(Photo by Allison Shelley/Complete College Photo Library)

I've spent over a decade developing and supporting faculty with adopting emerging technology, and I've seen this pattern before. A promising conversation gains traction, someone raises a valid concern, and suddenly the window for forward movement closes. It's not that the concerns aren't legitimate; they usually are. It's that without preparation, we can lose precious time we won't get back.

An arrival technology is one that has already changed the conditions your institution operates in, whether or not you have formally engaged with it. AI is that. So why are so many institutions still operating in adoption mode? T3 Founder Audrey Ellis on what accepting the arrival framing actually demands of academic leaders.

The questions provosts asked at the AASCU Symposium for Provosts were not about tools or policy. They were about people: scared faculty, leadership turnover, and how to bring stakeholders along when the pace is not yours to control. And when well-resourced funders asked what institutions needed, the asks that came back were modest. T3 Founder Audrey Ellis reflects on what that gap reveals.

Burnout in higher education is often a structural issue, not a personal failure. When mission-driven teams are overloaded with constant change, the cost shows up in quiet withdrawal, disengagement, and declining student outcomes.

Photo by Allison Shelley/Complete College Photo Library