James_May-June_2026_web - Flipbook - Page 58
front of our eyes, college presidents
like Rayfield are meeting the challenge. Indeed, the old academic
model won’t fully prepare students
for the brave new world of AI.
Students could literally find the
jobs and careers they envisioned
as first-year students completely
taken over by AI by the time they
are graduating seniors. Faculty
and administrators are racing to
keep up, Rayfield explains. “Our
goal is to maximize the utilization
of any tool. And certainly AI is
now a major tool to help students
be successful.” she said.
AI can actually help students
study more effectively, acting as
a sort of tutor, but that one that
is available 24 hours a day, seven
days a week, the president notes.
“It has the ability to help you with
practice quizzes, to create study
guides, based on what you are
learning in class.”
The Alabama native— with a
bachelor’s degree from Rhodes
College in Memphis and a doctorate
degree from Vanderbilt University
in Nashville— started her academic
career as a faculty member at Columbus State, moving up to associate provost before becoming interim
president of Bainbridge College
and then Gordon College. She then
moved to the University System
of Georgia as vice chancellor for
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leadership and institutional development with one more stint as an interim president at the University of
West Georgia. Then she was named
by the University System Board of
Regents as president of Columbus
State in 2023.
A Military Connection
Bear in mind that this is a
university that has an enrollment of
about 8,000, with about 1,200 students who are connected to the U.S.
military. After all, Columbus is home
to a large Army base, Fort Benning.
Of course, when it comes to
higher education, affordability is
usually top of mind and a major
concern of parents and students.
The 2025 tuition & fees of CSU is
$5,898 for in-state and $17,610 for
out-of-state students. Its tuition and
its fees are lower than the average
tuition for Master’s College and
University (larger programs)’ tuition
of $24,300 based on the out-of-state
tuition rate.
The 2026 estimated tuition &
fees at CSU is $6,049 for Georgia residents and $18,455 for out-of-state
students, a 4.8 percent increase
compared to 2025’s rate. And the
living costs at CSU is $18,032 when
living on campus. Interestingly, 76
percent of enrolled students have
received grants or scholarships, and
the average aid amount is $7,591. It
could cover 43.11 percent of the full
tuition amount.
AI and the Future
But let’s return to the subject of
artificial intelligence. It did not take
long after Rayfield arrived in Columbus for AI to become a major point
of discussion in academia worldwide and in Georgia. And it was just
two years ago that the University
System of Georgia overseeing CSU
and 25 other colleges and universities— hosted a seminar on the emergence of AI. The mission: Stressing
the importance of producing graduates who are AI proficient.
At that seminar, educators
shared statistics from an employer
survey. One statistic stood out:
71 percent of the employers said
they would rather hire a person
with AI knowledge even if they
had less work experience than a
candidate with no AI knowledge.
“That is without a doubt a clear
expectation of employers moving
forward,” Rayfield says. “To me
that is indicative of what we have
to be doing on campus: teaching
students how to use AI as a tool,
not as a substitute for learning, not
as a substitute for doing the work.
It’s a tool for being more efficient
in the work they do and how to
enhance the work they do.”
Neither industry nor academia
completely understands yet the full
potential of AI. Rayfield notes that
it is developing so quickly that just
when you think you understand
it, AI has moved to the next level.
While colleges and universities
can’t know for certain what the
jobs will look like in coming years,
it is certain that one basic skill will
still be required for humans: the
ability to learn and learn quickly.
“That’s really what higher education is all about.”
“Content is really less important
today, probably than it ever has
been,” she further says. “Instead,
it’s the process of learning and being able to adapt that has emerged
as the leading force in academia.
If we can give our students the
