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AI is a stress test for structures that were already under pressure. Curriculum design, assessment models, faculty workflows, learner expectations — these were already in motion before AI accelerated them. The question most leaders are sitting with now is less about whether to respond and more about where to start and in what order. On June 25, Noodle and University of Michigan - Stephen M. Ross School of Business are hosting a webinar on what AI is actually changing in higher education, and what it isn't. Michigan Ross faculty S. Sriram and Lindsey Gallo will join Noodle's Elissa Lappenga, M.Ed., SHRM-CP for a 45-minute conversation using business education as a concrete case study applicable across verticals. The pressure Ross faculty are navigating, preparing graduates for industries already using AI, shows up across health, law, engineering, and public policy too. The session uses that specific context to help leaders think through what is shifting, what is holding, and where to act now. Live Q&A. Specific takeaways. Free to attend. 🗓️ June 25 | 2–2:45 PM ET Link to register in comments.

“Brandeis has always been committed to expanding access for those historically excluded from higher education,” said President Arthur Levine. “Today, one of the greatest barriers is family income. Faye is about showing that a top-tier university can be accessible to far more students than they may think.” We here at Noodle are deeply proud and honored to be a partner in this important work.

Before the webinar, the argument. Elissa Lappenga, M.Ed., SHRM-CP, Noodle's VP of Learning Operations, wrote recently about what the AI conversation in higher education actually requires of institutions right now. Not a tools audit. Not a policy update. A harder set of questions about assessment design, organizational readiness, and whether the learning models institutions have inherited still fit the world graduates are entering. Her piece is a useful frame for the conversation we're hosting with University of Michigan - Stephen M. Ross School of Business on 🗓️ June 25 | 2–2:45 PM ET If you're registered, it's good context. If you're not yet, it may be the reason to sign up. Link to read in comments.

Most AI conversations in higher ed are moving too fast to be useful. Everyone's asking the same question now: what do we actually do about AI, and in what order? 🗓️ June 25 | 2–2:45 PM ET, Noodle and University of Michigan - Stephen M. Ross School of Business are hosting a webinar that works on that directly. Elissa Lappenga, M.Ed., SHRM-CP will be in conversation with S. Sriram and Lindsey Gallo, two Ross faculty actively working through what it means to prepare graduates for industries already shaped by AI. Business education is a useful lens here — the questions Ross is navigating around curriculum, assessment, and learner expectations are the same ones facing programs in health, law, engineering, and public policy. The specifics differ; the underlying challenge is the same. The session is designed to produce takeaways you can to bring back to your own curriculum, assessment practices, and faculty workflows. 45 minutes. Live Q&A. Free to attend. Link to register in comments.

Academic integrity in 2026 is less a policy question than a design question. That's the argument, Noodle's John Katzman makes in "The Return of the Blue Book," written in response to a debate most higher ed leaders are already in: what does integrity mean when AI can complete most traditional assignments, and detection tools are outpaced before they're deployed? His answer: oral defense, well-constructed rubrics, and assignments worth engaging with on their own terms. The piece also names what's at stake if institutions get this wrong, and what becomes possible if they get it right. Link to read in comments.

Faye looks simple to a student. The work behind it is anything but. Michael B. Horn writes in Forbes about Brandeis University's new AI-powered financial aid tool, built with Noodle, that tells prospective students the precise price they would pay before they ever apply. To make it happen, Brandeis had to rework business and admissions processes, navigate regulatory risk, comply with privacy requirements, and change institutional mindsets. President Levine's take: "It's the right thing to do." Read the full piece in Forbes: https://bit.ly/4ugYhIz

For most families, the real cost of college is a mystery until after you've applied, been admitted, and waited. Brandeis University decided that was unacceptable. Today, Ron Lieber wrote in The New York Times about what Brandeis built with Noodle. Faye, a new financial aid tool that tells applicants what their first year will cost before they apply. Faye asks questions like a person would, reviews transcripts and tax returns, and gives families a real number. The word "will" is intentional. The Brandeis team wasn't sure at first. "We thought he was nuts," said Sherri Avery, AVP of student financial services. "If it could be done, someone would have been doing it, right?" added Jennifer Walker, VP for enrollment management. Over lunch in March, when the conversation turned to whether upfront pricing might scare families away, President Levine didn't hesitate: "I sort of don't care. Because it's the right thing to do." Read the full piece in the New York Times: https://lnkd.in/ek6qnFe9

Most institutions already have what they need to build modality-agnostic student support. The question is whether it's organized around the learner. Always-on support means learners can get answers when questions arise, not when offices open. AI-enabled tools handle the immediate; advisors follow up with the context and relationship that matters. Neither replaces the other. Unified visibility means engagement data, academic progress, and service interactions aren't siloed by modality. Support teams can see early signs of risk before a learner has to signal it themselves. And coordinated outreach means a missed assignment or a drop in engagement triggers a response that reflects what that learner is actually experiencing. Not a generic nudge. The competitive advantage goes to institutions that get these pieces working together across the full learner journey. Noodle's Lauren Dukes, Ed.D. and Alan Mlynek on why this model works and what it takes to get there. Link in the comments.

A learner misses a deadline. What happens next? ⛔ In a modality-driven model: the response depends on which team "owns" the learner and which system registers the signal. If those don't align, nothing happens. 🟢 In a modality-agnostic model: the moment itself triggers outreach. Timely, personalized, based on what the learner has actually been doing. That second scenario requires two things to be true. 1️⃣ First, engagement data, academic progress, and service interactions have to live in a shared view so support teams can see what's happening in real time. 2️⃣ Second, there has to be a clear division of labor: technology handles the immediate response, and advisors step in with the context and relationship that only a human can provide. Neither piece is complicated on its own. Together, they change what persistence looks like. Lauren Dukes, Ed.D. and Alan Mlynek, Noodle, on what it takes to build this kind of coordinated support model, and why most institutions already have more of what they need than they think. Link in the comments.

The "online vs. on-ground" distinction that shaped student support for a decade is no longer real. Today's learners don't experience their program as online or campus-based. They submit assignments digitally, message advisors outside business hours, and expect support to meet them wherever they are. When support is still organized by modality, institutions limit their ability to respond in the moments that matter most. 🚧 The shift to modality-agnostic support isn't about rebuilding. ✅ For most institutions, the pieces are already there. 💡What changes is what they're organized around: the learner, not the delivery format. That means always-on support, unified visibility across the learner journey, and outreach that responds to what's actually happening rather than which team owns the ticket. That's the gap worth closing, and for most institutions, it's closer than it looks. Noodle's Lauren Dukes, Ed.D. and Alan Mlynek go deeper on what this looks like in practice, including how to think about the division of labor between technology and advisors. Link in the comments.