Over the last two years, Bryant University Provost and Chief Academic Officer Rupendra Paliwal, Ph.D., has helped set in motion a significant expansion of Bryant's academic programs and facilities as the university rises to meet — and lead — a major inflection point in higher education: the rise of artificial intelligence, and increasing demand that new hires to are able to harness this new technology on day one.
Bryant, Paliwal notes, has always been ahead of the student outcomes curve because of its institutional focus on experiential education — pointing to a recent expansion of internship programs during off-semester months as a key example. But now, as artificial intelligence takes a central role in nearly every industry and competition for entry-level jobs becomes more intense than ever, he says that higher education classrooms and models need to emphasize, more than ever before, “learning by doing,” with faculty serving as a “guide by the side” in the co-creation of knowledge.
Bryant, argues Paliwal, must graduate students who will not only be day-one ready, but who also have the skills and mindset to continue learning as they go. “The onus,” he says, “is on higher education to prepare graduates with hybrid skill sets that combine discipline-specific knowledge with curiosity, the ability to solve problems, and critical thinking.”
Below, Paliwal shares his thoughts on how higher education must evolve in the age of AI — and why Bryant is uniquely suited to play a leading role in that evolution.
Bryant has become a national leader in AI. Can you tell us about the institutional approach?
Unlike many other institutions, we have taken what I call a constructive and comprehensive approach. We’re constructive in recognizing that AI is already all around us, so we need to make sure our faculty, staff, and students are prepared to work with it in both their personal and professional lives and to adapt as it evolves.
The “comprehensive” part is that our approach encompasses our curriculum, our faculty and staff, and our entire community. We are building learning pathways, from theory to application, for undergraduate students, graduate students, and working professionals.
Can you share some of the recent AI-driven developments on campus?
We have made significant progress in a short time, including creating a new Center for Applied Artificial Intelligence, which will be a catalyst for the integration of AI across academic programs, industry partnerships, university operations, and student success initiatives. Leveraging Bryant’s existing AI and data analytics labs, the center will be a hub for thought partnership, and a platform for our faculty, students, leadership, and corporate partners to learn together and collaborate in the co-creation of knowledge.
In the last year, we have launched a Master of Science in Applied AI; integrated AI across all existing graduate programs; developed more than 20 discipline-specific undergraduate courses exploring AI; and created a new AI minor open to students in every discipline. Looking ahead, we’re building toward an upcoming bachelor’s in applied AI.
We are very serious and very intentional about AI at Bryant. It is not a half measure; it is a full-pot commitment.
How is Bryant implementing these changes across the curriculum?
We’re doubling down on investments in both programs and people. For every faculty and staff hire right now — irrespective of discipline — the job description includes expectations around AI. And we are also asking every current member of our faculty to explore how their individual discipline is going to be impacted by AI and how they can leverage AI to make sure their students are ahead of the curve.
We are very serious and very intentional about AI at Bryant. It is not a half measure; it is a full-pot commitment.
How are Bryant’s corporate partners helping to shape the university’s approach to AI and experiential education?
We have always believed in the co-creation of knowledge. Our corporate partners — which include industry leaders such as Navigant, Fidelity Investments, and PwC — are true partners. They are energized and excited when they see what’s happening at Bryant, and they want to be part of it. They also depend on Bryant to fill key roles at their companies, because we prepare our students to step into those roles fully prepared and ready to contribute.
The university’s recent AI & Business Transformation Executive Roundtable, hosted in partnership with ISG, brought together visionary leaders from business and academia to explore how artificial intelligence is transforming industries and shaping the future of work. The future is not just about the technology; it's about people working together, collectively and collaboratively, for transparent, ethical and responsible use of the technology and for finding new and better ways of doing things and new things to explore.
RELATED ARTICLE: Defining the future: Bryant University and ISG lead the conversation on AI
How do corporate partners interface with students directly?
In addition to providing an industry voice at Bryant, our corporate partners serve as mentors through initiatives like the PwC AI in Accounting Fellowship and sponsor Bryant programs like IDEA (Innovation and Design Experience for All). They also regularly visit campus as guest speakers and provide experiential learning opportunities to Bryant students.
We are a community that prides itself on being responsive and on our ability to pivot.
Our students have a lot to learn from our corporate partners when they bring their knowledge and experience to the classroom. But there are pieces that we can bring to the table, as well. If a corporate entity has a particular project or problem that they’re trying to address, they can bring it to this campus and let our students and faculty work on it. They can train their teams through our Career Accelerator programming. There are so many ways we help each other and make each other stronger.
RELATED ARTICLE: Laser-focused learning: Bryant University powers up Acclaro Medical’s sales force
Bryant has experienced significant growth over the last year, not only in applied AI programming, but also a new doctoral program and several new buildings and facilities across campus. How do you make decisions about the university’s future?
Our faculty and leadership remain in close touch with emerging trends in business and industry through our alumni and corporate partnerships. That gives us early intel on evolutions and transformations that may impact our graduates. But that insight is only useful if you can act on it — and that’s where our agility matters. We are a community that prides itself on being responsive and on our ability to pivot.
We have established what we call a culture of experimentation here at Bryant, which is not always easy to do in academia. This fall, we introduced a Doctor of Clinical Psychology program — our first doctoral program — reflecting our ability to evolve and transform. But it also reflects our confidence in our own institutional strengths and our willingness to seize opportunities. The Psy.D. program is not a typical doctoral program; it is true to our ethos of applied learning with strong outcomes for graduates.
Every innovation we’ve made, every initiative we’ve instituted, and every direction we’ve taken has been designed to have an impact on our students in terms of their return on investment and outcomes, the impact they make on the Bryant community in terms of broadening our horizons, and the positive impact we can make in the world.
We're setting the pace. We're the ones who are building this future.