A new episode of EduCast3000 is coming — and this one gets into what a system actually owes its students and faculty on AI once it has already paid for the access.
Melissa Loble and Ryan Lufkin sit down with Dr. Leslie Kennedy, Assistant Vice Chancellor for Academic Technology Services at the CSU Office of the Chancellor and co-lead of the academic side of the California State University system's generative AI initiative, to work through what scaled, equitable AI access actually looks like across 22 campuses and half a million students.
The starting point was equity. Kennedy's team could see which students were buying their own AI tools and which ones were typing private information into whatever was free. So a system-wide advisory committee of faculty, students, and staff made equitable access the first goal — and what that bought is an enterprise environment with privacy and IP protections covering all 22 campuses. From there: faculty showcases, a campus events calendar, a chart of licensed tools on the CSU AI Commons, system-wide "insights" town halls modeled on one professor's method for convening people over hard topics, and AI fellows hired to build communities of practice.
Then the conversation turns to what the CSU's system-wide survey found and what it missed — including students who avoid the system's OpenAI instance because they believe they'll be tracked, and the question that never showed up in the data at all: whether a student is actually allowed to use AI in a given course.
It's an honest look at what governance, infrastructure, and good intentions can and can't solve.
About Educast3000
Ah, education… a world filled with mysterious marvels. From K12 to Higher Ed, educational change and innovation are everywhere — and with that comes a few lessons, too. Each episode, Educast3000 hosts break down the fourth wall and reflect on what's happening in education: the good, the bad, and, in some cases, the just plain chaotic. If you're passionate about the educational system and want timely, honest commentary on the industry, this is your show.
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Join the conversation
The CSU has a system-wide senate recommendation, publicly available survey data, and training for anyone who wants it — and students sometimes still don't know whether they can use AI in a given course. Who answers that question at your institution, and how do you know the answer is reaching students? Share your answer in the comments and hit "I'm interested" so we know who's tuning in on October 6.