By Connor Lālea Hampton, Feb 18, 2025
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The California State University announced that ChatGPT Edu, a $16.9 million student-tailored generative AI technology, will be provided on all 23 campuses at no personal cost to students.
According to an email from the CSU chancellor’s office, the largest university system in the United States is collaborating with technology companies such as Adobe, NVIDIA, IBM, Microsoft and Google on this project to provide resources and professional development for staff, as well as AI workforce training opportunities for students.
In the same email, Chancellor Mildred Garcia said she hopes the program will help secure its place as a higher education leader and encourage equitable and responsible implementation of AI. Around 77% of companies are using or exploring the use of AI, according to National University.
According to Press-Telegram , CSU chief information officer Ed Clark said CSU will pay $16.9 million for ChatGPT Edu, a personal “AI tutor,” over an 18-month period.
However, university staff and faculty are already raising concerns about what AI accessibility could mean for their classrooms.
The California Faculty Association responded to CSU’s announcement of the AI initiative Feb. 5, the day after the initial information release.
The statement, which came via email, noted while faculty members may have different viewpoints on AI, they should ultimately have the right to decide how the technologies are used in classrooms, not administrators. CFA also cited the environmental impact of AI, its issues with engaging in racist behavior and plagiarism as major concerns.
“Management decision making is directly responsible for cuts, loss of work, and layoffs,” stated CFA in the email. “At the same time, they continue to invest university resources to launch initiatives with little to no input from faculty, students, and staff.”
The partnership project was announced less than a month after Chancellor Garcia announced a $375 million cut in the proposed budget for the CSU system will “have significant real-world consequences, both in and out of the classroom.”
Garcia wrote in the statement the cuts will result in larger classes size, decrease in course offerings and a reduction in faculty and staff positions.
Nick Von Glahn, the faculty rights chair of Cal Poly Pomona’s CFA chapter, said he was not only concerned about the environmental impact, but also the lack of information about the implications of the program.
“They need to meet and confer with us.,” Von Glahn said. “They need to acknowledge that the curriculum belongs to the faculty. They’re investing potentially in consultants and in big tech while we’re in a time of scarcity. Those are my concerns; those things could potentially be dealt with.”
Von Glahn said it’s his job as faculty rights chair to make sure the initiative doesn’t go beyond the bounds of the union contract. He said if things like budget and ecological footprint were addressed, he would feel a lot more comfortable with the initiative.
“That said, assuming they’re not spending a ton of money in a time of scarcity and budget cuts where they’re letting go of even tenure line faculty, cutting their athletics, et cetera, if it’s relatively budget neutral, as long as the faculty have control of the curriculum, I don’t see anything suggesting that we should ignore it and not create space for faculty who want to use it and include it in their curriculum to do so,” said Von Glahn.
According to Press-Telegram, CSU has not yet calculated additional costs that could result from these technology partnerships.
“How much are we not spending on things that we know work in an attempt to keep us up to date with what could have a limited scope?” Von Glahn asked.
Von Glahn also expressed concern about his students using generative AI for writing. He said faculty can’t be naive and assume students are not going to use it. He said he no longer wanted to offer asynchronous classes because it is difficult to determine whether or not students are creating their own work. Peter Ross, a science technology and society professor at CPP, said his role as a professor includes not only teaching students how to address difficult problems, but also how to write about them.
“I don’t think there’s any easy way of taking advantage of AI for writing without the real worry about getting generated writing,” Ross said. “But, AI, for other purposes…climate change and housing affordability, if it’s a research tool of some sort, there’s no reason to think that it isn’t good in some respects.”
However, some students aren’t as concerned as faculty are about the new initiative.
Payton Vong, a kinesiology student, said he uses ChatGPT to break down difficult concepts in his classes. CSU suggested their partnership with tech companies could lead to the development of AI tutors.
“We have resources, we might as well use them, right?” Vong said. “Why stick to the old-school way if there’s new technology?”
Kannan Harrington, a business student, said the initiative could be particularly helpful for students still learning about what AI is.
“I feel like it’s kind of self-explanatory how to use it, but there’s a lot of things we don’t know that (trainings) could give a better explanation of how to use it, when to use it, and when it’s appropriate and not appropriate to use it,” said Harrington.
CSU said the education-specific version of OpenAI’s ChatGPT chatbot would be available in the coming weeks.
Featured image courtesy of Connor Lālea Hampton
