Beyond the Classroom: AI for Higher Ed

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You can view this webinar by pressing the white play button in the image above. It’s kind of hard to see, so we thought we’d write you a special little note in the caption.

AI in higher ed isn’t just a classroom story anymore. In SIG’s first “Beyond the Classroom” webinar, panelists from enrollment, Salesforce, Ellucian, cybersecurity, and AI strategy backgrounds took a fast lap around where institutions are actually seeing results: enrollment funnels, advancement, student success, and IT operations. They also got real about the roadblocks: shadow AI, fraud, siloed data, and workforce anxiety, and closed with a practical framework for deciding whether to buy, build, or wait on your next AI move.

Key Takeaways:

• The real ROI is showing up at the edges of the funnel. Institutions are using AI to identify students most likely to enroll or melt, and to reactivate lapsed donors and speed up advancement research.

• Shadow AI calls for enablement, not a crackdown. Staff are already plugging AI into their workflows without oversight. The smarter move is giving them safe, approved ways to do it, not just saying no.

• Fraud is evolving right alongside the tools. AI agents are being used to fabricate applications and drain federal financial aid funds. Non-email multi-factor authentication is one concrete way to close that gap.

• AI is changing jobs, not eliminating them. Spreadsheets didn’t shrink accounting, and ATMs didn’t shrink bank teller jobs. Both grew as routine work got automated and people shifted to higher-value tasks.

• Buy, build, or wait starts with a real process map. Before buying another tool, check what you already own. And when you do pick a vendor, choose one you can grow with for the next three to five years, not just the one with the flashiest demo today.

Want to stay abreast of what other higher ed institutions are doing in AI? Check out Dr. Aviva Legatt’s AI Use Cases in Higher Education: A Community Handbook.