadership needs to be engaged, informed, and aligned. [Leaders] need to understand what drives value, what success looks like, and be ready to address obstacles.”

Keys to progress include understanding what the new system is capable of and involving the community deeply.

1. The data-empowered institution: Using data, analytics, and AI to increase student success, win the enrollment race, increase research funding, and reduce inefficiencies. “With enrollment challenges and budget constraints, data-driven decision-making has become essential. Leaders need solid evidence to decide which investments will make the biggest impacts for students and the institution,” Grajek said.

Data and key performance indicators can help decision makers get on the same page about what’s working well and where more investment is needed. Keys to progress include get the right staffing and skills and invest in professional development and cross training.

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EDUCAUSE24 Wrap Up: CEO John O’Brien Highlights This Year’s Show

Shuttling between keynotes, the show floor, and a flurry of other events, EDUCAUSE boss John O’Brian stopped by the press room last week for a quick, yet insightful conversation on the state of play of higher education as it stands with his organization’s annual confab. With a focus on networking, human connection, and transformational leadership, John says the event has moved beyond traditional tech discussions, with the evolving importance of people-centered approaches in tech. With over 600 sessions, AI was integrated throughout, underscoring its vital, embedded role in addressing higher education’s challenges, including mental health and administrative tasks. Addressing a decline in public trust in higher ed, John details how EDUCAUSE’s research has shifted from analyzing the issue to actively exploring strategies to rebuild credibility. He also details the inaugural Partner Summit, which aims to foster collaborative dialogues between institutions and corporate partners, aiming for true partnership beyond transactional relationships. Have a listen:

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UTSA’s experiential learning leaders take center stage at conference

The 2024 EDUCAUSE Annual Conference brought together thousands of professionals from academia and private industry to San Antonio to engage in relevant education topics. It was a chance to showcase the city, which hosted the event. EDUCAUSE also created an opportunity to highlight UTSA, according to Vanessa Hammler Kenon, program chair for the conference and UTSA associate vice president of technology compliance and community engagement for University Technology Solutions. 

“It was an absolute honor to represent UTSA and the city of San Antonio as the 2024 EDUCAUSE Program Chair, welcoming so many higher-education professionals to our great city,” Kenon said. “Many attendees also visited various UTSA campus sites and had a chance to experience our world-class university.”

UTSA had 88 staff and faculty members representing the university at EDUCAUSE 2024, which saw nearly 8,000 participants from around the world. In addition, UTSA students participated thanks to Kenon, who has brought students to the conference as a longtime supporter of EDUCAUSE.

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EDUCAUSE Takeaways: How To Enable Engagement and Flexibility in Hybrid Learning Spaces

I was able to pull Gaurav Bradoo, Director and Head of Product for Education at Logitech, from the show floor last week to discuss the rapid evolution of digital technologies on post-pandemic campuses. Hybrid learning is now a permanent component of education, with students increasingly demanding remote access to lectures, notes, and other learning materials. Many institutions struggle with adapting classrooms to be hybrid-ready due to cost, infrastructure, and the need for standardized yet flexible tech solutions. Gaurav emphasizes involving faculty, IT, AV teams, and students in tech adoption decisions, fostering human-centered design and ensuring solutions that meet real educational needs. Have a listen:

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EDUCAUSE News: New Accessibility Features for Math

Foxit, a leading provider of innovative PDF and eSignature products and services, helping knowledge workers to increase their productivity and do more with documents, showcased its PDF accessibility features at EDUCAUSE 2024. One highlight—its newly enhanced Accessible Math capabilities, which leverage the latest PDF 2.0 standards to make complex mathematical formulas accessible to individuals with disabilities, including those who are blind, visually impaired, or have learning disabilities.

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Restoring Trust: Higher Ed Leaders’ Top Priorities for Technology and Data in 2025

One of the annual EDUCAUSE highlights is the release of the group’s Top 10 Report. The 2025 edition describes how higher education technology and data leaders can help restore trust in the sector by building competent and caring institutions through radical collaboration. I was able to speak with Susan Grajek, Vice President of Partnerships, Communities and Research for EDUCAUSE, for a sneak peek on how the sausage was made to put together this important research. Have a listen and click through to dive into the details.

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EDUCAUSE24 Takeaways—Ryan Lufkin, VP of Global Academic Strategy, Instructure

When you have a user base of more than 30 million students worldwide, it’s pretty safe to say your data indicating higher edtech trends is pretty strong. I was fortunate enough to steal a few minutes with Ryan to tap his brain, which included (what else?) the impact of AI on higher education and its potential to save educators time by automating tasks, integrating data, and supporting students—from theoretical concepts to practical applications, with a focus on using AI tools to streamline administrative processes, visualize data, and personalize learning experiences. Have a listen and click through for more Instructure news:

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Scenes from EDUCAUSE24