The Key with Inside Higher Ed Ep. 182: Voices of Student Success: A Liberal Arts College Embraces AI
Nov 14, 2025
David Watts, Director of the Davis Institute for Artificial Intelligence at Colby College, and Michael Yankoski, a teaching scientist and assistant professor, delve into how generative AI can enhance student success. They discuss Mule Chat, a platform that offers users a safe way to explore various AI models. The duo emphasizes the importance of flexible AI guidelines in a liberal arts context and highlights student-led tutorials as a means to foster AI literacy. Their insights reveal how adaptive strategies can empower students and faculty in navigating the evolving landscape of AI.
AI Snips
Chapters
Transcript
Episode notes
Choose Engagement Over Bans
- Colby chose engagement over bans and built institutional capacity to learn with AI rather than resist it.
- That liberal-arts, experiment-first stance accelerated campus adoption and interdisciplinary exploration.
Use Flexible Guidelines, Not Fixed Rules
- Build guidelines, not rigid policies, and revise them as tools and campus needs evolve.
- Engage faculty, administrators, students and counsel early to surface risks and preserve flexibility.
MuleChat As An On‑Ramp
- MuleChat was created as an on-ramp to lower barriers for faculty, students, and staff to experiment with multiple LLMs.
- The platform intentionally lets community members compare models and learn capabilities hands-on.