The idea of AI usage has been a point of contention on college campuses across the nation and Winona State University has not been immune.   

Winona State has been an interesting case- with the College of Business embracing the use of AI and incorporating it as a vital part of their curriculum. Meanwhile the College of Liberal Arts has been very outspoken about their resistance to the usage of AI, due to its potential to impede academic integrity.  

Elida Roskamp, a senior at Winona State majoring in English: Applied and Professional Writing, expressed her concerns about the rise of AI. 

“I’m a little bit worried that my potential job prospects are going to be very limited or limited due to AI replacing the things that I do,” Roskamp said. “I write a lot and I’m really worried that AI is going to replace that.”  

On the other hand, Dr. Larry Schrenk, a professor of business at Winona State, has a very optimistic outlook on AI and includes it as part of his curriculum. 

“This fall, I am teaching two new AI-focused courses with AI integration throughout,” Schrenk said. Schrenk also expressed that he believes AI will help students during their job searches. “Career Services has implemented Quinncia, an AI-powered platform that assists students in developing cover letters and resumes while providing interview simulations. Additionally, students can use free AI tools like ChatGPT or Claude, for example, to customize application materials for specific positions.”  

Roskamp maintains that the student body shouldn’t need AI to complete these sorts of tasks for them.  

“I am not for ordinary people using it because there’s no reason for why can’t we just teach people how to do the things that we’re asking AI to do,” Roskamp said.  

Schrenk detailed why and how he implements AI in his business courses.  

“The primary challenge involves teaching students to use AI to supplement their skills while ensuring they develop essential critical thinking and writing competencies,” Schrenk said. “This approach addresses appropriate ‘cognitive offloading’ – enabling students to delegate routine tasks to AI while focusing their efforts on developing higher-order analytical and communication skills.”  

Roskamp also expressed her concerns about AI being a threat to creativity and originality. 

“Creativity is a big thing. Some people will use it to generate an image and then just say it’s art,” Roskamp said. “Creativity is an important part of being human.”  

Students and faculty alike, continue to debate the usage of AI at Winona State. There are course options available for the more AI-savvy student while other departments require one hundred percent AI-free work. Either way—both sides of the coin are represented as Winona State continues to assess the call for AI as well as the resistance against it.