Topic: Generative AI
Blog Post
March 30, 2026
AI in Research Administration at Emerging Research Institutions
An Issue Brief from NSF GRANTED Workshops
Research administration has grown increasingly complex over the past two decades, and the introduction of AI has only exacerbated this. Expanding regulatory requirements, shifting funding landscapes, rising numbers of proposals, and constrained staffing resources have made research administration more demanding. For emerging research institutions, these pressures compound existing structural challenges in building research operations capable of securing and sustaining funding. As generative AI tools have rapidly entered the market, accompanied by promises of increased efficiency, research offices at emerging research…
Issue Brief
March 30, 2026
AI Adoption in Research Administration at Emerging Research Institutions
Research administration, an essential component of a university’s research enterprise, is growing more complex, costly, and cumbersome each year. As generative AI transitions into an everyday technology, university research offices are exploring its potential to reduce administrative burden and increase operational efficiency. With funding from the National Science Foundation’s GRANTED program, Ithaka S+R, Chapman University, and Montclair State University organized two workshops to help research administrators consider how to leverage AI to build research capacity at emerging research institutions.
Upcoming Event
April 10, 2026
AI Adoption in Higher Ed
Teaching, Learning, and Research
At a virtual event for Kean University on April 10, 2026, Claire Baytas will share an overview of what Ithaka S+R has been learning across the past three years about generative AI adoption in postsecondary teaching, learning, and research. The presentation will draw from Ithaka S+R’s research studies, such as our Making AI Generative for Higher Education and AI Literacy cohort projects, as well as our regular interactions with stakeholders across higher education and ongoing landscape analysis. The presentation will…
Blog Post
March 11, 2026
Expanding Access. Improving Outcomes. Advancing Knowledge.
A Message from Ithaka S+R's New Managing Director
At Ithaka S+R, we work with leaders and policymakers to expand access to postsecondary education, improve student and workforce outcomes, and strengthen the systems that sustain scholarship and knowledge creation. We do this by providing strategic advice, conducting rigorous research, evaluating initiatives, and developing and sustaining nonprofit tools and services.
Blog Post
March 3, 2026
Incorporating Environmental Perspectives into AI Literacy
Announcing a New Mellon-Funded Project
The energy and material demands behind artificial intelligence (AI) technology raise serious questions about the environmental impacts of widespread AI adoption. Understanding these environmental-related consequences is an important component of what it means to be AI literate. Within the sphere of higher education, colleges and universities are launching initiatives to help students, faculty, and staff attain higher levels of AI literacy. Many AI literacy frameworks already call for competency in the societal and environmental impacts of AI technologies. However, tracking…
Past Event
March 21, 2026
Blueprint to Breakthrough
Operationalizing AI Across the Research Enterprise
As interest in AI adoption expands in research administration, many institutions struggle to move from experimentation and ideas to operational solutions. Successfully deploying AI in this context requires more than a subscription or a prototype. It depends on understanding how AI functions, how it interacts with institutional data, and how that capability aligns with research administration workflows. This session at the NCURA 4th AI Symposium focuses on the practical realities of deploying AI in research administration, walking through key…
Blog Post
January 15, 2026
Human Values and AI Adoption in the Research Enterprise
Insights from the Second NSF GRANTED Workshop at Chapman University
Research administrators play an essential role in the research enterprise. Their work managing expenditures and monitoring compliance with rules related to the ethical conduct of research ensure that public money is spent and that research data is collected in ways that protect privacy, minimize risks to participants, and meet the complex legal and contractual obligations required by funders. At large research universities, these and other tasks associated with research administration are undertaken by trained specialists: at emerging research institutions (ERIs)…
Past Event
March 11, 2026
AI in Higher Ed:
Who’s Being Heard, Who’s Not?
As AI becomes increasingly central to higher education, whose voices are shaping the conversation? This interactive meet-up at SXSW EDU 2026 invites educators, students, academic leaders, and more to share authentic experiences and challenges around AI adoption and workforce readiness. Led by Ithaka S+R’s Claire Baytas and UBaltimore’s Julia Goffredi, we’ll explore how to ensure student and faculty perspectives are included in decision-making, identify gaps in current conversations, and brainstorm practical strategies for building more inclusive, responsive AI initiatives…
Upcoming Event
April 15, 2026
Supporting Faculty in Integrating AI Into Their Teaching
At the AAC&U Conference on Learning and Student Success, Ithaka S+R’s Michael Fried, Nathan Kelber, and Zhuo Chen will facilitate a roundtable discussion on supporting faculty in integrating AI into their teaching. The conference is scheduled to take place on April 15-18, 2026.
Past Event
January 5, 2026
Fireside Chat: AI as a Tool within K-12 and Higher Education
On January 5 at 4pm ET, Ithaka S+R’s Claire Baytas will participate in a panel discussion on AI as a tool within K-12 and higher education, as part of the National Academies Board on Science Education 44th Meeting. The session will take place on January 5 at 4pm ET.
Blog Post
December 1, 2025
Updating the Generative AI Product Tracker
An Evolving Product Landscape
In March 2024, Ithaka S+R released a tracker of generative AI products for higher education, along with an issue brief detailing our observations on the generative AI product landscape for postsecondary research, teaching, and learning activities. Since then, the list of products on the tracker has more than doubled in length and become more cumbersome for its many users. Today, we are launching a new version of our tracker that we believe will ensure its future value.
Past Event
November 20, 2025
Emerging Trends in AI and Higher Education
On November 20 at 1:00pm ET, Ithaka S+R’s Dylan Ruediger participated in a virtual panel on emerging trends in AI and higher education, hosted by the University of Tennessee Library through their AI Series.
Blog Post
November 5, 2025
AI Literacy in Higher Education
Building from the Bottom Up
When we launched the third cohort for the Integrating AI Literacy into the Curricula project in September, we wanted to learn about the fast evolving AI literacy landscape in higher education. In our first workshop in October, we began to see a clear pattern: across institutions types and sizes, AI literacy development in higher education is happening almost always from the ground up.
Blog Post
October 23, 2025
The Value of Skepticism in the Age of AI
Although generative AI literacy frameworks can be quite varied, all suggest that users bring a critical eye to what LLMs produce. Instructors must internalize this critical lens on AI outputs in order to convey that same inherent skepticism to their students. With this healthy skepticism in mind, it is key to understand when and how generative AI can enrich teaching and learning.
Blog Post
October 17, 2025
A New Cohort Project Focused on Centers of Teaching and Learning
While the rapid evolution of generative AI is transforming teaching and learning in higher education, many instructors face this shift without clear frameworks or shared strategies, placing pressure on centers for teaching and learning to develop new programming. This challenge is at the heart of a new Ithaka S+R cohort project in collaboration with the California State University (CSU) system, “Teaching and Learning with AI.” The project kicked off in September, connecting CSU centers for teaching and learning interested in…
Blog Post
October 1, 2025
AI and the Research Enterprise at Emerging Research Institutions
Insights from the First GRANTED Workshop at Montclair State University
We recently convened the first workshop for the NSF-funded Advancing AI Implementation at Emerging Research Institutions, a project collaboratively led by Ithaka S+R, Montclair State University, and Chapman University. The workshop brought together 31 participants from 13 academic and medical institutions, as well as from an electronic research administration system provider to ask: how can research administrators at ERIs leverage AI to build more sustainable and equitable research capacity?…
Blog Post
September 26, 2025
The Impact of Generative AI on the College Internship
Beneath the headlines of white collar lay-offs as companies explore the potential of generative AI to do entry-level office work, another change to the workforce is happening that may be of more immediate concern to current students and higher education institutions. The college internship is changing along with the rest of the American employment landscape. Students and administrators alike should prepare for what is happening now and begin thinking about what may happen over the next several years.
Blog Post
September 22, 2025
The US Researcher Survey 2025 Is Open
Earlier today, we launched the 2025 US Researcher Survey. Adapted from the US Faculty Survey, this new survey is designed to provide actionable insights about how academic libraries, research offices, academic publishers, and other stakeholders can best support researchers and ensure the health and vitality of the research enterprise.
Blog Post
September 3, 2025
Integrating AI Literacy into the Curricula
Third Cohort Launching September 2025
In September 2025, we are convening a new Integrating AI Literacy into the Curricula cohort to help colleges and universities move from ad hoc experimentation to sustainable, curriculum-integrated practice. Building on the momentum of our spring activities with 45 participating institutions, we will apply the same cross-campus approach that centers collaboration between libraries and educators, helping translate research into practical, shareable models. Our reflections from the spring cohort meetings captured a landscape of both progress and fragmentation. Some…
Past Event
August 26, 2025
Making AI Generative for Higher Education
Products and Uses
At the IDEA Institute for AI, Ithaka S+R’s Claire Baytas will give a keynote talk on “Making AI Generative for Higher Education,” discussing products and uses for AI. The session will take place on August 26 at 9:00am ET. See the full schedule to learn more.