2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

In this work, the authors will describe and outline the wide spectrum of areas within their respective large public land grant universities with very high research activity that are investing in efforts towards the utility of artificial intelligence (AI) and generative AI to satisfy the overarching mission of the university. As part of this work, institutional approaches taken towards formulation of policies and procedures towards classroom use will be compared and contrasted. Additional approached made for overall academic purposes will also be addressed. The paper will be organized as follows:
Clearly, there have been large dialogues across all of higher education in the formulation of academic policies about AI. This centers specifically around the utilization of AI towards enhancing student learning, the incorporation of AI policies into course syllabi, as well as the role of ethics in teaching about AI in STEM and in non-STEM fields. Furthermore, there are varying philosophies and approaches towards supporting the use of Artificial Intelligence in the classroom. These include leveraging resources and skill sets of personnel inside of academic writing centers, the creation of faculty / staff positions in university libraries (aka AI-brarians), institutional wide decisions that create and foster internal incentives to promote innovation in applying AI to teaching, support for the development of online resources (tutorials, books, examples) to help faculty revise or develop courses that leverage AI, support for professional development (e.g., taking Coursera courses, attending training institutes, reducing teaching load temporarily) and university libraries purchasing books and databases. One additional unique role at public land grant institutions is the role of extension offices, and how they serve the citizens of their states, specifically where there may be opportunities to leverage AI towards satisfying their mission.
Many institutions nationwide are developing academic programs in AI. The simplest methodologies include the development of courses across various academic colleges, which are often extended to form credentials, certificates and concentrations. Some institutions have created minors or degrees at the undergraduate and graduate level. Faculty have discussed and may have had to develop new synergies / interaction between these new programs and existing programs. Another approach is incorporating AI Literacy into curricula.
There are many opportunities for broad-based research about and using AI. For example, the role of machine learning, artificial intelligence and data science in academic research is of critical importance. Furthermore, the evolution of research computing resources (aka CPU vs GPU balance), data repositories, data management policies and data accessibility are central to an academic institution and often involve fostering relationships between academic colleges, research divisions and university libraries. Furthermore, there are amazing opportunities for campus communities to create, develop and stand up consultation services to enable faculty to incorporate AI into their research methods, and to train students how to use AI-Powered research tools to expedite and enhance information discovery. Research in generative AI is also being conducted at these institutions and will be outlined. With regards to application in academic settings, this includes the development of institutional chatbots and research using AI teaching assistants.

This work will also describe support of other university initiatives. For instance, the development of chatbots for use by prospective / current students, the use of chatbots to support employees (faculty, staff), or unique approaches such as the use of AI to support other institutional business / finance functions. Finally, how institutions are providing outreach to the local community through workshops, applied learning experiences for students, and other engagement activities.