Tag: Advance

  • Advance HE must deepen our expertise in supporting transformation and change

    Advance HE must deepen our expertise in supporting transformation and change

    The challenges for higher education and research institutions – both in the UK and in many countries across the world – are acute and immediate.

    A combination of funding pressures, changing student demands, the rapid development of AI, international conflict and restrictive visa regimes are necessitating significant change and transformation.

    These tough challenges require all those working in higher education to think differently about how we lead, teach, support students and operate. Yet within these challenges lie opportunities for innovation and positive change.

    I am three months into the role as chief executive of Advance HE. My recent conversations with many of our members have reinforced the need for us to focus on how we can enhance our support for transformation and change.

    Time for a change

    I believe that to be successful, higher education institutions need good leadership; effective governance; they should promote excellence in teaching and learning; and embed equality, promote diversity and inclusion. These are the four key pillars of Advance HE’s work and will continue to be so. However, we cannot stand still. Supporting higher education institutions in this difficult and changing context means that Advance HE needs to change and modernise. Our portfolio, programmes and products need regular review, refreshing and revamping, to remain relevant, to be high value and high impact.

    There has been excellent work led by Universities UK’s transformation and efficiency taskforce, which set out a number of recommendations and challenges for the sector. Advance HE can play an important role in supporting transformation and change both at a sector level and an institutional level. In the context of financial pressures, changing student needs, international uncertainty and digital developments – we need to be an enhancement agency – a trusted partner for higher education and research institutions.

    Supporting enhancement, change and transformation will now be at the heart of what Advance HE does – embedded across our member benefits, our programmes and our consultancy. To help institutions through these challenging times we will apply our expertise, experience and resources to best support enhancement and service improvement, where it is needed.

    Collaborating with partner organisations that are supporting transformation and change will be central to our approach. Blending our expertise in leadership development, educational excellence, equality and inclusion, governance effectiveness with the experience of partners that have different but complementary skills and capabilities.

    Overall, our focus is primarily on people. We can play a role to enhance capabilities at all levels to lead and manage transformation and change – academics, professionals services, governing bodies.

    What we will do

    There are three practical steps I am taking now to strengthen our support for transformation and change:

    Firstly, we have made supporting transformation and change a core part of our membership offer. We are drawing on the areas where we have deep expertise – leadership development, educational excellence, governance effectiveness – to apply our expertise directly to the most pressing issues facing our members.

    For example, the new Educational Excellence Change Academy, a structured virtual six-month programme designed to help higher education staff to lead systemic educational transformation. The programme provides practical support to redesign curriculum to align with workforce needs, reimagine pedagogy to be inclusive, digital, and engaging; and enhancing student support models to strengthen wellbeing and retention.

    Additionally, we have launched the Merger Insights and Roadmap, a new resource for navigating institutional collaboration, partnerships and mergers. Drawing on recent case-studies from successful transformations, it considers early option-testing and due diligence through to culture integration and regulatory engagement.

    Secondly, later this autumn I will announce a new strategic advisory group who will work with our in-house expert to further enhance our support for transformation and change. We will further evolve our membership offer; review our portfolio of products and services; lead new research to share insights; and bring knowledge and learning from other sectors that have delivered significant transformation. We will also recruit new associates with deep and relevant transformation experience to work with our in-house experts.

    Thirdly, we will do more to realise the benefits of Advance HE being a global organisation with an international membership. Our 470 members are from 34 countries – with almost a third of our members outside the UK – in Australia, Ireland, in the Gulf, across Europe, in South-East Asia and beyond. The challenges facing higher education institutions in one part of the world are often mirrored in another. The solutions, approaches and innovations being developed in different contexts can offer fresh perspectives and practical ideas that translate across borders. We will do more to draw on the fact that we have a diverse, global membership to share insights, solutions, and good practice across our membership.

    At a time of significant challenge for higher education and research, institutions are increasingly needing to deliver transformational change in the way they operate. Advance HE is committed to supporting people working in higher education to do this successfully.

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  • ED Wants Grants to Advance “Patriotic Education”

    ED Wants Grants to Advance “Patriotic Education”

    The Trump administration has made another move that historians say is an attempt to sanitize American history, but one the administration argued is necessary to ensure students have respect for the country.

    On Wednesday, Education Secretary Linda McMahon outlined a new plan for how her department would promote “patriotic education” by adding it to the list of priorities that can drive decisions for discretionary grants, including those that support programs at colleges and universities.

    “It is imperative to promote an education system that teaches future generations honestly about America’s Founding principles, political institutions, and rich history,” McMahon said in a statement about the new proposal. “To truly understand American values, the tireless work it has taken to live up to them, and this country’s exceptional place in world history is the best way to inspire an informed patriotism and love of country.”

    According to the proposal, which is open for public comment until Oct. 17, “patriotic education” refers to “a presentation of the history of America grounded in an accurate, honest, unifying, inspiring, and ennobling characterization of the American founding and foundational principles”; examines “how the United States has admirably grown closer to its noble principles throughout its history”; and advances the “concept that commitment to America’s aspirations is beneficial and justified.”

    McMahon’s other priorities for grant funding include evidence-based literacy, expanding education choice, returning education to the states and advancing AI in education.

    With this latest proposal, the department wants to focus “grant funds on programs that promote a patriotic education that cultivates citizen competency and informed patriotism among and communicates the American political tradition to students at all levels.” That could include projects geared toward helping students understand the “founding documents and primary sources of the American political tradition, in a manner consistent with the principles of a patriotic education,” according to the proposal.

    ‘Narrow Conception of Patriotism’

    However, professional historians who have read the proposal told Inside Higher Ed that the department’s patriotic education push is a politically motivated power grab.

    “I agree that American history should be presented with accuracy and honesty, based on solid historical evidence, and doing so does inspire people,” said Sarah Weicksel, executive director of the American Historical Association. “But the department’s priority statement has a narrow conception of patriotism and patriotic education.”

    She said that’s especially evident given the Trump administration’s numerous other policy changes aimed at presenting a version of American history that downplays or ignores the darkest parts of the country’s past, such as race-based slavery, the disenfranchisement of women and African Americans, and codified racial segregation.

    “That context tells us that the administration is interested in telling an uncomplicated celebration of American greatness,” Weicksel said. “Doing that flattens the past into a set of platitudes that are not rooted in the broader historical context, conflicts, contingencies and change over time that are central to historical thinking.”

    In March, Trump issued an executive order entitled “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History,” prohibiting federal funding for exhibits or programs that “degrade shared American values, divide Americans based on race, or promote programs or ideologies inconsistent with Federal law and policy.” That prompted a review of all exhibits hosted by the Smithsonian Institution and the National Park Service, both of which have since removed multiple artifacts that don’t support Trump’s patriotic history push, including several that underscore the brutality of slavery.

    And as the 250th anniversary of the nation’s founding approaches, the government is in the process of planning commemorative civic education initiatives that advance its definition of patriotic history. To make that happen, it’s largely drawing on the input and expertise of conservative scholars and groups.

    The Education Department recently awarded $160 million in American history and civics grants for seminars for K–12 educators and students related to the Declaration of Independence anniversary next year. The agency didn’t specify which institutions got the money but previously said it would give priority to colleges and universities with “independent academic units dedicated to civic thought, constitutional studies, American history, leadership, and economic liberty,” which critics describe as conservative centers.

    In remarks at an event hosted by the Federalist Society and the Defense of Freedom Institute on Wednesday, McMahon criticized the state of civics education for students, citing a statistic that only 41 percent of young people say they love America.

    “That means the balance doesn’t love America,” she said. “Why don’t they love America? Why aren’t they proud to be Americans? It’s because they don’t know America. They don’t know the foundations, they don’t know the real history of our country … It’s really important that we teach respect for our flag, that we teach respect for our country.”

    While she did acknowledge that the Education Department can’t directly control curriculum, she noted that the department can use funding to encourage the types of education or programs it wants to see.

    The Education Department also announced Wednesday that it’s launching a coalition of 40 groups—including the conservative Heritage Foundation, Turning Point USA, Hillsdale College and the American First Policy Institute—to spearhead the America 250 Civics Education Coalition, which is “dedicated to renewing patriotism.” (McMahon chaired the American First Policy Institute before she became secretary.)

    “We celebrate Lincoln for his greatness in recalling the nation to the principles of its birth, the principles of the Declaration of Independence, the most beautiful political document in history,” Hillsdale president Larry Arnn said in a statement about the coalition. “It is time to repeat his work and the work of Jefferson and the Founders. We will work together to learn those principles, and for the love of them we will have a grand celebration.”

    ‘Pure Politics’

    But Weicksel with AHA said the government’s directives to omit parts of American history in classrooms, museums and other public spaces will undermine the public’s agency. “If citizens don’t have access to a historically accurate understanding of the past, how will they use that past to chart a new path for the future?”

    David Blight, a professor of history and Black studies at Yale University, said he interprets the department’s emphasis on patriotic education as “pure politics.”

    “It’s the politics of trying to use history to control people, including children, young people, the people who teach it, the people who write curriculum and the state legislatures that will design this stuff,” he said. “The government is trying to be a truth ministry.”

    While there have been other movements to control how the country remembers its history—including by U.S. senator Joseph McCarthy in the 1950s and the United Daughters of the Confederacy in the late 19th and early 20th centuries—Blight said these moves by the Trump administration are more powerful.

    “We’ve never had this come right from the White House, with the power of the executive branch and their control over so much money,” he said, urging educators to voice their opposition. “When federal money depends on pure ideology, we’re in very deep trouble, and that’s what they’re saying. That’s not even close to a democratic society.”

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  • Harnessing AI to advance translational research and impact

    Harnessing AI to advance translational research and impact

    In July, HEPI, with support from the publisher Taylor & Francis, hosted a roundtable dinner to discuss harnessing AI to advance translational research and impact. This blog considers some of the themes that emerged from the discussion

    Travel through a major railway station in the near future and you may see, alongside the boards giving train times, a video of someone using British sign language. This could be an AI-generated signer, turning the often difficult-to-hear station announcements into sign language so that deaf people can understand what is being said. It is just one example of how artificial intelligence is increasingly being used in the real world.

    The question this roundtable focused on was how AI could be used to advance translational research. That is, taking curiosity-driven research and turning it into a real-world application. What role can academic leaders and publishers play in shaping ethical, inclusive and innovative uses of AI in such research? How can AI enhance collaboration across disciplines, and what are the potential barriers, ethical dilemmas and risks involved in the process?

    The discussion, attended by senior university and research leaders, publishers and funders, was held under the Chatham House rule, by which speakers express views on the understanding they will be unattributed.

    Advantages and risks

    Speakers agreed that AI has huge potential to allow researchers to analyse large datasets cheaply, quickly, and accurately, turning research into real-world applications, as well as improving accessibility to scientific knowledge. They noted that AI can help provide plain language summaries of research and present them in different formats, including multilingual or multimedia content, while also opening useful ways for learned societies to disseminate research findings among their member practitioners.

    But risks were identified too. How could the use of AI affect creativity and critical thinking among researchers? How can academics guard against bias and ensure transparency in the data on which AI tools are based? And what about environmental concerns – in terms of maintaining the energy-guzzling AI system and managing electronic waste?  Most worryingly, when AI is involved in research and its application, who is ultimately accountable if something goes wrong?

    Such concerns were addressed in a guide for researchers on Embracing AI with integrity, published by the research integrity office UKRIO in June. https://ukrio.org/wp-content/uploads/Embracing-AI-with-integrity.pdf.

    Delegates at the roundtable were told that one message to draw from this guide was that researchers using AI should be asking themselves three essential questions:

    1. Who owns the information being inputted into the AI?
    2. Who owns the information once it is in the AI?
    3. Who owns the output?

    Working together

    Collaboration is key, said one speaker. That means breaking down existing academic silos and inviting in the experts who will be responsible for applying AI-driven research. It is also crucial to consider the broader picture and the kind of future society we want to be.

    One concern the roundtable identified was that power over AI systems is concentrated in the hands of just a few people, which means that rather than addressing societal problems, it is creating divides in terms of access to information and resources.

    ‘We are not in the age of AI we actually want’, said one speaker. ‘We are in the age of the AI that has been given to us by Big Tech.’

    Tackling this issue is likely to involve the development of new regulatory and legal frameworks, particularly to establish accountability. Medical practitioners are particularly concerned about ‘where the buck stops’ and how, for example, potentially transformative AI diagnosis tools can be used in a safe manner.

    Others at the roundtable were concerned that placing the bulk of ethical responsibility for AI on researchers might discourage them from testing boundaries.

    ‘When you do research, you can never have that control completely or you will never do novel things’, said one. Responsibility must therefore be shared between the researcher, implementer and user. That means everyone needs education in AI so they understand the tools they have been given and how to use them effectively.

    Reliable data

    Being able to rely on the underlying datasets used in AI is essential, said one speaker,  who welcomed the government’s decision to open up public datasets through the AI Opportunities Action Plan https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ai-opportunities-action-plan/ai-opportunities-action-plan and to curate a national data library https://datalibrary.uk/. 

    There was a difference, it was agreed, between research driven by commercially available AI tools when it was not possible to see ‘inside the black box’ and research based on AI tools in which the datasets and algorithms were reliable and transparent. The former was like presenting a research paper that provided the introduction, results, and analysis without explaining the methodology; it was suggested.

    Educating users

    Yet AI is not just about the data on which it is based but also about the competence of the people using it. How can higher education institutions ensure that students and researchers, particularly early career researchers, have the know-how they need to use AI correctly? (The Taylor and Francis AI Policy may be of interest here.)

    It was pointed out that the independent review of the curriculum and assessment system in schools in England, due to publish its recommendations later this year, is likely to be a missed opportunity when it comes to ensuring that pupils enter university with AI skills.

    Meanwhile, politicians are struggling to establish the right framework for AI research, as they often lack expertise in this field.

    This is a problem since the field is moving so fast. It was suggested that rather than wait for action from policymakers and a regulatory framework, researchers should get on with using AI or risk the UK being left behind.

    Social vision

    The roundtable agreed that making decisions on all this was not just the responsibility of academia. But where academic research could be useful was in filling the gaps in AI development that big commercial companies neglected because they prioritised business models.

    Here, researchers, including in the arts and humanities, could be important in deciding what society ultimately wants AI to achieve. Otherwise, one speaker suggested, it would be driven by the ‘art of the possible’.

    Meanwhile, what skills do universities want researchers to have? Some raised the fear that outsourcing work to AI could mean researchers being deskilled. Evidence already suggests that the use of AI can reduce students’ metacognition – the understanding of their own thought processes.

    ‘If we think it’s important for researchers to be able to translate their findings, don’t let a machine do it’, said one speaker. Another questioned whether researchers should ever be using tools they do not understand.

    Artificial colleagues

    One suggestion was that rather than outsourcing their work to AI, researchers should be using it to enhance their existing practices.

    And while some were concerned about the effect AI could have on creativity, one speaker suggested that, by calibrating AI tools to investigate concepts at the edge of scientific consensus, they could be used to spark more original approaches than a human group would achieve alone.

    Another positive identified was that while biases in AI can be a problem, they can also be easier to identify than human biases.

    The roundtable heard that successfully accommodating AI should be about teamwork, with AI seen as another colleague – there to advise and reason but not do all the work.

    ‘The AI will be the thing that detects your biases, it will be the thing that reviews your work, and it will support that process, but it shouldn’t do the thinking, ’ was the message from one speaker. ‘Ultimately, that should come back to humans. ’

    Taylor & Francis are a partner of HEPI. Taylor & Francis supports diverse communities of experts, researchers and knowledge makers around the world to accelerate and maximize the impact of their work. We are a leader in our field, publish across all disciplines and have one of the largest Humanities and Social Sciences portfolios. Our expertise, built on an academic publishing heritage of over 200 years, advances trusted knowledge that fosters human progress. Under the Taylor & Francis, Routledge and F1000 imprints, we publish 2,700 journals, 8,000 new books each year and partner with more than 700 scholarly societies.

    We will be working together to develop a HEPI Policy Note on the use of AI in advancing translational research. If you have a fantastic case study or AI-related translational approach at your institution, we would love to hear from you. To tell us more about your work, please email [email protected].

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  • Trocaire Partners With Collegis Education to Advance Enrollment Strategy

    Trocaire Partners With Collegis Education to Advance Enrollment Strategy

    Collegis empowers data-driven admissions and streamlines prospective student support.

    Buffalo, NY (May 20, 2025) — Trocaire College, a private, career-oriented Catholic college, today announced a multi-year partnership with Collegis Education to advance its enrollment strategy and elevate the student experience. Through this collaboration, Trocaire will leverage Collegis’ Enrollment Support Services and its Connected Core® platform to guide prospective students from inquiry to enrollment.

    The partnership comes as Trocaire begins implementing its new three-year strategic plan, with a sharpened focus on increasing enrollment and creating a seamless, student-centered admissions process. 

    “Trocaire College is looking forward to working with Collegis to help grow our enrollment in alignment with our mission.  Collegis has a proven track record of achieving results in higher education including revenue-growth, enrollment expertise and optimization of student experiences while having an ‘edu-preneurial’ mindset,” stated Jason Konesco, executive vice president at Trocaire. “We chose Collegis for their ability to be a true partner working collaboratively with our team to create a tailored solution that will best reflect the needs of our institution.”

    Collegis will serve as an extension of the Trocaire admissions team, providing personalized support and helping prospective students navigate their journey from initial inquiry to first contact to the first day of class. With just over 1,000 students across its South Buffalo location and Transit Achievement Center in Lancaster, Trocaire empowers students to achieve personal enrichment, dignity, and self-worth through education in various career-focused degree programs including healthcare, business, technology, veterinary sciences and the liberal arts. 

    Earlier this year, Trocaire first connected with Collegis at the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities (ACCU) Annual Meeting. Additional follow-up meetings, including a site visit from the Collegis team, solidified a shared vision for a collaborative, student-first approach.

    At the core of this partnership is Connected Core, Collegis’ integrated technology and analytics platform that empowers institutions to make data-informed decisions while extending operational capacity. Recently named a “cool tool” by EdTech Digest, with Connected Core, Trocaire College will gain actionable insights into prospective student behavior, streamlined admissions workflows, and access to enrollment specialists trained to deliver high-quality student engagement.

    “This partnership reflects what we do best: supporting institutions like Trocaire to help them grow in ways that honor their mission,” said Pat Green, vice president of enrollment solutions at Collegis Education. “We’re proud to bring data, tech, and talent to Trocaire’s team and we are passionate about supporting the next generation of students preparing for careers of purpose and lives of service.”

    About Trocaire College

    Founded in 1958 in Buffalo, NY by the Sisters of Mercy, Trocaire College is a private, career-oriented Catholic college that empowers students with the resources and supportive environment needed to achieve their academic goals. The core mission is to allow each person to be a valuable contributor to the workforce needs of the community. Trocaire offers bachelor’s degrees, associate degrees, certificates and workforce development programs in healthcare, veterinary sciences, business, and technology. Trocaire ranks in the top one-quarter of colleges and universities for return on investment by Georgetown University and is designated as an Opportunity College and University by the Carnegie Classifications with a Higher Access, Higher Earnings classification. Visit trocaire.edu for more information and follow Trocaire on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn.

    About Collegis Education

    As a mission-oriented, tech-enabled services provider, Collegis Education partners with higher education institutions to help align operations to drive transformative impact across the entire student lifecycle. With over 25 years as an industry pioneer, Collegis has proven how to leverage data, technology, and talent to optimize institutions’ business processes that enhance the student experience. With the strategic expertise that rivals the leading consultancies, a full suite of proven service lines, including marketing, enrollment, retention, IT, and its world-class Connected Core® data platform, Collegis helps its partners enable impact and drive revenue, growth, and innovation. Learn more at CollegisEducation.com or via LinkedIn.

    Media Contacts:

    Collegis Education

    Alyssa Miller

    [email protected]

    973-615-1292

    Trocaire College

    Laura Jacobs

    [email protected]

    716-807-5922



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  • St. Catherine University Partners with Collegis Education to Advance Technology Strategy and Student Experience

    St. Catherine University Partners with Collegis Education to Advance Technology Strategy and Student Experience

    The strategic partnership will strengthen the University’s student-centered mission through agile technology, operational innovation, and a shared commitment to community.

    St. Paul, Minn. – (May 5, 2025) — St. Catherine University (St. Kate’s) and Collegis Education announced today that they have entered into a strategic partnership to enhance the University’s delivery of IT services.

    The decision to seek external IT support was driven by the University’s growing need to accelerate progress on strategic technology initiatives that had slowed within the existing tech infrastructure. The University recognized the need for a partner with the expertise, agility, and shared mission to help build a more responsive, future-ready infrastructure.

    “We realized that the pace of change in technology—and the expectations of our students—were outpacing what our internal systems and structures could support,” said Latisha Dawson, Vice President of Human Resources and Project Lead. “Our institution is centered around student connection and academic excellence. But to uphold that mission, we needed a partner with the technical expertise and scalability to move faster, innovate more nimbly, and help us deliver a modern student experience. Collegis allows us to do just that, so we can spend less time managing systems and more time serving our students.”

    In this partnership, Collegis will provide day-to-day IT operational support, a dedicated Chief Information Officer (CIO), and technological infrastructure that supports the university’s forward progress on strategic projects, while upholding strong data governance and enabling real-time responsiveness.

    As part of the deal, St. Kate will gain access to Collegis Education’s Connected Core®, a secure, composable data platform powered by Google Cloud. As a tech-agnostic solution, Connected Core unifies siloed systems and data sets, enables real-time and actionable institutional intelligence, produces AI-powered data strategies, and delivers proven solutions that enhance recruitment, retention, operations, and student experiences — driving measurable impact across the entire student lifecycle.

    St. Kate’s selected Collegis following a thorough evaluation of potential partners. “A lot of vendors can fill a gap, but that’s not what we were looking for,” said Dawson. “We were looking for someone to meet us where we are, grow with us, and truly enable us to excel. The real differentiator with Collegis was the spirit of partnership, and beyond that, community. From the beginning, they didn’t feel like an outsider. The team has become part of our community, and  a part of helping us advance our mission.”

    “Collegis is honored to join the St. Kate’s community in a shared commitment to the future of higher education,” said Kim Fahey, President and CEO of Collegis Education. “We see technology not as an end but as an enabler, an extension of the institution’s mission to educate women to lead and influence. This partnership is about building agile systems that empower faculty, enrich the student experience, and keep the University ahead of what’s next.”

    The partnership also reflects St. Kate’s strategic priority to build a more nimble technology foundation that shortens the timeline between priority-setting and implementation. The transition enables the university to move away from legacy systems and toward a model that supports real-time innovation, strategic flexibility, and long-term sustainability.

    “Our partnership with Collegis is rooted in our values,” said Marcheta Evans, PhD, President of St. Catherine University. “It allows us to remain focused on our mission while bringing in trusted expertise to support the evolving needs of our students, faculty, and staff.”

    Dawson concludes, “We’ve always been guided by the principle of meeting the needs of the time. Embracing this next level of technology ensures we can continue nurturing the powerful, personal connection between our faculty and students, which is what makes us uniquely St. Kate’s.”

    About Collegis Education

    As a mission-oriented, tech-enabled services provider, Collegis Education partners with higher education institutions to help align operations to drive transformative impact across the entire student lifecycle. With over 25 years as an industry pioneer, Collegis has proven how to leverage data, technology, and talent to optimize institutions’ business processes that enhance the student experience. With the strategic expertise that rivals the leading consultancies, a full suite of proven service lines, including marketing, enrollment, retention, IT, and its world-class Connected Core® data platform, Collegis helps its partners enable impact and drive revenue, growth, and innovation. Learn more at CollegisEducation.com or via LinkedIn.

    About St. Catherine University

    Sustained by a legacy of visionary women, St. Catherine University educates women to lead and influence. We are a diverse community of learners dedicated to academic rigor, core Catholic values, and a heartfelt commitment to social justice. St. Kate’s offers degrees at all levels in the humanities, arts, sciences, healthcare, and business fields that engage women in uncovering positive ways of transforming the world. St. Kate’s students learn and discern wisely, and live and lead justly — all to power lives of meaning. Discover more at stkate.edu. 

    Media Contacts:

    Collegis Education

    Alyssa Miller

    [email protected]

    973-615-1292

    St. Catherine University

    Sarah Voigt

    [email protected]

    651-690-8756

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  • How to use AI to advance the college

    How to use AI to advance the college

    The challenges are proliferating while funding is deteriorating. Fortunately, the AI options to accomplish more with less funding are expanding. As of the end of February, a number of awe-inspiring deep research tools have been released. More than half a dozen such tools are available from different providers at prices ranging from no cost to $200 a month. They are becoming the key to enhancing efficiency and effectiveness of administrators, including deans.

    Omar Santos, distinguished Cisco engineer, published on Feb. 21, 2025, “A Comparison of Deep Research AI Agents,” where he outlines some of the features of the five leading brands as of that date, noting, that “unlike simple question-answering bots, these agents perform multi-step reasoning: formulating search queries, browsing web content, analyzing data, and synthesizing findings into structured outputs with citations.” Santos goes on to describe that there are two primary architectural approaches to deep research agents:

    “Fully Autonomous Agents: Once given a prompt or topic, these agents operate independently end-to-end. For example, OpenAI’s Deep Research feature (launched in Feb 2025) allows ChatGPT to act like a ‘research analyst,’ working for several minutes without intervention to gather information from the web and compile a report with sources. It is powered by a specialized version of OpenAI’s upcoming o3 model optimized for reasoning and web browsing. The user simply provides the topic, answers a few additional questions, and the agent handles the rest autonomously. This fully-automated approach is convenient but requires a very robust agent to decide on research directions and verify information on its own.

    “Human-in-the-Loop (HITL) Agents: These agents incorporate human feedback or approval at different steps of the research workflow. Rather than running to completion unquestioned, the AI will pause for guidance—typically after formulating a research plan or outline—so the user can review and adjust it before the agent proceeds.”

    Most Popular

    Santos compares and contrasts five different such tools, leading with the OpenAI and Google Gemini versions. I would add two more to the list. First is the outstanding Storm tool developed as a brainstorming device by the Open Virtual Assistant Lab at Stanford University. The other is the Grok 3 Beta recently released by X.ai.

    In all cases, these tools are capable of using advanced reasoning to develop a research plan, search the internet at large and other selected sites to which you provide access permissions, conduct probing research, compose a report with citations, revise the report and update as directed. Increasingly, the tools are offering options to ensure they do not use your inputs for training. Each of these tools will, no doubt, revise and improve in the coming months as new competitors enter the field. I expect that university IT departments will assist deans and other administrators as they select, train and become proficient at using the tool best suited to their needs.

    Here are ways these tools may assist deans in meeting the challenges of their positions this fall and moving forward.

    Personal Assistant

    • These very “smart” tools can manage calendars, set reminders, respond to routine correspondence and more. In these cases, deans may initially want to give individual approval of actions, but in time, just as with an experienced assistant, they may want to enable auto-processing while keeping copies for follow-ups.
    • One can share an email or notes of a conversation with any additional points that should be included in the response and ask the deep research tool to compose a response (including references it discovers that are relevant to the communication).
    • The deep research tools can automatically schedule meetings and prepare agendas for items that either the dean or the tool may identify as emerging issues for the college.

    College Research Projects

    • A continuing assignment may be to conduct a weekly search for new public and private funding of projects in which the faculty of the college have an interest.
    • Strategies for reducing indirect costs of projects can be researched and a report shared with project managers, department chairs and faculty conducting research.
    • Focused reports can be generated to propose extended funded research topics and opportunities in areas where the college faculty have conducted preliminary research.
    • Emerging markets for products of research can be identified and letters of introduction to businesses who might value the research can be drafted and sent.

    Curriculum Currency and Relevancy

    • The Deep Research tool can compare the college’s published curriculum with those of peer institutions and others for timeliness, utility and corporate demand.
    • A dynamic comparison of the top 10 competitor colleges’ curriculum and research agendas can be maintained with update alerts when a competitor makes changes. In such cases, the tool can automatically create a meeting of relevant faculty and staff, including an agenda with materials from the competition to focus the discussion.
    • Deep Research can conduct predictive analyses of current curriculum, identifying courses that obstruct the smooth flow of students through the curriculum (once identified, the tool can set up an agenda with data handouts to discuss the problem and suggest solutions). In such studies, learning outcome effectiveness can be assessed, and percentage and time to employment of graduates or certificate completers and retention of graduates by employers can be analyzed.

    Meeting and Leading the Competition

    • Deep Research is the ideal tool to identify new domestic and international markets for enrollments.
    • Professional certificates can be designed by the tool to meet emerging needs in the field. These can be matched to faculty backgrounds for potential staffing.
    • Deep Research can do an analysis of faculty workloads, identify those who may need more support and those who may be available for more activities, and make recommendations to the dean and department chairs.

    Analyzing and Assessing Productivity and Currency of Unit Work

    • Deep Research tools are able to extrapolate on the work of current projects and compare their objectives to emerging markets, technologies, and societal needs. Sharing such reports with the relevant units as well as preparing the agenda for discussion, keeping minutes of the meeting and codifying outcomes can all be accomplished with AI tools.
    • Full annual reviews and analysis of revenue generated, students enrolled, outcomes accomplished and other such data can be accomplished by Deep Research. These can help to guide strategic planning.

    These are just a few of the important tasks of the dean that can be assisted by Deep Research tools. There are many more tasks that can be tackled by these tools. I hope that this brief list will prompt readers to become comfortable with the range of work that can be done in order to identify their own tasks for which they could use assistance.

    Is your university preparing to implement these tools in support of deans and other administrators? Has training begun? It is important that your institution gets started so that you will not rapidly fall behind your peers in utilizing advanced AI tools to enhance effectiveness and efficiency.

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  • Lawmakers Advance Bill Requiring SD Schools to Teach Native American History, Culture – The 74

    Lawmakers Advance Bill Requiring SD Schools to Teach Native American History, Culture – The 74


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    South Dakota public schools would be required to teach a specific set of Native American historical and cultural lessons if a bill unanimously endorsed by a legislative committee Tuesday in Pierre becomes law.

    The bill would mandate the teaching of the Oceti Sakowin Essential Understandings. The phrase “Oceti Sakowin” refers to the Lakota, Dakota and Nakota people. The understandings are a set of standards and lessons adopted seven years ago by the South Dakota Board of Education Standards with input from tribal leaders, educators and elders.

    Use of the understandings by public schools is optional. A survey conducted by the state Department of Education indicated use by 62% of teachers, but the survey was voluntary and hundreds of teachers did not respond.

    Republican state Sen. Tamara Grove, who lives on the Lower Brule Reservation, proposed the bill and asked legislators to follow the lead of Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate Chairman J. Garret Renville. He has publicly called for a “reset” of state-tribal relations since the departure of former Gov. Kristi Noem, who was barred by tribal leaders from entering tribal land in the state.

    “What I’m asking you to do today,” Grove said, “is to lean into the reset.”

    Joe Graves, the state secretary of education and a Noem appointee, testified against the bill. He said portions of the understandings are already incorporated into the state’s social studies standards. He added that the state only mandates four curricular areas: math, science, social studies and English-language arts/reading. He said further mandates would “tighten up the school days, leaving schools with much less instructional flexibility.”

    Members of the Senate Education Committee sided with Grove and other supporters, voting 7-0 to send the bill to the full Senate.

    The proposal is one of several education mandates that lawmakers have considered this legislative session. The state House rejected a bill this week that would have required posting and teaching the Ten Commandments in schools, and also rejected a bill that would have required schools to post the state motto, “Under God the People Rule.”

    South Dakota Searchlight is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. South Dakota Searchlight maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Seth Tupper for questions: [email protected].


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