EDUCAUSE The Impact of AI on Work in Higher Education Survey | Survey Instrument
Demographics
Which of the following best describes your primary area of responsibility at your institution?
( ) IT (e.g., IT support, enterprise IT)
( ) Academic technology
( ) Faculty development
( ) Instructional design
( ) Student affairs
( ) Libraries
( ) Teaching (e.g., faculty, instructor)
( ) Academic/applied research (e.g., researcher, research assistant)
( ) Institutional research and effectiveness/assessment
( ) Learning analytics
( ) Cybersecurity and data privacy
( ) Human resources
( ) Finance/accounting
( ) Bursar
( ) Financial aid
( ) Registrar
( ) Admissions
( ) General counsel
( ) Facilities
( ) Risk management/compliance
( ) Procurement
( ) Other, please specify:: _________________________________________________
How many years have you worked in higher education? Please round to the nearest whole number.
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General Attitudes
For the purposes of this research, we will use the definition of AI proposed by the EU AI Act: "A machine-based system that is designed to operate with varying levels of autonomy and that may exhibit adaptiveness after deployment, and that, for explicit or implicit objectives, infers, from the input it receives, how to generate outputs such as predictions, content, recommendations, or decisions that can influence physical or virtual environments." Please note that this definition includes, but is not limited to, generative AI.
How would you characterize your general attitude toward AI?
( ) Very cautious
( ) Cautious
( ) Indifferent
( ) Enthusiastic
( ) Very enthusiastic
( ) A mix of caution and enthusiasm
( ) Other, please specify:: _________________________________________________
( ) Don't know
How would you characterize your institutional leaders' general attitude toward AI?
( ) Very cautious
( ) Cautious
( ) Indifferent
( ) Enthusiastic
( ) Very enthusiastic
( ) A mix of caution and enthusiasm
( ) Other, please specify:: _________________________________________________
( ) Don't know
Work-Related Strategy, Policies, and Guidelines
For the purposes of the research, we define "work-related" as anything pertaining to the work you do on a day-to-day basis.
Which of the following are included in your institution's and/or unit's work-related AI strategy? Select all that apply.
[ ] Procuring AI tools (i.e., software that is primarily or partially powered by AI algorithms)
[ ] Creating AI tools
[ ] Transforming work processes with the integration of AI tools
[ ] Improving data governance
[ ] Aligning AI strategy with law and regulation (e.g., EU AI Act, state-level AI laws, FERPA)
[ ] Aligning AI strategy with broader institutional strategy
[ ] Piloting the use of AI tools
[ ] Allocating or reallocating budget to invest in AI-related expenses (e.g., tools, hardware, personnel)
[ ] Evaluating both opportunities and risks
[ ] Creating work-related AI policies and guidelines
[ ] Encouraging staff and faculty to use AI tools
[ ] Discouraging or prohibiting staff and faculty from using AI tools
[ ] Increasing AI-related workforce skills
[ ] Measuring the return on investment for AI technology implementation
[ ] None (no work-related AI strategy at my institution or in my unit)
[ ] Other, please specify:: _________________________________________________
[ ] Don't know
How is your institution increasing AI-related workforce skills?
( ) Primarily hiring new faculty and/or staff
( ) A mix of hiring new faculty and/or staff and upskilling/reskilling existing faculty and/or staff
( ) Primarily upskilling/reskilling existing faculty and/or staff
( ) Don't know
How is your institution upskilling/reskilling existing faculty and/or staff? Select all that apply.
[ ] In-house professional development (e.g., HR training, certificates)
[ ] Professional learning from associations (e.g., EDCUAUSE, CUPA-HR, AIR, NACUBO)
[ ] Professional development budget that can be applied to any AI-related professional development
[ ] Institutional licenses for online learning platform (e.g., LinkedIn Learning, Coursera)
[ ] Encouraging faculty and staff to develop skills on their own
[ ] Other, please specify:: _________________________________________________
[ ] Don't know
How is your institution measuring the return on investment for AI technology implementation?
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Work-Related Strategy, Policies, and Guidelines
Are you aware of any policies or guidelines that are meant to guide (or prohibit) your work-related use of AI?
( ) No
( ) Yes
Who has decision-making authority for the policies or guidelines that are meant to guide (or prohibit) your work-related use of AI? Select all that apply.
[ ] IT
[ ] Human resources
[ ] My work unit
[ ] Data governance unit/committee
[ ] AI governance unit/committee
[ ] Institution-wide leadership (e.g., president, board of trustees)
[ ] Other, please specify:: _________________________________________________
[ ] Don't know
How would you characterize the general orientation of the policies and guidelines that are meant to guide (or prohibit) your work-related use of AI?
( ) Extremely restrictive
( ) Somewhat restrictive
( ) Neutral
( ) Somewhat permissive
( ) Extremely permissive
( ) Don't know
With the policies and guidelines your institution and/or unit currently have in place, how confident are you in knowing how—and how not—to use AI in your work?
( ) Not at all confident
( ) Somewhat confident
( ) Confident
( ) Very confident
( ) Don't know
Risks and Opportunities
In your opinion, what are the most urgent risks associated with using AI for work in higher education? Select all that apply.
[ ] Violations of copyright and intellectual property
[ ] Marginalizing individuality
[ ] Reinforcing normality and bias
[ ] Widening the digital divide
[ ] Increased misinformation (i.e., unintentionally false outputs)
[ ] Increased disinformation (i.e., intentionally false outputs)
[ ] Institutional liability for AI-generated content
[ ] Insufficient data protection
[ ] Intrusive data collection or surveillance
[ ] Use of data without consent
[ ] Violation of privacy and security laws and policies
[ ] Loss of trust among stakeholders
[ ] Outsourced and automated hacking
[ ] Lack of leadership and professional development
[ ] Inability to evaluate AI-generated content
[ ] Student AI use outpacing faculty and staff AI skills
[ ] Loss of fundamental skills requiring independent thought
[ ] Diminishing personal relationships in learning environments
[ ] Less personalized work and learning outputs
[ ] Proliferation of "surface level" work (e.g., lacking critical thinking)
[ ] Job transformation
[ ] Job replacement
[ ] Impact of AI on the environment
[ ] Other, please specify:: _________________________________________________
[ ] None (no risks associated with using AI for work in higher education)
In your opinion, what are the most promising opportunities associated with using AI for work in higher education? Select all that apply.
[ ] Creating learning tools
[ ] Creating tools for student services (e.g., academic and career advising)
[ ] Aiding course design and development
[ ] Creating assessments
[ ] Evaluating student work
[ ] Generating insights for data-informed decision-making
[ ] Analyzing large datasets (including qualitative data)
[ ] Democratizing data and data insights
[ ] Accelerating research progress
[ ] Improving data governance
[ ] Developing new and better models
[ ] Discovering data
[ ] Real-time data analytics and visualization
[ ] Offloading administrative burdens and mundane tasks
[ ] Automating repetitive processes
[ ] Job transformation
[ ] Job replacement
[ ] Other, please specify:: _________________________________________________
[ ] None (no opportunities associated with using AI for work in higher education)
What are the most difficult challenges associated with using AI for work in higher education? Select all that apply.
[ ] The number of risks associated with AI
[ ] The gravity of the risks associated with AI
[ ] AI's pace of change
[ ] Unauthorized stakeholder use
[ ] Insufficient institutional governance
[ ] Lack of leadership support
[ ] Lack of budget
[ ] Lack of AI expertise
[ ] Conflicting stakeholder opinions
[ ] Lack of best practices
[ ] Lack of time to learn new skills
[ ] Lack of professional development support to learn new skills
[ ] Lack of information from service providers (e.g., information about data practices)
[ ] Inadequate procurement processes
[ ] Other:: _________________________________________________
[ ] None (no challenges associated with using AI for work in higher education)
Thinking about your specific job role, what other discipline-specific risks, opportunities, and challenges can you tell us about?
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Use Cases
This section of the survey asks about AI tools used for work-related tasks. For the purposes of this survey, we define "AI tools" as software that is either primarily powered by AI (e.g., ChatGPT, Copilot) or has some features that are powered by AI (e.g., Canva, Acrobat).
Have you used AI tools for work-related tasks within the past six months?
( ) No
( ) Yes
( ) Don't know
Why haven't you used AI tools for any work-related tasks in the past six months? Select all that apply.
[ ] I have not wanted to.
[ ] I have not needed to.
[ ] Institutional or unit-level policies or guidelines have not allowed me to.
[ ] I have been uncertain about institutional or unit-level policies or guidelines.
[ ] I have not had access to the tools I wanted.
[ ] I am unsure where to start.
[ ] Other, please specify:: _________________________________________________
Are you required to use AI tools for work-related tasks?
( ) No, and I do not expect to be required to do so in the near future.
( ) No, but I expect to be required to do so in the near future.
( ) Yes, but I do not expect this will continue to be a requirement long-term.
( ) Yes, and I expect this will continue to be a requirement long-term.
( ) Don't know
Do you want to use (or continue to use) AI tools for work-related tasks in the future?
( ) No
( ) Yes
( ) Don't know
For which of the following work-related tasks have you used AI tools in the past six months? Select all that apply.
[ ] Drafting emails
[ ] Managing multi-step processes
[ ] Summarizing long documents or meetings
[ ] Taking notes
[ ] Creating presentations
[ ] Creating learning activities or assessments
[ ] Scheduling meetings
[ ] Writing policies or procedures
[ ] Writing proposals
[ ] Proofreading or copyediting
[ ] Translating between languages
[ ] Reviewing research
[ ] Analyzing quantitative data
[ ] Analyzing qualitative data
[ ] Writing code
[ ] Creating spreadsheet formulas
[ ] Searching for references
[ ] Automating repetitive tasks/workflows
[ ] Creating to-do lists or work plans
[ ] Writing procedure guides (e.g., SOPs)
[ ] Creating training materials
[ ] Brainstorming
[ ] Writing social media posts
[ ] Writing blog posts
[ ] Designing graphics
[ ] Designing data visualizations
[ ] Writing job descriptions
[ ] Application screening
[ ] Onboarding new employees
[ ] Other, please specify:: _________________________________________________
For which of the following work-related tasks do you want to use AI tools in the future? Select all that apply.
[ ] Drafting emails
[ ] Managing multi-step processes
[ ] Summarizing long documents or meetings
[ ] Taking notes
[ ] Creating presentations
[ ] Creating learning activities or assessments
[ ] Scheduling meetings
[ ] Writing policies or procedures
[ ] Writing proposals
[ ] Proofreading or copyediting
[ ] Translating between languages
[ ] Reviewing research
[ ] Analyzing quantitative data
[ ] Analyzing qualitative data
[ ] Writing code
[ ] Creating spreadsheet formulas
[ ] Searching for references
[ ] Automating repetitive tasks/workflows
[ ] Creating to-do lists or work plans
[ ] Writing procedure guides (e.g., SOPs)
[ ] Creating training materials
[ ] Brainstorming
[ ] Writing social media posts
[ ] Writing blog posts
[ ] Designing graphics
[ ] Designing data visualizations
[ ] Writing job descriptions
[ ] Application screening
[ ] Onboarding new employees
[ ] Other, please specify:: _________________________________________________
What specific AI tools have you used for work-related tasks in the past six months?
____________________________________________
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On average, how frequently have you used AI tools for work-related tasks in the past six months?
( ) Less than once per month
( ) Once per month
( ) Several times per month
( ) Once per week
( ) Several times per week
( ) Once per day
( ) Several times per day
Which of the following statements best describes your access to AI tools for work-related tasks?
( ) My institution does not provide access to any AI tools I want to use for work-related tasks.
( ) My institution provides access to some but not all of the AI tools I want to use for work-related tasks.
( ) My institution provides access to all of the AI tools I want to use for work-related tasks, no more and no less.
( ) My institution provides access to more AI tools than I want to use for work-related tasks.
Which AI tools do you want to use for work but are not provided by your institution?
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____________________________________________
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Have you used any AI tools that are not provided by your institution for any work-related tasks?
( ) No
( ) Yes
( ) Don't know
Institutional Demographics
Approximately how many students were enrolled for credit in the most recent fall term (or equivalent) at your institution?
( ) Under 1,000
( ) 1,000–4,999
( ) 5,000–9,999
( ) 10,000–19,999
( ) 20,000 and above
( ) Don't know
What is your institutional control or affiliation?
( ) Public
( ) Private for-profit
( ) Private not-for-profit independent (no religious affiliation)
( ) Private not-for-profit (religious affiliation)
( ) Don't know
What is the typical length of the programs offered at your institution?
( ) Four or more years
( ) At least 2 but less than 4 years
( ) Less than 2 years
( ) Don't know
What is the degree-granting status of your institution?
( ) Degree-granting (offers associate's, bachelor's, master's, doctor's, or first-professional degrees)
( ) Nondegree-granting (offers certificates or other formal awards)
( ) Don't know
Is your institution mostly or entirely located in the United States?
( ) No
( ) Yes
( ) Don't know
Is your college or university a Minority Serving Institution? Minority Serving Institutions include Historically Black Colleges or Universities (HBCUs), Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs), Tribal Colleges or Universities (TCUs), and Asian American and Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AAPISIs).
( ) No
( ) Yes
( ) Don't know