For Melissa Vito, the key to innovation centers on meeting the students where they are. 

Vito talks with Lev Gonick about framing AI innovations to support the needs of students. Rather than the kneejerk reaction of villainizing AI in education, Vito redirects the mindset into a framework that meets students where they are with AI and then stepping forward. “Innovation and thinking about the future while you stand on the past  – they can’t exist alone,” Vito said.

Melissa Vito is Vice Provost for Academic Innovation at the University of Texas at San Antonio. Vito consults corporate and higher education institutions, providing market research analysis and implementing strategic planning initiatives in order to improve online learning environments. Vito prioritizes future-focused leadership, creating an informed infrastructure for fully online programs at UTSA, and driving modality-agnostic innovative teaching and learning.

This episode was filmed at the Agentic AI and the Student Experience Summit in Tempe, hosted by ASU Enterprise Technology.