Discussions on the pros and cons of artificial intelligence are continuing. Pope Leo XIV’s encyclical on Artificial Intelligence has been promulgated and more and more studies on AI are being published, two of which are cited here. Universities can respond creatively to challenges. A moving story shows how universities in the Ukraine, for example, are responding to the impact of war. In Australia, there are challenges to universities of quite a different sort by the formal establishment of the new Australian Tertiary Commission (ATEC).

A study of AI use by 8000 students surveyed in 2024 across four Australian universities was published in the journal Computers and Education Open in March 2026. It found that over 80% of participants reported using AI for study-related tasks and nearly half used it regularly to find information or conduct research. Students did not adopt GenAI uncritically, with about 70% realising that it could be inaccurate and make things up. Their most frequent uses (editing writing, summarising content, and generating ideas) suggest that GenAI is primarily valued as a support tool, rather than for outsourcing academic responsibility.

Another study published in the journal Higher Education in March 2026 investigated how university students engage emotionally and morally with AI, using findings from the study reported above. Students felt ‘optimism, guilt, scepticism, and relief’, as well as moral boundaries (‘I won’t cross this line’) and the need for support and clarity (‘I feel better when I have a sounding board, but I’m afraid of going too far’). This revealed that students were striving ‘to reconcile technological engagement with personal and institutional values’ and suggested that academic support was needed so that students understood that they and their teachers were travelling ‘an uncertain landscape together’.

In Ukraine, 35 universities in Ukraine have been forced to relocate as a result of war. At a symposium organised by the e-bulletin Future Campus, two professors from the Berdyansk State Pedagogical University in southern Ukraine spoke about their experiences.

Four years ago, their university campus was occupied by Russian troops. The Vice Rector Research lived under occupation for three months and was hunted by Russian troops before escaping. The Head of History and Philosophy, escaped days before the Russian invasion. At the symposium, they shared their experience in re-establishing a university from scratch without a campus, additional funding, or homes to head to at the end of the day. Their presentation can be viewed below:

The university had to reconsider why it existed and realised that community service had to be its top priority. Many staff and students had been separated from their families and some were veterans. They have had to cope with air raid alerts, missile attacks, prolonged electricity outages, and the need to work in shelters. All are traumatised individuals surviving in a continuing state of uncertainty. Anxiety is endemic.

Staff have had to manage burnout and fatigue, expand their student catchment, develop new curriculum and change the way they teach. Attempts at online teaching are disrupted by frequent power outages. They teach wherever groups of students can gather. They have also reorientated their research towards mental health and defence capabilities. In the process they have attracted new grants and increased research funding.

The Berdyansk State Pedagogical University is now a university without walls. Now they question ‘if a university can survive the loss of its walls, were its walls ever a defining feature?... Their answer ‘A post-territorial university is no longer defined by geography but by coordination, not sustained by buildings but by relationships.... A university is made of people.’

For more, download their article ‘Relocated Universities of Ukraine', Knowledge and Performance Management, 9(2), 142-162.

On April 29, 2026, ATEC was formally established following the passage of legislation through the Australian Parliament. It reshapes how higher education operates in Australia and has the authority to direct university growth, allocate international student numbers, and coordinate the entire tertiary education system.

The inquiry that considered the legislation, heard many concerns that ATEC would be ‘just another administrative arm of the Education Department.’ In response, the Senate approved seven amendments addressing these concerns. ATEC can now provide advice of its own accord, not just when the Minister requests it. The number of commissioners was increased to bring broader expertise. A legislated role to advise on research and research training was added. the Minister will still direct international student allocations. The next 12 months will show whether ATEC can balance competing demands, workforce needs, institutional sustainability, regional access, international reputation and student outcomes.

Universities Australia has commented that ‘ATEC will play an important role in bringing long-term coordination and stability to higher education.’