Why AI Governance Belongs in Doctoral Education Leadership

This content was produced in partnership with online.sbu.edu.

Artificial intelligence is quickly becoming part of everyday education. Students can use it to summarize information, brainstorm ideas and work through difficult concepts, while colleges are exploring AI for everything from admissions to student support.

That creates a new challenge for the people leading schools and universities. Deciding where AI belongs, what limits it needs, and how students should be protected is becoming a leadership responsibility in its own right.

AI Policy Is Becoming a Leadership Issue

For professionals considering an EdD program in New York, understanding how technology affects students and educators is likely to become an increasingly useful part of leadership preparation. Decisions about AI can involve privacy, accessibility, academic standards and the quality of the learning experience.

Education leaders don't necessarily need to become AI experts. They do, however, need to know which questions to ask before a new tool becomes part of everyday college life.

Who has access to the technology? What student information does it collect? Can students tell when AI has been involved in a decision? And, perhaps most importantly, is the technology actually making education better?

These questions matter in traditional classrooms, but they can be especially important in online graduate programs, where students already rely heavily on digital platforms to communicate, access coursework and receive support.

Colleges Are Experimenting, but Classroom Use Is Still Limited

AI may seem like it's everywhere, but the picture inside colleges is more complicated. Instructure's first EdTech Top 40 report for U.S. higher education looked at data from nearly 19.5 million users between September 2025 and April 2026. Google Gemini was the most widely adopted dedicated AI tool identified, reaching 87,788 users across 211 institutions.

Despite those numbers, Gemini didn't appear among the 100 most-used learning-tool integrations. That distinction is important. Giving students and staff access to an AI tool isn't the same as successfully building it into teaching.

Before expanding a new system, education leaders have to consider whether it serves a genuine instructional purpose, how easily it works alongside existing platforms and whether faculty and students are comfortable using it.

Teachers Need Support, Too

Another issue is training. Research reported by Inside Higher Ed found that just 11% of higher education instructors had received comprehensive AI training. That leaves a significant gap between the rapid arrival of new technology and the preparation educators receive to use it.

Faculty may need guidance on issues that didn't exist in the same form just a few years ago. Should students be allowed to use AI when planning an assignment? What about editing it? How should instructors respond if an AI tool produces incorrect information?

Clear policies can help, but professional development is just as important. Teachers need enough familiarity with the technology to set reasonable boundaries, design appropriate assignments and recognize situations where students may need additional support.

Students Need to Know When AI Is Involved

AI isn't limited to coursework. Colleges can also use automated systems in areas such as recruitment, admissions, financial aid, advising and grading. That makes transparency particularly important.

Student Defense's September 2026 Students at Stake report examined the growing use of AI across higher education and raised concerns that student safeguards have not developed at the same speed. Its SHAPE AI initiative calls for stronger protections as colleges introduce automated systems into more areas of student life.

For students, one of the simplest protections is knowing when AI is being used. If technology contributes to a decision that could significantly affect someone's education, there should also be a clear route to human review.

Institutions can go further by limiting unnecessary collection of personal information and regularly reviewing the technology providers they work with.

Online Education Still Needs a Human Element

AI could be particularly useful in online education. It can help organize information, support routine tasks and make some resources easier to access. But convenience shouldn't mean removing people from the learning experience.

Graduate and doctoral students still need meaningful feedback, mentoring and opportunities to ask questions. They also need to know who is responsible when something goes wrong.

St. Bonaventure University's online Ed.D. in Educational Leadership, for example, uses 100% online coursework that is primarily asynchronous, with three start terms available each year. That type of format can give working professionals more flexibility while still keeping faculty and student support at the center of the program.

The same principle can guide the use of AI. Technology can support the experience without replacing the educators, advisers and staff responsible for it.

Building Rules That Can Change With the Technology

One of the difficulties with AI policy is that the technology isn't standing still. A set of rules written today may need another look as tools improve and new uses emerge. Rather than treating AI governance as a one-time policy exercise, education leaders can approach it as an ongoing process.

That could mean testing new tools with smaller groups before introducing them widely, asking students and faculty about their experiences, providing regular staff training and reviewing whether a system is delivering the benefits originally expected.

For the next generation of education leaders, managing technology may become as much a part of the job as managing budgets, programs and people. The goal isn't to embrace every new AI tool or keep technology out of education altogether. It's to make thoughtful decisions about where it helps, where it doesn't and where human judgment still needs to lead.