Generative Artificial Intelligence in Higher Education

Helping individuals and institutions move from resistance to resilience in an AI-infused world.

Work with Taz.

Faculty Critical Engagement Framework

The “Faculty Critical Engagement Pyramid” is an inclusive planning tool for university leaders to develop a missioned-aligned AI strategy that supports faculty, staff and students across multiple orientations.

It recognizes that meaningful engagement with AI does not look the same for everyone and that both thoughtful use and thoughtful abstention are valid, ethical, and necessary contributions to higher education.

The purpose of this framework is to support intentional alignment, not compliance or comparison.

What this framework is…

  • A planning tool to support sense-making and intentional decision-making

  • A way to center teaching values, disciplinary context, and learning goals in conversations about AI

  • A shared language for discussing different forms of critical engagement across faculty, departments, and institutions

  • An affirmation that use, limited use, and non-use of generative AI can all be pedagogically sound and ethically grounded choices

What this framework is not…

  • A ranking, ladder, or maturity model

  • A mandate to adopt generative AI

  • A measure of innovation, relevance, or faculty effectiveness

  • A label to freeze faculty in time

  • A prediction of where faculty should end up

The Pyramid at a Glance

  • Faculty who feel skeptical, overwhelmed, or uncertain about the relevance, risks, or implications of generative AI for their teaching, discipline, or students.

  • Faculty who are curious and beginning to explore generative AI cautiously—often through private experimentation or low-stakes teaching activities.

  • Faculty who are integrating generative AI purposefully to support specific learning goals, while remaining attentive to its limitations, risks, and tradeoffs.

  • Faculty who have intentionally decided that generative AI is not the right fit for a particular course, discipline, or set of teaching values—while remaining engaged in dialogue, critique, or policy conversations.

  • Faculty who are helping shape ethical, effective engagement with generative AI through mentorship, scholarship, policy work, program design, or community leadership. This may include faculty who adopt AI, abstain from its use, or do both depending on context.

Bring this framework to your campus.

The Faculty Critical Engagement Framework is designed to help institutions move from reactive resistance to intentional resilience. I work with campuses to tailor this framework for their unique context, culture, and strategic priorities. Whether you are supporting faculty, leading a teaching center, or shaping institutional AI policy, this work can be adapted to meet your needs.

Work with Taz.

For University Faculty

Keynotes and workshops that empower thoughtful, values-aligned engagement with AI in the classroom.

For Academic Leaders

Provost-level conversations that align policy, incentives, infrastructure, and governance to build AI-resilient institutions.

For Educational Developers

Strategic sessions focused on designing faculty development ecosystems that support varied orientations and protect academic integrity.