Guiding AI Adoption in Higher Ed: Building Trust and Transparency with Your Team

How can higher ed professionals build a distinctive, trusted brand that resonates with audiences while ethically navigating the complexities of AI?

In a recent episode of Confessions of a Higher Ed CMO with host Jaime Hunt, Grant Heston from Virginia Commonwealth University shared his practical approach to higher education marketing, highlighting his team’s unique strategy for handling AI ethics. Heston discussed how VCU fosters a collaborative team culture while building a brand that’s both distinctive and adaptable, grounded in responsible AI practices.

If you’re looking for concrete strategies to start implementing AI in your marketing efforts, aligning health and university branding, or enhancing team collaboration, this episode offers a treasure trove of guidance. 

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Here’s What You Can Do: 

• Define Ethical AI Principles: Establish clear, ethical guidelines for AI usage, such as ensuring data privacy and avoiding biased outputs, to build transparency and brand alignment. 
• Build a Collaborative Culture: Encourage team members to share diverse ideas and viewpoints openly, perhaps through regular brainstorming sessions or cross-departmental check-ins.
• Create a Distinctive Brand: Highlight what makes your institution unique—whether it’s a focus on social impact, a diverse community, or specialized programs—to ensure your brand resonates.
• Earn Campus-Wide Credibility: Use a dashboard that ties marketing metrics like application growth or event engagement directly to strategic goals to build trust and buy-in from leadership.

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Establishing Ethical AI Guidelines for Your Marketing Team

When institutions openly share how, when, and why AI is implemented, they provide students and stakeholders with a clearer understanding of AI’s role and intentions. This level of openness not only supports ethical standards but also strengthens confidence in the institution’s commitment to responsible AI practices.

VCU takes a practical approach to crafting ethical AI guidelines that drive responsible, impactful marketing. Grant shares how his team created a set of principles to guide AI usage responsibly and transparently. This includes both what they will and won’t do with AI, such as avoiding misleading content, respecting intellectual property, and being transparent when using AI-generated content.

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Takeaway for Your Team: Developing clear, ethical AI guidelines is essential for responsible and impactful marketing. By defining how AI will and won’t be used—including commitments to transparency, intellectual property respect, and avoiding misleading content—teams can build trust and demonstrate their commitment to ethical practices. Emulating VCU’s approach, establish principles that outline AI use and ensure students and stakeholders understand the value of transparent, responsible AI applications in your marketing strategy.

Still not sure where to start? Elememt451’s AI Learning Center is full of free resources to help get you going Explore a comprehensive collection of guides designed to help you understand, implement, navigate complex ethics, and optimize AI in higher education. 

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Fostering a Collaborative and Inclusive Culture

Grant emphasizes the critical role of collaboration within his team, especially for complex projects like creating AI guidelines. Rather than leading discussions with his ideas, he encourages team members to share their viewpoints first, fostering a culture of inclusion and creativity. This inclusive approach brings real value to ethical AI projects; diverse perspectives help uncover potential blind spots and bring a wide range of ethical considerations to the forefront, making guidelines more comprehensive and representative of varied viewpoints. In an era where AI can both foster collaboration and risk siloing us, this commitment to inclusivity ensures that ethical AI practices are robust, balanced, and mindful of different stakeholder impacts.

At the AI Engage Summit, Carrie Phillips, CMO at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, shared strategies for integrating AI in a way that builds team trust and cultural buy-in. Noting that 64% of industry leaders see AI as a productivity booster and 25% view it as a solution to labor shortages, Carrie emphasized the importance of a supportive environment for successful AI adoption. 

She recommended two change management frameworks—Cotter’s eight-step change theory and Lewin’s three-step model—to guide leaders in preparing teams, implementing changes, and establishing sustainable AI practices. Leaders must clarify the purpose of AI to address potential concerns about job security, positioning AI as a tool to support, not replace, their team’s work. By starting with small, targeted AI projects and celebrating quick wins, leaders can build confidence and momentum. 

This approach mirrors VCU’s practical, ethical AI guidelines discussed by Grant Heston, as both leaders advocate for transparency, continuous improvement, and a collaborative culture that empowers teams to embrace AI as a valuable asset in higher education. Both don’t shy away from embracing AI either. Make sure to check out Carrie’s full presentation at the 2024 AI Engage Summit. 

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Takeaway for Your Team: It’s time to start embracing AI today and not tomorrow. To foster genuine collaboration, start by inviting contributions from all team members, especially those who may be hesitant. Consider establishing working groups focused on specific areas of a project to let people take ownership. This approach not only builds trust but also leads to richer, more well-rounded solutions.

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Crafting a Distinctive and Resonant Brand

In a crowded higher education market, standing out is essential. Grant explains how VCU’s brand is anchored in the concept of being “uncommon” and “undeniable,” which aligns with its location and diverse student body. Initiatives that set VCU apart are programs designed to foster community engagement, innovative research opportunities, and partnerships that address real-world challenges.

This distinctive brand approach is applied across both the university and the VCU Health System, showing the flexibility of a strong brand identity. By allowing each department, from engineering to the children’s hospital, to adapt this core message, VCU maintains unity while catering to diverse audiences.

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Takeaway for Your Team: Identify what truly makes your institution unique and build your brand around that core idea. Don’t be afraid to be aspirational—focus on the version of your institution you want people to see while ensuring it feels authentic. Then, work with individual departments to help them adapt this brand in ways that resonate with their specific audiences, ensuring consistency while highlighting each area’s unique qualities.

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Building Campus-Wide Credibility for Marketing’s Impact

Building credibility across campus is essential for marketing leaders. Grant emphasizes that his team doesn’t just focus on making things “look good”; they aim to support tangible business outcomes like enrollment growth and brand reputation. He keeps leadership informed with a dashboard that connects marketing metrics to institutional goals, such as application rates and national prominence.

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Takeaway for Your Team: Develop a simple dashboard that tracks the metrics most relevant to your institution’s strategic goals. Instead of sharing an exhaustive list of marketing activities, focus on results that impact enrollment, brand awareness, and reputation. Showing leadership how marketing directly supports institutional goals helps build credibility and ensures sustained support.

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It’s Time To Start Empowering Your Team 

Both Grant Heston and Carrie Phillips offer a strategic roadmap for higher ed leaders eager to integrate AI thoughtfully within their teams. By combining clear ethical guidelines with a structured approach to change management, leaders like you can create a culture where AI enhances rather than disrupts their work. 

The key lies in transparency, purpose-driven applications, and engaging team members through small, manageable steps. As AI continues to reshape the landscape, adopting these strategies will not only build trust but also empower marketing and communications teams to innovate with confidence. Dive into the full episode and listen to the other sessions from the AI Engage Summit for more on crafting a responsible AI culture that drives both engagement and results.