By JO BERTHIN ’29
Updated 11:50 a.m. EDT, 6 Nov. 2026
Houghton University (HU)’s new Provost, Dr. Joshua Ziefle, has organized an interfaculty workgroup to draft an institution-wide policy and philosophy of Artificial Intelligence (AI) usage. This group primarily focuses on how AI impacts teaching and learning in the classroom. Faculty involved in this group include Dr. Brandon Bate, Dr. Christian Esh, Dr. Jon Case, Dr. Soo Yeon Kim and others from various departments. Currently, Ziefle’s workgroup is in a period of general discussion among involved faculty, but they hope to move into an action and decision phase between now and this coming spring semester.
The use of AI in higher education is an extremely controversial subject among both students and faculty. Ziefle admits, “I am more temperamentally inclined to be optimistic, whereas others…have a lot more concerns.” However, it is important to recognize that AI exists no matter what we think about it.
The challenge that HU as an institution faces is how to incorporate that fact into their teaching methods. At the forefront of facing this challenge, Ziefle says that “we need to remind ourselves what the goals of our educational programs are here…and think about – in an AI informed and equipped world – how we reach those goals.” AI is a part of life in the outside world after college, and it may be necessary for students to learn how to use it in order to succeed in their careers.
Focused on hearing out voices from multiple perspectives, the Provost is using documents such as Pope Leo XIV’s recent Encyclical on AI and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)’s institutional policy of AI in Education to inform conversation in group meetings. MIT’s policy describes their institutional responsibility to “define and foster the highest-quality residential education – of humans, by humans, in support of human flourishing, and for the betterment of humankind.”
Similarly, the Pope’s Encyclical includes a section titled “Remaining Human,” where he writes, “I ask everyone to abandon the construction of yet another Tower of Babel…so that humanity will never lose its beauty, and the world once again will come to recognize the human heart as the place where God desires to dwell.”
It seems that both religious and secular perspectives validate the importance of education and thinking with human hearts and minds at the center. With these examples present in workgroup meetings, faculty have an opportunity to discuss whether HU may come to similar or converse conclusions.
But how do students feel about AI in higher education? When it comes to using AI in teaching, Jojo Butler ‘29 expressed, “The students are here to learn from people. I would be wary if I could recognize that something my professor gave me was AI.”
Elizabeth Carpenter ‘27 recognizes the complexity of the issue. “It doesn’t really do us any good to pretend like it’s not happening,” says Carpenter, “but I also am very wary of engaging at all with a thing that I see as pretty harmful.” When faced with the prospect of a college that endorses and encourages the use of AI in education, some students might agree with Butler in her further statement that “that’s not the education I’m looking for.”
A conversation about AI at HU must happen. Despite mixed opinions, the prevalence of AI cannot be ignored, nor should it be embraced without intentional conversation and thought. While the Provost and his team of faculty work together to build an official philosophy, Ziefle expresses his goal that “In a world of infinite but empty information, a Houghton education…will tell us what to do with this information.” ★
