Feb 20, 2025
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 essayvoices@naspa.org 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.