University of Kentucky to study AI use in colleges, plus other higher education news

It’s the beginning of July, which means it’s the start of a new fiscal year for universities. So what does that mean?

To catch you up: Budgets have been approved, tuition has been set, and at two schools, new leadership is in place.

Koffi Akakpo started as president of Kentucky State University on July 1. He spoke with the Herald-Leader about his priorities for the university, including addressing the finances of the university and improving the school’s enrollment and graduation rate.

Akakpo comes to KSU from Bluegrass Community and Technical College in Lexington, where he was the president for four years.

Berea College also has a new president taking the helm. Cheryl Nixon became the president of the college on July 1, the first woman to hold that position. Outgoing President Lyle Roelofs had been the president since 2012.

Nixon comes to Berea from Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colorado, where she was the provost and vice president for academic affairs since 2019.

Here’s what else happened in Kentucky higher education in June.

Have something that should be considered for next month’s higher education round-up? Contact reporter Monica Kast at mkast@herald-leader.com.

UK forms committee to look at AI

The University of Kentucky has formed a new committee to look at the impact of artificial intelligence and tools like ChatGPT on higher education.

The committee, called UK ADVANCE (Advancing Data utilization for Value in Academia for National and Campuswide Excellence) is led by Provost Robert DiPaola and will make recommendations to UK about how to use AI effectively. The committee is made up of members from various backgrounds, including computer science, medicine, philosophy, law and information technology, and communication.

The group will look at developing research around AI, and its impacts on classrooms, health care and beyond, DiPaola said.

“I think we need to look for the value in this,” DiPaola said at the June board of trustees committee meeting. “We need to troubleshoot the problems, we need to look at the challenges, but we need to look at the value of this because I think this can move us faster and better if we utilize it correctly, but we need to utilize it correctly.”

The university has set up an email address — UKADVANCE@uky.edu — where questions, ideas and recommendations related to AI efforts can be submitted.

KY Supreme Court says COVID tuition case can continue

The Supreme Court of Kentucky ruled in June that immunity does not apply to the University of Kentucky in a lawsuit seeking refunds for students from the spring 2020 semester, and the lawsuit will continue.

The lawsuit is seeking tuition and mandatory fees be returned to students from the spring 2020 semester that was moved fully online at the beginning of the COVID pandemic.

The Supreme Court agreed with the Court of Appeals decision that UK cannot claim governmental immunity. The lawsuit will now return back to the lower court to determine if damages will be paid to students, the students’ lawyer Andre Regard said. Previously, it had been ruled that tuition could not be included in the refund, but Regard said a motion to reconsider had been filed, and a tuition refund was again “on the table.”

“Our position is that COVID was a challenge, but it doesn’t mean that you get to keep money from people who pay for services that you don’t provide the students,” Regard said. “This is no different than any other business in the world. You’re paid to provide a service, and if you don’t provide the service, you have to give the money back.”

Regard said he expects the case to return to Franklin Circuit Court in the coming weeks.

Woodland Glen III renamed

UK has renamed Woodland Glen III, the dorm for students in the College of Engineering’s Living Learning Program, to Stanley and Karen Pigman Hall.

In April, the Pigmans donated $34.5 million to the college. At the time, it was the largest single gift given to the university (that distinction now belongs to the Bill Gatton Foundation, which donated $100 million for the College of Agriculture, Food and Environment in May).

The Pigmans have been longtime supporters of UK and the College of Engineering. They also mentor and financially support students through the L. Stanley Pigman Scholarship Program, and sponsor two endowed faculty positions in power engineering.

More than 120 undergraduate engineering students currently receive Pigman scholarships, which provides money to selected first-generation students graduating from high schools in 32 Eastern Kentucky counties.