# AI reshaping higher education in Montana - NBC Montana

*Источник: NBC Montana*
*Дата: 2026-09-13*
*Язык: en*

**Кратко:** — Montana Technological University has named its first chief artificial intelligence officer, a new role intended to help students, faculty and staff navigate the fast-changing technology while keeping learning at the center of the college experience. Professor Chad Okrusch will lead Montana Tech’s approach to artificial intelligence, from classroom guidance to preparing students for careers increasingly shaped by AI.

AI reshaping higher education in Montana
BUTTE, Mont. — Montana Technological University has named its first chief artificial intelligence officer, a new role intended to help students, faculty and staff navigate the fast-changing technology while keeping learning at the center of the college experience.
Professor Chad Okrusch will lead Montana Tech’s approach to artificial intelligence, from classroom guidance to preparing students for careers increasingly shaped by AI.
“AI is a unique disruption to both the social and technological system,” Okrusch said. “It’s changing everything we do in higher education.”
Montana Tech Chancellor Dr. Johnny Maclean said one of the challenges is anticipating how quickly AI could reshape the workforce and higher education.
“The biggest challenge of all of this is trying to figure out what the world is going to look like in six months, two years, three years out,” Maclean said.
That uncertainty is also driving a conversation about where AI belongs in the classroom and where the line needs to be drawn. It brings up big questions about plagiarism, accuracy, privacy and whether students are still doing the thinking for themselves.
Montana Tech’s early guidance includes telling students not to enter personal or sensitive information into AI tools and holding them accountable for the work they submit.
Okrusch said the goal is not to create a policing battle in the classroom over AI use. Instead, he said instructors may need to rethink assignments and how they evaluate learning.
That could include more oral checkpoints, group projects and other ways for professors to see how students develop an answer, rather than grading only the final product.
“We have to make learning visible, and we can’t rely solely on the artifacts at the end of the process as what we grade,” Okrusch said. “We have to grade the entire process.”
Assistant Professor of Business Sebastian Perduss said students will likely encounter AI in their careers, making it important to teach responsible use of the technology.
“It’s not so much about, here’s a tool that you can use to cheat,” Perduss said. “Here’s a tool that you will have to use going forward in your career.”
Some students, however, worry AI could affect collaboration and the broader college experience. Civil engineering student Andrew Beal said working with others remains an important part of higher education.
“One of the things that you should learn at a university or in college is how to work with other people,” Beal said.
Okrusch said Montana Tech is working to strike a balance: helping students learn to use AI effectively without replacing the challenge and human connection that are central to learning.
“We want AI to serve us, not the other way around,” he said.

[Оригинал](https://nbcmontana.com/news/working-for-you/ai-reshaping-higher-education-in-montana)