Zoom registration: https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_1afqc8oQT4CDbE91T4DihA

Lecture Description: In 2023, AI was initially seen as an academic integrity annoyance that might force many of us, especially those who teach writing, to change some assignments or return to handwritten, in class work, but as time has passed, faculty have discovered that AI may provide other opportunities. We now see that AI can help develop syllabi, craft a lecture outline, create slides, and even grade essays based on our rubric and guidance. It seems likely that AI can both save faculty time and improve the quality of learning outcomes. While these dual outcomes may sound promising, there are other ramifications. How might departments and institutions leverage a context where faculty may have more available instructional time. On some campuses, these conversations are already underway, and it is important for faculty voices to be a part of these discussions. This lecture will examine how AI is and will impact the profession of college teaching and provide strategies faculty may adopt to ensure the future of their profession is one that they want.

C. Edward Watson, Ph.D., is the Vice President for Digital Innovation at the American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U). He is also the founding director of AAC&U’s Institute on AI, Pedagogy, and the Curriculum. Prior to joining AAC&U, Dr. Watson was the Director of the Center for Teaching and Learning at the University of Georgia (UGA) where he led university efforts associated with faculty development, TA development, learning technologies, and the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning. He continues to serve as a Fellow in the Louise McBee Institute of Higher Education at UGA and recently stepped down after more than a decade as the Executive Editor of the International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education. His most recent publications are Teaching with AI: A Practical Guide to a New Era of Human Learning (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2024), Leading Through Disruption: Higher Education Executives Assess AI’s Impacts on Teaching and Learning (AAC&U, 2025), and the Student Guide to AI (Elon University & AAC&U, 2025). Dr. Watson been quoted in the New York Times, Chronicle of Higher Education, Inside Higher Ed, Campus Technology, EdSurge, Newsweek, Forbes, U.S. News, EdTech, Consumer Reports, UK Financial Times, and University Business Magazine and by the AP, CNN and NPR regarding current teaching and learning issues and trends in higher education.