Higher education institutions are adapting their approaches to teaching, professional development, and career preparation to meet changing student and employer needs. This month’s stories explore how universities are building AI literacy through structured professional development, integrating career readiness across the academic experience, and strengthening the durable skills employers continue to value.
How Portland State University built a cross-campus AI academy
EDUCAUSE
Portland State University developed InnovAIte Academy, a campuswide professional-development program that originated from their AI Working Group. The task force’s goal has been to help guide the campus community in its responsible use of AI, leveraging AI as a tool, and identifying the educational responsibility to teach students how to use AI. InnovAIte Academy answers that call by helping faculty and staff at any level of expertise explore AI across operations, research, and teaching. Participants complete AI fundamentals training, attend workshops, develop applied projects, and earn a microcredential. Nearly 150 employees volunteered for the first two cohorts despite receiving no stipends or course release.
What does it all mean?
This program offers an example of moving beyond one-time AI workshops toward structured, applied professional development that reflects the needs of different academic roles and abilities.
- For faculty: Opportunities to experiment with AI through practical projects may help instructors identify appropriate applications for teaching, course design, and student learning.
- For leaders: A shared professional-development framework can support institutional AI literacy while allowing departments and disciplines to pursue relevant applications.
Keep in mind: Strong participation is encouraging, but the model requires a meaningful time commitment and significant coordination.
Survey: 48% of employers say AI will make college degrees more important
Inside Higher Ed
A Lumina Foundation and Gallup survey of 2,500 employers highlighted a disconnect between public perception and employer behavior. Among employers, 48% believe AI will make college degrees more important over the next five years and 26% expect degrees to become less important. Still, 80% of employers continue to seek candidates with college degrees, placing a high value on durable skills such as critical thinking, judgment, communication, and adaptability.
What does it all mean?
As AI changes workplace expectations, the value of higher education may increasingly depend on how effectively institutions develop and demonstrate durable skills that remain relevant across roles and technologies.
- For faculty: Learning activities and assessments that strengthen critical thinking, problem-solving, communication, and independent judgment can help students develop skills employers continue to value.
- For leaders: Curriculum review and faculty development can help institutions make these skills more visible in academic programs and demonstrate the practical value of a degree.
Keep in mind: Employer confidence does not guarantee career outcomes. Faculty play an important role in helping students develop and apply these durable skills in an evolving workforce.
Career prep when no one knows what’s next
Inside Higher Ed
As AI and workforce expectations reshape the labor market, colleges and universities are exploring new approaches to preparing graduates for an uncertain future. The article outlines strategies institutions are using to strengthen career readiness, including experiential learning, durable skills development, and flexible academic pathways. Specific examples include Denison University’s micro-internships, Miami Dade College’s stackable AI credentials, and Saint Leo University’s plans to integrate entrepreneurship across degree programs.
What does it all mean?
Preparing students for an unpredictable workforce requires institutions to move beyond traditional career preparation and embed adaptability, applied learning, and professional skill development more intentionally into the academic experience.
- For faculty: Integrating real-world projects, experiential learning, and opportunities to practice transferable skills can help students connect disciplinary knowledge with evolving workplace expectations.
- For leaders: Strengthening collaboration among academic programs, career services, and employers may help institutions develop more flexible learning pathways that respond to workforce needs without sacrificing foundational education.
Keep in mind: Labor-market predictions remain uncertain, particularly around AI. Institutions should prepare graduates to adapt across different career paths rather than redesign programs around predictions that may not hold.
SFSU announces future-ready workforce initiative to promote student success
San Francisco State University
San Francisco State University announced its Future-Ready Workforce Initiative, a campus-wide effort to strengthen connections between academic learning and career opportunities. Notably, the initiative brings together every area of the university, including a new senior leadership position focused exclusively on building employer relations. The university is also examining how curricula and degree programs can better align with workforce needs while preserving a well-rounded education.
What does it all mean?
Career readiness is being positioned as a shared institutional responsibility rather than a service delivered primarily through career centers. This approach gives academic programs a more direct role in connecting learning with professional opportunities.
- For faculty: Making connections between course content, applied learning, and transferable skills more explicit can help students recognize the professional relevance of their education.
- For leaders: Coordinating academic programs, career services, alumni engagement, and employer partnerships may help institutions develop more consistent career pathways.
Keep in mind: The initiative establishes an institutional direction, but its impact on graduate employment and career outcomes has yet to be demonstrated.
