SA Voices From the Field

Bridging the Past, Present, and Future of Student Affairs with AI

In the constantly evolving landscape of higher education, artificial intelligence (AI) is emerging as a potent tool for student affairs professionals. In the latest episode of the "Student Affairs Voices from the Field" podcast, Dr. Jill Creighton spoke with Dr. Claire Brady as she shared her insights on how AI can be harnessed to streamline operations, free up time for deeper human connections, and enhance student success. Anchoring her discourse around the recently published NASPA AI report, Dr. Brady provides a roadmap for AI integration, framed through four crucial phases.

Rapid Implementation: Where to Start

Starting Small for Immediate Impact

Dr. Brady emphasizes the importance of initiating AI integration through readily available solutions that address immediate challenges with minimal disruption. This phase centers around adopting free and low-cost tools that can yield quick wins. For instance, Kellogg Community College began using a CRM with embedded AI tools in their admissions department, which gradually expanded across the institution. This approach allowed them to showcase the value of AI incrementally while building momentum for broader adoption.

Resource and Capacity Building: Strengthening Foundations

Enhancing AI Literacy and Competence

The second phase involves building the necessary infrastructure and expertise for more sophisticated AI applications. Nashville State Community College serves as a model, implementing a year-long AI training program funded by a state grant. This comprehensive program combines interactive learning with critical analysis of AI's practical applications, helping to foster a campus-wide culture of AI literacy and competence. Such initiatives are crucial for developing the foundational knowledge and skills required for future AI endeavors.

Scaling Solutions: Expanding AI's Reach

From Departmental Pilots to Institutional Integration

Scaling successful AI initiatives across various departments and functions forms the core of the third phase. Georgia State University's chatbot, Pounce, exemplifies this phase. Originally designed to reduce summer melt, Pounce has evolved into a comprehensive student support system. By leveraging AI to improve engagement with first-generation and underserved students, Georgia State demonstrates how a focused pilot project can scale into a broad institutional strategy that significantly enhances student experiences.

Strategic Transformation: Towards Comprehensive Integration

Aligning AI with Institutional Goals

The final phase, strategic transformation, envisions a comprehensive integration of AI fully aligned with broader institutional goals. This phase anticipates creating an ecosystem where all technological components work synergistically. The University of Florida's "Building an AI University" initiative exemplifies this stage. By embedding AI education across disciplines and emphasizing ethical guidelines and accessibility, the university ensures that AI integration supports their mission holistically.

Moving Forward: Centering the Human Element

Enhancing, Not Replacing Human Interaction

Dr. Brady highlights the essential role of human-centered AI integration, stressing that AI should augment rather than replace human interactions. AI can alleviate the laborious aspects of administrative tasks, allowing student affairs professionals to focus more on meaningful, human-centric activities. This perspective is crucial as the field navigates the integration of emerging technologies.

Conclusion: Embracing the AI Frontier

The transformational potential of AI in student affairs is vast, and as Dr. Brady emphasizes, now is the time for institutions to start exploring and implementing these tools. By following the structured phases of AI integration outlined in the NASPA report, student affairs professionals can strategically harness AI to enhance their work, support students, and ultimately drive institutional success. As we embrace this new frontier, continuous learning, ethical considerations, and a commitment to human-centered practices will be key to thriving in the future.

TRANSCRIPT

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:00:01]:
Welcome to Student Affairs Voices from the Field, the podcast where we share your student affairs stories from fresh perspectives to seasoned experts. Brought to you by NASPA, we curate free and accessible professional development for higher ed professionals wherever you happen to be. This is season 12, continuing our journey through the past, present, and future of student affairs. I'm doctor Jill Creighton, she, her, hers, your essay voices from the field host. Today on essay voices, we're bringing the conversation back to artificial intelligence in student affairs. We welcome Claire Brady, who is a first generation American and first generation college graduate who has built a distinguished career at the intersection of digital transformation, organizational excellence, and higher educational leadership. A seasoned executive consultant and national thought leader in AI adoption, Claire specializes in helping organizations harness AI not just to streamline operations, but to free up time for deeper, more meaningful human connections. Through glass half full consulting, Claire helps organizations scale their AI integrations strategically and substantially.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:01:02]:
Sorry, Chris. Starting that, paragraph over. Through glass half full consulting, Claire helps organizations scale their AI integrations strategically and sustainably, enabling teams to amplify their impact while staying true to their core mission and values. The firm specializes in creating customized AI adoption road maps that align with organizational goals, ensuring technology serves as a catalyst for meaningful growth and enhanced human connections. As a sought after speaker and trainer, Claire is dedicated to equipping professionals with the knowledge and tools they need to thrive in an AI enhanced world. She is the author of The Transformative Potential of AI and Student Affairs, Recommendations for Student Affairs Leader, a national report developed in partnership with NASPA and the Strata Educational Foundation, which is also the topic of our episode today. Claire has held executive leadership roles as vice president for student affairs at Lake Sumter State College and Anna G. Mendez University, serving both Florida and Puerto Rico.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:01:55]:
Her career also includes leadership and teaching roles at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, Michigan State University, and Alma College. A committed mentor and thought leader in higher education, she's contributed to NASBA as a faculty member and co director of the Institute for Aspiring BPSAs and New Professionals Institute, as well as a frequent contributor to Leadership Exchange and Colleague Conversations. Beyond her professional work, Claire is an active member of regional and national associations and serves on various community boards in Central Florida. She and her partner, Ben, and their son live in Orlando where life is filled with Lego builds, Minecraft discussions, and Broadway show tunes. When she's not exploring new AI tools or traveling, she enjoys reading, great TV, and time with family and friends. Claire, welcome to SA Voices.

Dr. Claire Brady [00:02:37]:
Thank you for having me.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:02:38]:
Lovely to see you again with many connections in NASPA. I always like to clue our listeners in. Claire was one of my faculty members at the NASPA AVP Institute. Oh, gosh. I think that was five years ago now.

Dr. Claire Brady [00:02:51]:
A time ago.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:02:53]:
And and so it's lovely to reconnect. We're gonna be spending most of our conversation today talking about the authorship of the AI report, which was just released by NASPA just before the winter break. So if you haven't had a chance to check that out, it is freely available actually with or without your NASPA membership. If you're just a higher ed community member and wanna check it out, it's, freely available on the Internet. But Claire, you're off and running into the consulting world now after have having spent a long time, as a senior student affairs officer at VPSA. We always like to ask our guests how you got to your current seat, and I'm so curious about your journey.

Dr. Claire Brady [00:03:27]:
As you can imagine, a lot of people have questions about moving from full time staff into consulting. So I'll I'll definitely share some of that as well. So I'm a very traditional higher ed student affairs. I mean, my twenty fifth year, I started as a student leader. Most folks know my origin story. I immigrated to The US when I was in high school, and I'm a first generation college student. I was absolutely in love with the college experience at Michigan State University, very involved student leader, and applied for graduate school and got denied. And it was actually the best thing that could have happened to me.

Dr. Claire Brady [00:04:00]:
I went and worked full time at a small liberal arts college, Alma College in Michigan, and really honed my craft and really figured out quickly that this was the profession I wanted to pursue. Went on to graduate school, went on to some great positions at Michigan State, the University of Illinois and Lake Sumter State College and eventually Ana G. Mendez University. So I've worked at Big Ten, I've worked at community college, I've worked at a Hispanic serving bilingual institution, and I really started off in generalist, roles. Then I moved to some specialist roles, eventually into AVP, Dean of Students and Vice President of Student Affairs. And all throughout that process, I always was a regular good human in the professional association space. I did a lot of speaking and presenting, and then eventually I did some consulting on the side. And in 2023, kind of the stars aligned for me.

Dr. Claire Brady [00:04:49]:
I was about to renew my contract as a vice chancellor of student affairs. My chancellor announced he was leaving to go to a different presidency. And I saw an opportunity to really throw my hat into the ring and become a full time consultant and start to really pour into myself instead of into an institution or into a system. And I had been doing a lot of work around strategic planning and other areas, but artificial intelligence wasn't even something that I was doing professionally. It was just something that I was doing personally. I was really interested and curious about it. I love anything that helps me save time and do things more effectively, faster, that that frees up time for me to do the things I really love to do. And I had a client who said, I really don't understand this entire world.

Dr. Claire Brady [00:05:34]:
Can you help me? Can you coach me? And that was a launching point for me and I have been full time consulting with my firm, Glass Hospital Consulting ever since. And about 70% of my business now is completely focused in the area of AI. It's really wild.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:05:47]:
What a shift. We weren't even talking about this in higher ed, like, eighteen months ago.

Dr. Claire Brady [00:05:51]:
Absolutely. And when I say consulting with AI, it's everything from I do about 10 to 12 keynotes kind of keynote speeches a month, either in person or virtually. But the bulk of my business around AI is actually really focused in the actual AI integration, helping institutions scale, how to take that individual person in admissions or advising or career services who's using a tool like ChatGPT or insert whatever your favorite tool is, to taking it and actually scaling it at the division or departmental or institutional level. How to do the governance work, how to do the policy work, how to increase AI literacy. So it's really layered. It's really interesting. It's different every day. And I'm on about 30 campuses a year.

Dr. Claire Brady [00:06:33]:
That's about the max that I can do at this point. So I get to see lots of great campuses all around the country. I have, many wardrobes, and I spent a lot of time on planes and in airports. But wherever I go, I have this incredible community of student affairs folks, either with the institution I'm working with or in the surrounding area. So that's also been a really great way that I've stayed connected in the field while kind of working mostly from home.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:06:56]:
I appreciate you sharing what that consulting actually looks like. I think it's such an enigma that we see senior leaders move into their own consulting space all the time, but I think a lot of people don't really know what that means. So it's great to hear.

Dr. Claire Brady [00:07:07]:
I feel like it's like the celebrity or the actor who, like, finally wins the Academy Award at the end and everyone's like, oh, you were like an overnight success. I really think two things really helped me be successful in the space. I was a really good professional for twenty five years. Right? And I built up this network of people who trust me and know me and know that I give up my time and my effort. I'm also a mentor and a sponsor to a lot of people, but I've also been mentored and sponsored by a lot of people. And from that, I was able to grow a business. So a lot of times I have folks asking me, like, what's your best advice for becoming a consultant? It's to be a really great professional and to be really engaged and and invested in our field. And then also, I have kept up all of those professional volunteer association work roles.

Dr. Claire Brady [00:07:50]:
I was a co director with my friend Jose Rivera for the aspiring vice president's institute. I continue to do all kinds I I review programs and I review awards and I do all the things. Right? And then also, the second piece was I'm an opportunist. And AI right now, there's just not a lot of folks doing this work in higher ed. And here I am saying, I'm gonna plant my flag along in this case with the report with NASPA, and we're gonna help you. Because no one knows what they're doing and everyone is a novice. And I will tell you that our field as a whole are not used to being a novice at anything. And so this has been a really, transformational moment for a lot of folks to have members of cabinet come to me and say, I don't know how to lead in this area.

Dr. Claire Brady [00:08:35]:
What do I need to know to build my basic competence, let alone my confidence? Right? So that's been a really interesting space to be. And I'm not a super techie person. I often need help with my slide deck. So that's also helped a little bit that I'm relatable and approachable, and then I'm learning alongside all my clients as well.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:08:53]:
This is a really important component of this AI learning space, which is that we're all learning together. I'm teaching European master's course. I'm teaching the technology module. We did a whole four hour session on AI integration. And what I said to the students in the class is I'm not an AI expert, but what I am is a dabbler and a tinkerer. And I think that's what you really need in order to experiment with how does AI actually serve you in your day to day work. Whether it be something simple like Microsoft Copilot, which a lot of universities have for free with their Microsoft Office licenses or three sixty five or whatever the heck it's called now. ChatGPT, which is free, Omni, all these AI generated imagery components.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:09:32]:
And there's even some really great tools that will help you create a PowerPoint deck from couple of bullet points and things like that. So what we did was just went through tools and played with them together and talked about, well, how do we use this to create emails? How do we use this to write something down that's difficult? But also how do we do this in a way that doesn't violate FERPA or whatever privacy law your GDPR here over in the European Union area. But all of these things, because we're putting sensitive data in a lot of places if we're misusing these tools. So a lot to talk about on this topic, but why don't we center first with what is the NASPA AI report?

Dr. Claire Brady [00:10:08]:
So last spring, NASPA approached me. They knew I was doing this work at AI, and they said to me, we wanna be one of the first associations that plants our flag in this area, that provides resources for our members. We're hearing that we know they need it. They know they want it. And so they came to me and asked me whether I would be willing to partner with them and Strata Educational Foundation to put out some resources. But beyond that, we didn't really know where it was gonna land. Right? What it was gonna look like. And so I spent about six months in the field talking to folks, and I started out really using my networks and saying, who's doing something vanguard? Who's doing something advanced? Who's doing something who has an emerging best practice? Not a single response because no one thinks they're doing anything that is ahead of everybody else because every everyone thinks they're behind.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:10:55]:
So emerging practice, but not emerging best practice.

Dr. Claire Brady [00:10:58]:
Exactly. Exactly. Right? So if they're tinkering if I asked who's tinkering, I think I would have gotten a very different set of responses. So I had to keep refining. I had to really keep working my network. And from that came this report that really highlights not just what is AI and what are the key terminologies, but what's the current state in student affairs? Where are we now? Where do I see the horizon kind of leading to us and where's around the corner? And that's really important because we're all talking about tools, mostly generative AI tools like ChatGPT and Gemini. What we're not really talking about is all the data work that's ahead of us. We're not really talking about student consent.

Dr. Claire Brady [00:11:34]:
We're talking about privacy and cybersecurity. We need to be talking about those things. We're not talking about things like student consent. So the really kind of nuanced work that we need to be doing, there is no framework that existed to integrate, how to scale, so we created that as part of the report. And then I think the two pieces that are most exciting to me, one are the emerging use cases. There are 14 of them. Those are use cases that are are in their one or more cycles, in many cases, six or seven cycles where we know they're collecting data, where they're actually measuring impact, where they can be replicated by other institutions and explained in a way that's not just theoretical. And then there's 50 plus forecasted use cases in the report.

Dr. Claire Brady [00:12:14]:
And those are really either coming from we just know that they're coming based on where the technology is evolving or they're coming from other areas outside of higher education that we know that we will be able to apply that same concept within higher education. And then there's a charge to leaders. What do you need to do next? How do you need to be a bold leader in this area? And that really comes down to this very unsexy idea of developing AI literacy amongst everybody at your institution, including students. Right? And then iterating, practicing, trying, tinkering, whatever the word might be. And so we probably have enough content to make three more reports, really collected such just rich information and data, but we had to figure out what what folks need right now. And what folks right need right now, I think, is really encapsulated in this report. And then what we're finding is the folks in the 14 emerging use cases are getting contacted every week since the report came out from institutions saying, tell me how you did that. Or sometimes it's an in house product, sometimes it's a vendor product.

Dr. Claire Brady [00:13:15]:
And so we're seeing this really kind of interesting community forming around these 14 use cases. And I'm hoping that we'll start to see my next set of use cases will be some of those forecasted use cases that come to life.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:13:26]:
So in the report, there are four phases of AI integration and development that are brought up as a way of kind of framing how to approach it. Because I think where we are as a field is this notion that we all know that we need to do better with AI. We all know we need to do something with AI. And I think everyone is a little bit overwhelmed by what that means or where to start because at the end of the day, as student affairs professionals, we are the end user case of AI. We're not usually the developers. Maybe we have IT teams that are internal to student affairs. Maybe we're working with a university central IT department. But there are so many things that can be done.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:14:02]:
There's some use cases around chat GPT like components for your university. Forever, we've been talking about one stop shop answers for students, and we can do that online. We can do it better than the big chat GPT or other LLMs, meaning large language models because we can feed data in in faster real time, all of those things. But we again, we're going back to these four phases that really tell us, hey. Here's how we begin because beginning might actually be the scariest part here. So talk to us about phase one, which is rapid implementation.

Dr. Claire Brady [00:14:34]:
So phase one is really focused on readily available AI solutions that address immediate challenges but have minimal disruption. So the example I love to give for this one is a manager who's really struggling to have consistency maybe in their performance reviews for their team. They could use an AI tool, anonymize, obviously, not putting any kind of personal information into the tool, And they can really use that as a way to improve in that particular case in their particular department a process or a written, output. Right? Kellogg Community College has a a great example of this. So they started using a CRM, a customer relationship management platform that has embedded AI tools, and they started simply in admission. And then they began expanding across all departments that have any piece of the new student student communications process. Right? And so by really focusing on rapid implementation and then scaling in a logical organic way, it allowed them to demonstrate value quickly while building momentum for this broader adoption. And from my interviews with them, they really don't think it would have been as successful as if they had kind of done a huge project that was really focused on the entire communications process.

Dr. Claire Brady [00:15:48]:
Right? So they were able to start in admissions and then kind of build from there. So that's a great example of phase one.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:15:54]:
So we now have phase two, which is resource and capacity building. This is taking us to the next step. What does this mean?

Dr. Claire Brady [00:16:01]:
So phase two really focuses on moving institutions beyond quick wins to developing the infrastructure and expertise needed for more sophisticated applications. So the examples that I like to give in this one are really focused on AI literacy in particular and data readiness. Those are two areas that we know. Once we have kind of the basics, folks understand what the tools are, they are given a right a a a tech stack really that they can play in. How do you move your institutional capacity in terms of resources, but also in terms of knowledge, confidence, and competence. So Nashville State Community College really exemplifies this phase for me. They are doing a year long AI training program monthly, which combines interactive learning with critical analysis of AI's practical applications. So imagine the entire institution is undergoing some similar AI literacy training, And then each month, different populations within the faculty and staff are doing intensive AI training for that whole day on a Friday, let's say, just looking at accessibility tools, just looking at research and writing tools, just looking at the power of AI in the advising space.

Dr. Claire Brady [00:17:10]:
And so they're a great example of one that's kind of taken this idea. They, sought out a grant from the state of Tennessee. So the state of Tennessee is actually paying for this pilot program at Nashville State, and it's really a proof of concept for the other community colleges within the system. So that's a great example of a way to build resource and capacity code.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:17:30]:
And then phase three, we have scaling solutions, which I think is one of the scarier things, about AI integration personally. Probably because it comes with assigning dollar resources, but also policy frameworks kind of kick in, I think, at this point.

Dr. Claire Brady [00:17:45]:
This is the one where folks think things are gonna break, usually. But this is actually the dream stage that everybody wants to get to. We don't really only want one department or one person. It's a single source of failure. So scaling solution shifts the focus to expanding successful AI initiatives across either departments, divisions, functions, and or institutions. So Georgia State is a great example of this. They're really the powerhouse as it relates to chatbots and virtual assistants. They started with a chatbot called Pounce in their enrollment services area that demonstrates really the power of scaling.

Dr. Claire Brady [00:18:20]:
So it began as a tool to reduce summer melts, and it's actually evolved into a comprehensive student support system with particularly strong engagement of among first generation and traditionally underserved students. So imagine a chatbot, really, that's focused on the new student and making sure that we get them through to the first day of class. So there's nudges along the way. There's ways to engage the student. There's ways to prompt them and nudge them into doing specific behaviors, pay your bill, check your financial aid email, you know, whatever that might look like. But in that process, in that back and forth with the students, they really discovered many of the roadblocks students were encountering, many of the issues, many of the questions. And so from that, they've been able to scale this one chatbot into this comprehensive way that they communicate with students across the student experience. So they were able to to really take that and say, we're gonna take this concept.

Dr. Claire Brady [00:19:13]:
And as we work with international students, it's gonna look like this. Whereas we work with our military affiliated students, it's gonna look like this. And so they've taken that one concept and they've been able to really scale it across the institution. It's the dream.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:19:25]:
And then finally, we have phase four, which is strategic transformation. Tell us about this one.

Dr. Claire Brady [00:19:31]:
This is really kind of where the cycle then actually, once we work on representing that vision of a more comprehensive AI integration that's fully aligned with our broader institutional goals. This is what I call the ecosystem. Right? This is where all the pieces are really talking to each other, where we know that we're able to have data in the places and in the ways that we we need it to be, that our communications, that our student experience, all of that is really working in synergy. But honestly, this is where the cycle restarts again. So it's not just necessarily the end spot. It's really where things kind of evolve to, and then they kind of start that whole framework all over again. The University of Florida has an initiative called Building an AI University. And I think for me, this is really, at this moment in time, the best example in the country right now of this phase four.

Dr. Claire Brady [00:20:20]:
So it really exemplifies this phase by prioritizing AI education across all disciplines while also really focusing on developing ethical guidelines, ensuring accessible tools for diverse student populations. And this is really where their curricular and co curricular, the student experience, the academic learning outcomes are all aligned and integrated in a way that you can tell the institution is working at a really high level, functioning at a really high level, But also, everybody's kind of marching in the same direction, and they've seen they've scaled all the solutions. They've seen the impact. And it's very obvious that this is an institution to me, at least. And I I live in the state of Florida, but the University of Florida started this six or seven years ago. So it's taken them a while to really get to this place. But I think they really are the model that a lot of institutions will be looking to in the future.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:21:14]:
And they also have the resources of being a very large public

Dr. Claire Brady [00:21:17]:
They do.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:21:17]:
Which is very different than maybe I'm at a two year institution or a small liberal arts institution. I think there's kind of this constant myth that small liberal arts institutions are well resourced, and that's really not true for a lot. Not true.

Dr. Claire Brady [00:21:29]:
Not true.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:21:30]:
Well, Well,

Dr. Claire Brady [00:21:31]:
and I think a big piece of what's interesting about this technical revolution that we're in is I'm actually seeing a lot more open source. I'm seeing a lot more open licenses. I'm seeing institutions like the University of Florida and others saying we're gonna open this up. So everything that's happening at the University of Florida is also being shared, at Miami Dade, and it's also being shared at Florida International. Different type of institution, very different resource set. And so what we're seeing is folks are playing nice in the sandbox right now. There's a lot of beta funding coming in. There's a lot of venture capital coming into this area in higher ed.

Dr. Claire Brady [00:22:08]:
I get asked probably once a week to comment to a venture capitalist on what the tools are that my clients are using. And, Jill, I wanna be really clear, I don't work at all for vendors, which disappoints them greatly. I only work for institutions. My my entire business is based on my relationship with institutions. They have to be able to trust that what I'm saying about these tools is accurate and fair and as unbiased as I can be in the marketplace. I have no problem telling a vendor I think their tool is great or not great or has problems. I do that about once a week as well. But I am seeing a real sense of community.

Dr. Claire Brady [00:22:40]:
Berkeley's a great example. Zach Pardos at the University of California, Berkeley, his lab is doing some incredible work as it relates to two areas. Tutoring, which in math and chemistry in particular is so important to many of our students success initiatives, and also in transfer articulation and transcript evaluation. The registrars around the country are cheering. That is just a huge manual heavy lift. And if we can do anything to make the transfer experience more seamless, quicker, less taxing on students, where they can make informed decisions quickly about where they want to transfer. I think that's going to be a major game changer for student success initiatives. So I am seeing some nice kind of playing in the sandbox.

Dr. Claire Brady [00:23:21]:
I am curious though how venture capital and funding might potentially shift some of those behaviors that I'm seeing.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:23:29]:
One of the major components at the front of the report is this idea of human centered AI integration, which I'm glad that you included because I think the conversation that is around fear of AI is will AI take away the need for human interaction or the human nature of student affairs, which my assertion has been student affairs is first and foremost a human to human profession. We're a helping profession. We're making the difference in students' lives and in their persistence and in their college experience, which I don't think AI will ever be able to do fully. So we're looking really more at how does AI enhance our work or inform our work rather than do our work. Can you talk to us about how you you framed human centered AI integration in the report and how you see it show up in the four phases?

Dr. Claire Brady [00:24:14]:
Sure. I think that the really interesting piece for me is that this is human centered work that I think AI as a tool is just another one in our toolbox. Right? I think so much of student affairs work and our desire and our need to be accountable and to show the work that we're doing and the impact that we're having became very laborious for many student affairs practitioners. And I think, Claire Brady thinks, that it contributed significantly to many of our issues, not all of them, around burnout, around fatigue. If you're spending so much time as an academic advisor is a great example. Logging in to six to 12 systems a day, The systems are talking to each other. I wanna meet with a student. I have to log in.

Dr. Claire Brady [00:24:56]:
I have to figure out who you are. I have to track things. So many of the tools require so much human intervention just to operate. Right? Let alone be optimal or give you a snapshot. And then so many institutions are not able to afford the Cadillac style portals and systems that are out there in the marketplace. I worked at a community college for ten years. I had to beg for an early alert system for seven of those ten years. So let alone the Cadillac.

Dr. Claire Brady [00:25:25]:
I was going for a much different version than many of the other institutions. So for me, what I want AI to help us do is to free up our time to remove many of those tasks that have become onerous and laborious for no reason. I want our systems to talk to each other. I love a faculty to be involved in their early alert process, but I would much prefer that I have a background system that tells me my student hasn't logged into Canvas in three days. My student had an assignment in a class, and they didn't turn anything in. My student has been posting things in the discussion posts that have some language that concerns me. I would love to be alerted about that and not have to rely on another person who has a lot of other things going on in their life. So for me, it's about freeing up time for the work that really matters.

Dr. Claire Brady [00:26:07]:
I think about a career adviser who spends all that time reviewing resumes. I did it for ten years. I never wanna look at another resume ever again. And I got into career services to do one on one work with students to inspire them for their future careers, and I became a professional resume reviewer to some degree. Right? So there's that piece for me. But I also understand right now, people are kinda over that argument. They're like, but there's so many other problems with it, or there's so many other things. And that's partially because we're so new at using these tools.

Dr. Claire Brady [00:26:38]:
We don't even know what else is out there. So we're using them in a very specific, targeted, localized ways. And when our systems with that that integration, which is just around the corner, when your student information system is gonna speak to your learning management system, your mind is gonna be blown. Just that one thing alone, let alone the other six systems that you're also engaged with that will very soon be integrated and talking to each other. So I think we can't even imagine what that looks like yet. And I feel like a futurist a lot in this work, but I'm literally a nowist. Right? Like, I'm a nowist. Here we are.

Dr. Claire Brady [00:27:13]:
I think for me in the framework in particular, those early wins, those are all related to free and low cost tools. They are not large licenses. They are not complex systems. They do not require you to do massive data cleanup projects. There are things you could literally be doing tomorrow or this afternoon. And so for me, I feel like in particular right now, that first and second phase are really accessible for folks without significant resources. You can bring in someone like me to do a training, but you could probably cobble together a really great training on your own. Everybody bring your laptop.

Dr. Claire Brady [00:27:53]:
Let's sit down. You could watch the webinar I did with NASPA last week. That is free. You could read the report. You could report. You could have a a discussion about it. You could go and try some of the tools. So I think for me, those first two phases in particular, there is no one stopping you.

Dr. Claire Brady [00:28:07]:
Yes. Scaling is more complicated. Scaling requires a certain level of finesse. It requires leadership's buy in. But those first two phases for me are absolutely doable in the moment. They do not require you to be the vice president of student affairs. You can be anybody in the organization as long as you're following your organization's policy and practices around their use of AI. And I have seen that really expand in the last six months.

Dr. Claire Brady [00:28:32]:
From should we be using it, to how should we be using it, to how can we use it to meet our institutional outcomes. And that is a shift from literally the second half of twenty twenty three to January of twenty twenty five. That's a pretty massive fast shift for a field like student affairs or higher ed, which is, you know, usually, removing at a glacial pace.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:28:52]:
And there's an AI literacy question, I think, for the field. And, as we're building our own literacy around this subject and around these tools that are shifting under our feet every day.

Dr. Claire Brady [00:29:01]:
Jill, just this week, the whole world's been upended in AI.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:29:04]:
Indeed. Do you wanna share more about that insight?

Dr. Claire Brady [00:29:06]:
Well, I mean, I travel a lot to campuses, and one of the questions I get asked the most is, how are these technology companies operating? Tell me more about that because that feels like that's really the part that no one really quite understands. And what you saw happen this week was a competitor out of China coming out with a product that seems, on the surface at least, to be operating and functioning at a much higher level than many of the established tools at a tiny fraction of the cost. And so what you're seeing is, literally, the stock market is reacting to this technological shift that was announced. And so we're at a very volatile moment. And I think that also contributes to kind of the anxiety around these tools is there's a lot of messy stuff happening around us. One of the biggest questions I get asked at university and college campuses is, what's the environmental impact of these technologies? And I don't think that's getting anywhere near the attention it needs to be getting. And sometimes when I, when I mentioned that in a, in a speech or a presentation, I get kind of blank stares. Like, what do you mean? It's just the internet.

Dr. Claire Brady [00:30:09]:
Right? The internet doesn't hurt the environment. Well, of course, the internet hurts the environment. And when the large tech companies are investing in nuclear power because they foresee the need for nuclear power because their power needs are gonna be so significant in the future, I think we need to be really AI literate. And this always goes back to this super unsexy topic for me when I speak to chancellors and presidents in particular, like, what should we be doing? You should be learning everything. And I say this to student affairs in particular. These questions around ethical guidelines, around environmental impact, around the influence of corporate worlds, if we're not at the table asking some of those critical questions, I don't think the questions are gonna get asked. And I ask vendors questions when I'm representing my clients that they say to me, no one has ever asked that question before at any university in the country, which I'm like, wait. What are you talking about? Why aren't they asking? Everybody should be asking these questions.

Dr. Claire Brady [00:31:02]:
But I am uber AI literate. So I read and I know and I listen to podcasts and I'm talking to people, But I am not an agent of one of these companies, and I am not the most techie person on the planet. I still need a Google and YouTube things to figure out what to do on my iPhone sometimes. So for me, it's just really interesting that there's kind of this veil, and I think we did it to ourselves. We got stuck in the cheating conversation and we couldn't get out of it. And the world moved on around us, and the conversations got more nuanced and more interesting and more layered. And we were still over here saying, well, should we let them? Should we not let them? How should we let them? And we got a little behind. And so we do have a little bit of running to do to catch up, and that goes back to the super unsexy idea that you have to build your confidence and your confidence, and you have to be AI literate.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:31:50]:
One thing I'll mention is if you're listening and you'd not really considered environmental impacts before of AI, what Claire and I are really referencing is the cost of running a server, really. Every time you do a Google search or put something into chat GPT or another large language model, it has to ping somewhere and that server has to be run off of electricity somewhere. And the bigger they get, the more expensive and more resource intensive they are to cool. And then we start looking at water usage and global warming and a whole bunch of other things that are affiliated with that. So as end users, we might just say, oh, this is really great for helping me to revise this message or to provide a resource. And at the end of the day, we're all consuming. So there's interesting ethical components around that for sure.

Dr. Claire Brady [00:32:34]:
And it's just gonna get more and more as folks really start. I mean, even when I do a keynote, I ask folks who, you know, what tools are you using every day, how many tools are you using. I've just seen in the last six months just such an explosion of I usually use one or two to now I use three to five, and then I usually use them five to 10 times a day. It's now become I use them 10 to 20 times a day. So amplify that times times the number of people. It's a lot.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:32:58]:
Are there any final thoughts on the AI report or things that you want listeners and student affairs professionals to know?

Dr. Claire Brady [00:33:03]:
I think that one, I want you to read it because we really are highlighting and showcasing some incredible folks around the country who are doing the work. And I think that if you are at all thinking about where do we start, how do we start, what do we need to be thinking about, the report is a really great primer to do that. I would encourage you, if you are in a senior leadership role, to share it with your president or your chancellor, whoever that might be. Because although it is focused on student affairs, it is really a higher ed report that we tailored and specialized to our folks. But really, I think there are some key questions and the framework in particular to me, we're really proud of because I feel like it is something folks can really kinda get their hands around. And I'd say, where do I start? Start here. Start by reading the report. Start by discussing it with your peers.

Dr. Claire Brady [00:33:49]:
And then I would say, start working on some of the low hanging fruit and working on your AI literacy. When I talk about data integrity and data cleanup and all the rest of it, folks, I start to glaze over a little bit. Right? So that might be a two point o for your institution. But I will tell you that you can start now. You do not need to wait, and you do not need massive amounts of resources. Some of the best, most impactful AI integrations that I have seen so far have been using free and low cost. And one is a great example that we talk about in the report is OA Tutor. It is a open source, open license on MIT that any institution can use and tailor to their own institution for math tutoring and chemistry tutoring.

Dr. Claire Brady [00:34:31]:
And think about our student success initiatives and how important math and chemistry are to those. And so I just want you to think really broadly and expansively, but know that this is a really great resource that you need to have in your toolbox. And then I wanna continue to hear from folks because we wanna continue to write and showcase these examples around the world of student affairs folks who are doing work. And if you are doing anything, you are already a vanguard. If you are are are having conversations on your team, maybe you have teams or whatever your product of choice is, and you just have a sandbox, and you share resources or you show really interesting, cool ways that you've used a tool. Any way that we can layer our competency in this area, I think, is gonna really help us as a field and as individuals. And I I think that employers are looking for graduates and for for employees who are willing to explore new technologies and who are willing to not just know how to do it, but know how to do it well. And so I think this report can help a lot of people.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:35:30]:
I'm gonna move us into our theme based questions for the season, which again is our past, present, and future of student affairs. So I have one question on each of those areas. So beginning with the past, what's one component of the history of the student affairs profession that you think we should continue to carry forward or alternatively let go of?

Dr. Claire Brady [00:35:46]:
I'm, obsessed with community colleges. I'm absolutely obsessed with them. And I think that some of the most interesting work that's happening around student success, retention, and completion is actually happening on the ground at community colleges. And so I wanna shout from the rooftops to graduate students who are looking for topics for their dissertations and other projects that this is the rife area for us to spend more time. I think we assume they don't have as many resources, but I think they are scrappy and they figure it out. And I think that for folks that are really values aligned, who are really equity and inclusion aligned, so many of our community colleges are doing interesting stuff, and they don't know to share it or to sing it or to put it out there. They don't always have the resources to go to conferences and other events and kind of share the news of what they're doing. And so I would like us to see kind of a return to being curious and excited about the work that's happening at many of our thousands of community colleges in this country.

Dr. Claire Brady [00:36:44]:
I'm excited every year when the Aspen Awards come out because I wanna see and I wanna go to those websites and I wanna see those institutions. So I think we need a resurgence of excitement and interest around our community colleges.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:36:54]:
In the present, what's happening in the field right now that's going well for student affairs?

Dr. Claire Brady [00:36:59]:
So much. And it's being overshadowed by so much that isn't. I think that so much of the work around our student communications, how we engage with students, our student governments, our student organizations, I think so much of it is going really well. And it's being overshadowed in a lot of ways, in important ways, by what's happening politically and socially around the country. But I don't want to lose sight of the fact that there is some really great student leadership, student organizations, many of our identity based groups. I think there's just really great things happening, and I'm not sure I see that much of it anymore because I feel like a lot of it has been overshadowed.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:37:34]:
And finally, in the future, in an ideal world, what does the field need to be doing to thrive towards our future?

Dr. Claire Brady [00:37:39]:
I'm gonna go on my AI track here. We need to be at the table. We need to be leaders in this area. We need to be voices in this area. We need to plant our flags. We need to be really focused around our vendor relationships and asking tough questions, and we need to be informed. And we can only do that if we admit to some degree that we are novices and that we hearken back to the ways we've done it five other times before. When the Internet first came out, what did we do? Right? When social media first came out, what did we do? When we had to go fully online at at the onset of the pandemic, what did we do? When we put calculators in math class, what did we do? As student affairs folks, we centered the student, and we centered the student experience and student learning.

Dr. Claire Brady [00:38:20]:
And we figured it out. We we iterated sometimes. We did things not perfectly, and we we got it right eventually. And I think we need to have that same philosophy around artificial intelligence.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:38:30]:
And it's so interesting too because it feels a little bit akin to when social media first came out and university, like, what do we do with this thing? And eventually figured out how to harness social media for highlighting student experience and admissions and a whole bunch of other things. So we're probably there again.

Dr. Claire Brady [00:38:44]:
We are. I brought a board of trustees and a group of students and a group of faculty and a cabinet into a room, pulled out laptops, pulled out computers, and they couldn't believe how little of the AI work was related to their academics. It was entertainment, it was poetry, it was music, it was design, it was silly, it was fun, And about 15% of it had anything to do with school.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:39:06]:
Again, the report is the transformational potential of artificial intelligence recommendations for student affairs leaders. We'll put that in our show notes for you. But also, if you just Google NASPA AI report, it'll pop right up for you, and you can access access the report with or without a membership. Though, of course, we'd love it if you become a NASPA member if you were not. It's time to take a quick break and toss it over to producer Chris to learn what's going on in the NASPA world.

Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:39:30]:
Thanks, Jill. So excited to be back again this week in the NASPA world. And there's a ton of things happening in NASPA. NASPA recently announced all of the award winners that will be recognized at the NASPA annual conference, including the twenty twenty five Melvene D. Hardy dissertation of the year winners. The winner this year was Lisa Janick from Westchester University of Pennsylvania with her dissertation institutional factors associated with closing the equity gap in six year graduation rates at public four year universities. A big congratulations goes out to Doctor. Janek for her work on this.

Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:40:08]:
The runner-up this year was Doctor. Brandy Probst from Elon University with her dissertation Out Here Fighting for My Life, exploring the experiences of black women, student affairs professionals, and critical incidents in workplace relationships with white women at historically white institutions. If you are going to be attending the NASPA annual conference, you'll be able to learn more about the dissertation of the year winner as well as this whole process. And I encourage you that if you're currently in the dissertation phase of a doctorate or working on one in the future to consider submitting for this prestigious award in the future. Today, I also wanna put a shout out to a book that was published a while back but is still so important today. That is a book in the NASPA bookstore called dismantling hazing in Greek letter organizations effective practices for prevention, response and campus engagement. This was published by Jason Meriwether and Associates. In this book, they offer practical strategies to address the complexities of hazing culture and the challenges associated with recruitment and initiation in various contexts.

Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:41:16]:
Why is this important? Well, more than half of college students are hazed in the process of joining student organizations, while seven out of every ten students who pledge or rush a fraternity or sorority experience experience some form of hazing or violence. In recent years, numerous student deaths caused by hazing have called into question the value of these organizations while college leaders seek solutions that keep students safe. This book offers practical strategies to address the complexities of hazing culture and the challenges associated with recruitment and initiation in varying context. Each chapter focuses on the nuanced elements of hazing within sorority and fraternity subcultures and explores the hidden harms inside these secretive and tradition laden systems. I encourage you to check this out if you work with organizations, if you work with fraternities and sororities. This book is a powerful book and definitely one that will help you in your own professional practice in working with the students on your own campuses. You can find this book on the NASPA website. Go to NASPA.org, click on publications, and head over to the bookstore.

Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:42:23]:
Finally, today, the twenty twenty five NASPA Mid Level Administrators Conference is happening June in Salt Lake City, Utah. 20 20 5 NASPA Mid Level Administrators Conference is a dynamic professional development event designed to provide mid level student affairs professionals with the opportunity to engage and learn with colleagues and senior student affairs administrators. During this two and a half day conference, participants will gain insights about promising practices to further develop professional competencies, networking and supervisory skills, strategies to improve professional practice and network to advance your career. The mid level administrators conference is designed for student affairs professionals who serve in roles between but not including entry level positions and AVP and the equivalent roles. Additionally, professionals who have been serving in entry level roles for at least five years are also welcome to attend. If you're looking for a powerful mid level experience to connect yourself with others in the field that are going through some of the things like yourself, I highly encourage you to consider this conference. Early registration ends on April 23 with regular registration ending on May 19. You can find out more by going to the NASPA website, click on events and find the Mid level Administrators Conference right there.

Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:43:41]:
Every week, we're going to be sharing some amazing things that are happening within the association. So we are going to be able to try and keep you up to date on everything that's happening and allow for you to be able to get involved in different ways because the association is as strong as its members. And for all of us, we have to find our place within the association, whether it be getting involved with a knowledge community, giving back within one of the the centers or the divisions of the association. And as you're doing that, it's important to be able to identify for yourself. Where do you fit? Where do you wanna give back? Each week, we're hoping that we will share some things that might encourage you, might allow for you to be able to get some ideas that will provide you with an opportunity to be able to say, hey, I see myself in that knowledge community. I see myself doing something like that. Or encourage you in other ways that allow for you to be able to think beyond what's available right now to offer other things to the association, to bring your gifts, your talents to the association and to all of the members within the association. Because through doing that, all of us are stronger and the association is better.

Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:45:01]:
Tune in again next week as we find out more about what is happening in NASPA.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:45:06]:
Chris, thank you so much for keeping us informed on what's going on in and around NASPA. And, Claire, we have reached our lightning round, and I have seven questions for you in ninety seconds. Are you ready to do this?

Dr. Claire Brady [00:45:18]:
I'm ready.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:45:19]:
Alright.

Dr. Claire Brady [00:45:19]:
Longtime listener, first time caller. I'm so excited for this.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:45:22]:
Question number one. If you were a conference keynote speaker, what would your entrance music be?

Dr. Claire Brady [00:45:27]:
Something Motown.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:45:28]:
Number two. When you were five years old, what did you wanna be when you grew up?

Dr. Claire Brady [00:45:31]:
I grew up in Canada, and I wanted to be a Zamboni driver.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:45:34]:
Number three. Who's your most influential professional mentor?

Dr. Claire Brady [00:45:37]:
Allen Schott, Michigan State University.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:45:40]:
Number four, your essential student affairs read.

Dr. Claire Brady [00:45:42]:
Blogs. It's all blogs now.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:45:44]:
Number five, the best TV show you've been binging lately? Philo. Number six, the podcast you spent the most hours listening to in the last year?

Dr. Claire Brady [00:45:52]:
Smartless.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:45:53]:
And finally, number seven, any shout outs you'd like to give, personal or professional?

Dr. Claire Brady [00:45:57]:
I just wanna give a shout out to Sherry Rowland at Tallahassee Community College, who was my very first AI client, and she was absolutely transformative for me in helping me to kinda shape my business to move towards an AI consulting group. So I wanna thank her.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:46:13]:
Well, Claire, I know that I've learned so much from you, and I really enjoyed reading the report myself. If anyone would like to connect with you after this episode airs, how can they find you?

Dr. Claire Brady [00:46:23]:
I'd love to hear from folks. So my website is doctorclairebrady.com. My Instagram is doctor claire brady, and I am obsessed and love LinkedIn. So please find me on LinkedIn. I'm also the moderator of AI in Higher Education, private group on LinkedIn. We have about 500 members where we share resources and connect in a community of folks who are interested in AI. So I'd love to have more folks join that group and find me on LinkedIn.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:46:49]:
Claire, it's been a pleasure learning from you today. Thank you so much for sharing your voice with us.

Dr. Claire Brady [00:46:54]:
Thank you. I've loved it. Really appreciate it, Jill.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:47:02]:
This has been an episode of SA Voices from the Field, a podcast brought to you by NASPA. This show is made possible because of you, the listeners, and we continue to be grateful that you spend your time with us. If you'd like to reach the show, you can always email us at [email protected] or find me on LinkedIn by searching for doctor Jill L. Creighton. We always welcome your feedback and your topic and guest suggestions. We'd love it if you take a moment to tell a colleague about the show and please leave us a five star rating on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you're listening now. It really helps other student affairs professionals find our show and helps us to become more visible in the larger podcasting community. This episode was produced and hosted by doctor Jill Creighton.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:47:40]:
That's me. Produced and audio engineered by doctor Chris Lewis. Special thanks to the University of Michigan Flint for your support as we create this project. Catch you next time.